Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

In California these tickets are a no brainer to fight and win every time.

This guy must have just bought a new rifle similar to how my neighbor must have just received a new horn for Xmas for their Tahoe as they use the damn thing for a door bell all the time.

mmarshall

Cameras are only a fine, though, not points on your license or insurance. A camera, in most cases, can't prove who was driving. So, legally, the car's owner is responsible for the fine.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

You could just do what we did..... spend millions on a speed camera setup for several blocks of road and NOT hook them up until 3 yrs later when the news started asking questions as to why they weren't in use (we're debating off'ing the news crew).

Lil4X

Am I the only one who wonders why it took three 30-06 rounds to take out the camera? Clark needs to spend more time at the range . . .

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

I agree BUT that would mean ignoring the meaning of yellow light in general.

NYSDMV

We all know we are supposed to slow down but none of really do yet we complain when we knowingly do something wrong and have to own up for it.

We misjudge something means we got it wrong and should be held accountable. I happen to like the camera's, especially up here in Qns because everyone and their mother is now driving a SUV and parking them on the corners where you can't see oncoming traffic. So anything IMO to get people to slow down at corners is a good thing.

jracerlmn

torrance/pv? you talk as if i have no idea what i'm talking about; it's not like i dont have family there...

Threxx

As a person who has nearly been killed or at least almost had my car totaled twice in the last year by people running a red light (one of them being a COP without lights on!) I'm a big supporters of red light cameras. In these cases I feel compelled to chase the person down and beat their *** but instead I feel at least a little justified knowing that they'll at least get a ticket out of it.

My BMW got his a week ago today by a kid who failed to yield turning left through an intersection. They did end up getting the ticket but it was my word vs his - having a red light camera there that they could go back and reference would have made things a lot easier to sort out.

The only thing that scares me about them is when I hear of some counties shortening yellow lights to increase revenue. THAT is BS.

mmarshall

Maybe the glass/plexiglass on that camera lens is a little tougher than you think.

toy4two

all the drivers in his city should donate a buck to this guy, at the very least the ones who were saved by his actions in the time the camera was down.

I don't understand why we even still have these in San Diego, it turns out to be costing the taxpayers more to keep them running than just turning them off, and they haven't done a thing for safety. Well I guess we've created a whole new bueruacracy out of them, I'm sure the city worker that maintains them is happy.

pfantom68

We have no cameras around here, and I love it. It seems that there aren't even that many red light violations here... other than the normal turning after red.

However, I live in rural-suburbia, where most intersections don't have a dedicated turn signal light, and the only way to make a left turn during rush hour is to go after oncoming traffic has stopped. There is absolutely no other choice.

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

Don't like the idea and never did. What if your going 45mph, and you get to a point where the light turns yellow and if you try and stop you'll end up in the intersection and if you speed through you'll get a ticket? What are you supposed to do. Personally I think if they didn't waste money on all those cameras, and hire as many police officers as they do, then they wouldn't need to take these extreme measures for funding.

EDIT: It's interesting actually. When I was in economics class our teacher mentioned how he was amazed by the fact that in FL cops have their own cars. He told us how in the state he came from cops would share cars, ie when they are done with their shift they would drop their vehicle off at the station and the next officer would take over. I think thats very smart of the stations in saving money and don't understand why in FL they officers are allowed to have their own car? To me it seems as if they are splurging on funding by doing so. They have even started implementing the red light cams around my area, and when I think of how many officers are on the road, i wonder why....

Lil4X

Assigning an officer his "own" car may not be as wasteful as you might think. First, having a police car parked in a neighborhood discourages crime. When potential criminals see a cop lives in the neighborhood, they tend to go elsewhere. This doesn't mean that the area will be crime free - there are always the crackheads that would try to break into a police car, even one parked in front of the police station.

Second, it helps response time in an emergency. When an off-duty officer responds in his own personal car to a situation in his neighborhood, without his cruiser, he would not have the technology support of communications gear, computers, and of course special weapons that travel with the car. Response time can be critical in the suburbs, and a fully-equipped officer arriving on scene to take charge of the situation quickly can save lives.

In many cities where the cars are on the road 24/7, with maybe a few hours for maintenance each week, they tend to deteriorate quickly. On the street for three shifts a day, they rack up the miles at an incredible rate. While it would appear that 24hr utilization would be more efficient, that's a false economy. HPD officers easily put 5K per week on a car in 24hr service, meaning that it goes in for service and an oil change every week. Between the extreme mileage and the lack of "ownership" responsibility that goes with a "fleet" car, in a year a cruiser was typically reduced to junk.

It's not like an off-duty cop is going to drive that car on personal business. He probably won't take the family out for dinner - the kids might complain about the smell of urine and vomit in the back seat, and the wife isn't going to be too happy either with the squalling radios and the shotgun in her lap. Of course if the kids act up, the barred windows and the barricade between them and the front seat might come in handy . . . and there are still the handcuffs and restraints in the back seat . . .

Cameras are a revenue-enhancing device, not a law enforcement tool. After about six months of service in Houston, thousands of ticket have been issued to city vehicles, including cops and constables. It seems they are some of the worst offenders. The company leasing the camera to the city gets a "bounty" on each ticket issued to pay for the cameras and the people reviewing the pictures and recording the license plate numbers. Because it is in their interest to cite as many motorists as possible, you have to wonder just how these lights and cameras are timed.

Threxx

The only way that's going to happen is if the roads are slick and 45 is too fast for conditions (your fault), or you didn't see the light turn yellow at first (your fault), or your brakes are in terribly poor working order (usually your fault).

Red light cameras only take your picture if you've entered the intersection (crossed the white line next to the cross walk) AFTER the light has already turned red.

I'll admit - I used to be a little more liberal with lights before traffic light cameras came out... my first instinct with yellow was to quickly think "can I make it through if I give it a little gas?"

Now instead I think "can I stop safely if I hit the brakes?".

Unfortunately this has had me waste a good bit more time stopped at red lights these days, but in the end it's the right thing to do and the safer thing, and I've not yet had a case where I could have made it through by accelerating but not by stopping since 99.99% of the cars on this planet can stop faster than they can accelerate anyway.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Light going from Green to Yellow to Red:

Driver 20 feet away at 20 MPH: ("I've got plenty of time, I can make it before it hits red")

Light going from Red to Green:

Driver 30 feet away at 20mph: (Must be my lucky day, I can see the crossbound lights going from yellow to Red, mine will be green by the time I reach the intersection, no need for me to slow down)

=



Traffic Camera (functional or non-functional) = I don't want a ticket so yellow means BRAKE

Threxx

Yeah, while this is perfectly legal, and can really save on gas to coast up to lights and try to make it to where you hit the light right as it's turning green, I've had too many close calls recently where if I had been cruising into the intersection right after it turned green I'd end up like that picture.

I remember a long time ago in driver's ed they taught us to slow down when approaching an intersection and look for cross traffic approaching without slowing. I always thought that was stupid and overly cautious crap that they taught us just because it was driver's ed... but looking back I think it's a good idea, especially if the light just turned green in the last few seconds.

I value my life over my fuel economy.