Posted on 02/03/2018 7:05:38 AM PST by JP1201
The winners here — lawyers
What did thew own do that was unconstitutional?
The article states that the town got the cameras for free and the company that provided them got a percentage of the take. I’d be pretty upset if I got caught up in that web.
I wonder if some of the ticket recipients also got increases in their car insurance bills.
The picture says you're guilty - now shut up and pay......
Bfl
I dislike speed cameras and red light cameras for that reason. It’s a racket. The speed camera company gets a percentage, and the town gets a percentage. It’s a money making scheme. It has nothing to do with road safety or any other alleged reason to set up these cameras. It’s all about money.
Similar rackets are happening in some places, with variable toll road pricing. I’ve heard of one in the Washington, DC, area, in which they can raise the tolls at rush hour, based on how much traffic is on the road. Supposedly this is to encourage car pooling and alleviate traffic congestion. But is that the real reason to impose tolls in this manner??
Speed trap towns run their scams on unsuspecting people not from the area. Here in PA we had one that ran a 25mph speed limit on a 4 lane road. The state even ran a disclaimer that that town was not their jurisdiction. Eventually it got put out of business when the traffic court judge was found to be making out like a bandit.
The winners, the people.
All the camera tickets (red light in VA and work zone speeding in MD) result in no points on my license. Everyone knows it’s for the revenue, not safety.
In that light, yes, law enforcement actions to try to get people to slow down (or I would argue - even better, pay attention!) are trying to save our lives. Bravo, thank you.
However, there are far too many "speed traps" set up that don't really encourage safer driving, they are simply revenue generators for the locals. I don't even argue this point with anyone anymore. Like pornography, you know it when you see it and there's no denying it.
Memories of New Rome Ohio a suburb on the west side of Columbus. The small town and now village made national news years ago because of their infamous speed traps - 25 mph speed limit along broad stree for about a quarter mile. It was dissolved in 2004. With a population of less than 100, about one out ten residents worked for the police department and with a mayor’s court run by a non citizen that also fueled the outrage. If you google “new Rome” on the first page of results you’ll find links that discuss the speed trap. Newromesucks.com for instance. Full disclosure, I graduated from Westland high school across the street. Fortunately never got a ticket there but several friends got bit.
Oh, I should also mention a very high revenue underpass camera in DC. That’s basically a toll camera. Again, no points, because everyone knows the deal.
Camera companies usually provide free cameras and they even pay for personnel to review the cameras to check for violators in exchange for a cut of the traffic fines.
The camera companies typically get the town to reduce the time the yellow light stays on for red lights. In Georgia there were a lot of complaints and the legislature specified that yellow lights must stay on for a minimum of 4 seconds. The number of traffic tickets dropped by 80% at intersections monitored by the cameras, and a lot of the camera companies packed up and left.
“What did thew own do that was unconstitutional?”
EXCERPT: “The lower court had problems with the lack of options made available to ticket recipients to challenge speeding tickets.”
6th Amendment right to confront accuser/witnesses. Aparently there were no/unclear options about challenging the ticket.
Columbus had to remove their traffic cameras for a similar reason. The Court said they had to have a police officer present where the cameras were if they wanted to issue tickets. At least that way a defendant could “confront” his/her accuser. Not much you can do to confront (in court) a traffic camera. The city could not afford to put an officer at every camera location, so down they came.
The picture knows who you are and can swear to the court that it observed you speeding. So yeah shut up and pay.
I have driven through some of those tiny Ohio towns. It is a racket with some of them changing the speed limit all of sudden from a high speed to a very low speed. You don’t even see the signs very well until you have passed them, and there is the lone town cop waiting there because they know that there will be some poor fella who missed the change.
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