Red-light reversal? Lawmakers push to rein in traffic cameras

Fox News.com ^ | February 22, 2013 | Barnini Chakraborty

[sickoflibs]

RE :”It’s a high-tech hot war out there!”

Many years ago I had a casual conversation with a cop about police chases and he offered the wisdom that ‘criminals cant outrun police radios’, but now with GPS smart phones we can keep track and communicate where the police cars are.

The I-phone Trapster APP doesn't work because there are too few users.

But waze is great, its full GPS navigation app with map around your position and voice directions and voices warnings and it warns ‘red light camera ahead ...miles” by voice. It also asks you if you see the warned problem and it asks you if you want to thank the user who reported it.

It finds the surrounding gas stations and gives prices and how far they are away, its search engine links to bing to find businesses or people you want directions to. I love it.

I love turning in the sneaky cops in their cars. That is such a blast.

[bicyclerepair]

Here in SFL you can make a right on a red.

But there’s one corner where you can’t. Bingo, red light camera there.

[sickoflibs]

We got red light cameras up the wazu here and I never had a problem running yellow lights with them , or visually sighting them. I don’t run red lights anyway but certainly not them. They are big visible monsters on poles.

Of course if I am in a part of the state I am not familiar with at night then the phone comes in handy to warn me of it.

[GraceG]

Any law enforcement action that becomes a revenue enhancement for the local officials be they law enforcement or city officials is prone to become ripe for abuse.

[VermiciousKnid]

If it’s REALLY about safety (and it’s not), all they’d have to do is delay the time between having the red light come on and the green light coming on in the opposite (cross) direction by about 2 seconds.

But boy, the government does lovelovelove the $$$$ those cameras bring in, nevermind the amazing amount of rear-end accidents and near accidents I’ve seen over the last year or so.

Those cameras are menaces, IMO.

Regards,

[TexasRedeye]

If your vehicle is equipped with most any type of GPS device, go to http://www.poi-factory.com/ for a constantly updated and very accurate Red Light Camera file to download into your device. This file covers all of the U.S. and Canada and has Speed Camera locations also.

[FreedomOfExpression]

Thanks! Looks like it will work on our add-on Garmin.

[FreedomOfExpression]

Here in SFL you can make a right on a red.
But there’s one corner where you can’t. Bingo, red light camera there.

Figures. More $$$ that way.

[Sloth]

I don’t particularly mind speed cameras, if used appropriately. But I hate red-light cameras. They’ve actually made my driving worse (stomping on the brakes at yellow lights, etc.).

[FreedomOfExpression]

If it’s REALLY about safety (and it’s not), all they’d have to do is delay the time between having the red light come on and the green light coming on in the opposite (cross) direction by about 2 seconds.

But boy, the government does lovelovelove the $$$$ those cameras bring in,

Both points are spot on. If the cameras CAUSE accidents, how can it be about public safety?

[adorno]

they would just time everything so they zip through the intersection while just missing each other

That's fine for cars, but, what about pedestrians? Don't they also need to have cars stop at red lights and stop signs so that they can cross the street? Also, there will be people who insist on crossing in the middle of the street.

Until roads everywhere have been redesigned so that cars never have to worry about pedestrians, the cars will need to have "intelligence" built in to account for red lights and stop signs and pedestrians.