| Author | Message | ||
     Fast1075 |
In my neck of the woods, we just recently began to get traffic cameras installed by the cities...I'm thinking they are the new cash cow.. Anybody else have those?...yeah, I know..we are backwards here in the deep south...lol..who's got 'em...who's been busted...lets hear some stories.. | ||
| Gunut75 |
Chicago has been preaching those for a few years, but I have yet to see one. Nor do I know anyone who has gotten nailed by one. BUT.........you can never be too careful, because Chicago claims to set em up in construction zones, and thats a pricey ticket. | ||
| Jaimec |
http://www.leftlanenews.com/six-us-cities-tamper-w ith-traffic-cameras-for-profit.html Don't buy the "Safety" argument. Those things are for generating profit, pure and simple. In Europe, where red light cameras and speed cameras are commonplace, the way motorcyclists defeat them is to simply wheely through the spot where they are located. This points the license plate out of view of the camera. | ||
| Geforce |
Just cover up your plate with your left hand. I know of people who have been busted in DC with those cameras they send you a picture and you can CLEARLY see the plate number but cannot tell who is driving, so they send you the ticket, you pay it, and get no points deducted because they cannot prove who was driving the vehicle. Pretty •••••• if you ask me. | ||
| Sifo |
We've got lots of them monitoring stop lights. The police did a meeting for the drivers where I work. Pretty informative. Basically if you get nailed, you are nailed pretty good. It's not a moving violation though, and the ticket goes to the owner of the vehicle, not the driver. Each ticket gets reviewed by the company contracted to maintain the camera then reviewed again by law enforcement officers. Either reviewer can toss it out. If it passes both reviews, it's because you blew a red light. Sure it bothers me on some level, but they are trying to get people to stop running red lights. That should make the roads safer for me on my bike, so I'm mostly OK with it. | ||
| 20xb12s04 |
Yeah, I got one in Lynnwood, WA. Didn't come to a complete stop at a red light making right turn while the cross traffic was on a left turn arrow cycle. $128 (but I protested it and got it knocked down to $64). Total money grab. Had to send all my correspondence to some place in Arizona, and the payment processing was in Cincinatti, Ohio. | ||
| Jaimec |
When he was alive, John Denver would often recite this poem. To me, a traffic camera is "the ambulance down in the valley." It nails you AFTER you've committed "the crime." To prevent the crime from happening in the first place, a UNIFORMED TRAFFIC CONTROL GUARD (or policeman) could write tickets against the actual driver, but his/her mere presence will cause drivers to THINK about what they're doing and make them less likely to run it in the first place. The fact that they're more interested in ticketing after the fact tells me they don't give a rat's ass about your safety. They just want your money. See the previous article I posted where they were even more blatant about it. | ||
| 14d |
We've got a good number of the in Tucson and they're everywhere in phoenix. The speeding ones only go off for 11 over the limit and the red light cameras save video for something like three second before and after the picture. If they can't match the picture on your license to the one in the photo, they aren't supposed to ticket you and personally I've never heard of anyone on a bike (with a helmet on) getting one. There's all kinds of controversy over it right now, and the company is supposed to be raping the state on the deal. Arizona is said to not be renewing the contract in a couple years, so hopefully the cameras will go away. Bottom line though, they MUST physically serve you if you do not reply to the citation admitting guilt. They have 120 days to do so, or the ticket is null and void. Here's a funny store from a couple weeks ago. http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/traffic/traffic_ti ckets_court_day_07_26_2009 | ||
| Slaughter |
Yep. All the creative defenses against them have been tried and failed. If you're gonna bust a red light camera, just do it in somebody elses car with a bag over your head. | ||
| Slaughter |
I suppose IF you know where the camera is and really wanna have some fun: (they're not red light cameras but they ARE inspirational)   | ||
| Samiam |
Here's how I bust them...  Quite pricey but it works great. Has a lot of red light camera locations stored into it's GPS database, plust you can "mark" new ones. And it "learns" locations of automatic doors so MUCH fewer false alarms. Best $500 I've spent on the bike/car... -Sam | ||
| Sifo |
I don't really understand why people don't see that traffic cameras are there to keep people from running red lights. In our areas at least there are big signs posted stating that the intersection is monitored by traffic cameras. How is that different from a traffic cop sitting at the intersection. They put signs up months ahead of putting up the cameras around here. Gives people plenty of notice that they soon won't get away with running a red light there any more. New signs with orange flags on top when the cameras actually go in. Then they have a couple of months of sending out warnings with no penalty just to make sure that people have been made aware of the traffic cameras. After all of this someone runs a red light and complains that it's just about raising money. Sorry, but I don't get it. They are addressing a leading cause of accidents. Accidents that when they involve a motorcycle are too often fatal. Is it really too much to ask that you stop for a red light? Do you expect cross traffic to stop for their red light when your light is green? Think about it! | ||
| Etennuly |
They are in several places in Knoxville. At first they were only going to install a couple in areas that had a lot of accidents caused by people constantly running lights....."because they were so expensive". It became profitable. Each one bought another. This point was brought up by the public, but the politicians deny the profitability. Duh.....spend the next million it brings in on more camera's, and you still don't have a profit! Here they use a double camera deal. All timed out to get a picture of the driver and the rear of the car for the plate. You can go to court to get off for not being the driver in the picture, but you have to tell them who used your vehicle. There has been a lot of complaining about the impersonal ticket in the mail program. Best thing I can see to do is don't run the lights. Even if you think it may cause an accident, don't run the light(do not involve motorcycles in any way with this bad suggestion). Do not drive your own vehicle, wear oversize sunglasses and a fake beard, do not wear a shirt with your name on it. They were making so much they have even given days of forgiveness to large groups of violaters, probably too many to handle for certain court days. | ||
| 14d |
There's statistics that accidents at intersections with redlight cameras have gone up considerably after camera's have been installed (Can't find website atm). I've never gotten a ticket, had my picture taken, but had fully stopped or was in the towtruck with two on the hook and would have stopped on the other side of the intersection. The speed ones were in testing mode this spring and just sent you a warning with your picture. My bike was down, or I might have one to share.  | ||
| Midknyte |
I'm thinking they are the new cash cow.. Absolutely and completely. The lights are contracted out to a third party, with the city recieving a percentage of the ticket revenues. Beyond safety, the most galling aspect is the amount of revenue the city receives, or rather does not recieve. The average percentage to the cities is about 15%. Adding insult to injury - 85% f*cking percent of the revenues are not benefiting your locales in any way shape or form. Yet local officials accept the cameras in, often times as a result of bribes from the camera companies. It does not matter to them how much or how little the cameras end up making because easy money is easy money. Then that greed takes hold and they fiddle fart with the light times to squeeze even more from us... http://www.motorists.org/blog/6-cities-that-were-c aught-shortening-yellow-light-times-for-profit/ more... http://www.techdirt.com/search.php?site=&cx=partne r-pub-4050006937094082%3Acx0qff-dnm1&cof=FORID%3A9 &ie=ISO-8859-1&q=red+light+camera | ||
| Rex |
We have them in Phoenix and all over Arizona. they do mark the area with yellow diamond signs, but I never trust the cameras. they have cameras set up as soon as you enter arizona from other states, on the down side of the hills. Welcome to Arizona. the ones on the highways are there and a pain. I've been flashed before, going at the speed limit or under the speed limit. the intersection ones are the ones I cannot stand. No matter how fast I go legally or how slow, I cannot hit the lights when it is green. If I go slow waiting on it to turn red, it never does till i am in the intersection. If I go fast, it always changes when I am in the intersection. Plus the traffic lights do not trigger with a motorcycle. so sometimes at 11 pm, you can sit at a light all night. But the minute you try to go thru thru, it would recognize you on a bike and flash you. One night I was going thru with my bike at the proper speed, etc. still flashed me. I did not receive a ticket on that one though. they did get me in payson on a dark, rainy night coming thru a small town. a wide spot in the road, starting to slow down, and bang, got the 200 dollar ticket. Personally, I think we should vote everyone out of the office that is currently holding a spot, and vote new people in, that would take the lights down. a very dangerous thing on the roads. Traffic is flowing along great people see the lights and all start throwing on their brakes. A real traffic problem for accidents this way too. Just my point of view. I don't like them, I don't trust them, and it is only a money revenue stream. | ||
| Hootowl |
There are a few where I live too. People would routinely run the lights before they were put up. Now I rarely see someone blast through one. Tells me the cameras make a difference. The big sign that says "photo enforced intersection" is as good as a police officer sitting there IMO. | ||
| 14d |
Explaining what to do http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/ 12/how_to_beat_a_photo_enforcemen.php Article about increase in accidents http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/21/al exandrias-unneeded-traffic-cameras/ | ||
| Fast1075 |
There are no warning signs here...some of the cameras are very easy to spot becuse they are big and hung out in plain view. The newer ones are tiny and installed in such a way at to be nearly impossible to see. I have nothing against busting blatant red light runners...it should be done...but one of the guys here at work got a ticket for "obstructing a crosswalk" when his bumper was just across the line...he ended up there because some moron in traffic control decided TWO SECONDS of amber light duration was enough...another guy got a redlight running ticket....he was making a left turn from a turn only lane...two cars ahead of him...the green and amber lights were of such short duration, he "violated" before he could complete the turn. CASH COW!!! The good thing about being here is....our roads are by and large TOP NOTCH...(we gotta have good roads for the touristas  )Now if they put speed cameras up on my best set of twisties...I'm screwed...lol (Message edited by fast1075 on August 06, 2009) | ||
| Midknyte |
Solution? Move to Mississippi... http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-d iscussion/mississippi-bans-red-light-and-speed-cam eras/7494/page1/ | ||
| Fast1075 |
Land of my birth...we left there in '58 to search for the promised land. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Look at this site, & count yourselves lucky, it's not a lot better in France either except they have to put warning signs up before the cameras. http://www.speedcam.co.uk/ | ||
| Jaimec |
As the article I posted earlier pointed out: Many municipalities were nailed for using shorter than standard yellow lights to INCREASE the amount of income the cameras produce. Dirt bags. Hire COPS!! Put people to WORK!! A working policeman is not only a deterrent, but he earns MONEY that he can spend in the community on himself and his family. That money goes back into the community. WTF does a camera do? All the money from those things go back into the politicians who approved them and contribute NOTHING to society. By putting people out of work, it only increases the burden on the local government. I'm all for safety, but the cameras are the wrong way to go. | ||
| Hootowl |
I feel exactly the opposite way. When I see a cop on the side of the road writing traffic tickets, and then I hear about how that municipality can't fight real crime because they don't have enough officers, it makes be want to go on a rampage. Put officers to work apprehending murderers, rapists, and shoplifters. More traffic cops are not something I'm willing to pay for. You want more arson investigators? Fine. | ||
| Court |
NYC uses Nikon D200's . . . but . . you can do SOMETHING ABOUT IT. | ||
| Ducbsa |
I rarely see anyone actually stop at a stop sign or at a red light when turning right. Someday, they are not going to expect me to stop in front of them and it is going to hurt. I would welcome hundreds of small cameras to put the fear in the drivers. | ||
| Edgydrifter |
And in MY neck of the woods, intersections with 3rd-party red light cameras installed have also experienced dramatically shortened yellow-light durations. I'm sure it's just a meaningless coincidence, right? Nothing to see here... move along, citizens... (Message edited by edgydrifter on August 06, 2009) | ||
| Danny_h__jesternut |
Oh Boo Hoo, Ya get what you deserve. If ya do the crime then pay the fine. If you obay the traffic laws then what are ya crying/worried for? Sorry but nobodie can be trusted to do the right thing TFB. Every ticket I have got I deserved, no crying to the Judge, I took the responsabilits for my actions,and jest paid the fine like a grown man. Jest think the cops don't have to baby sit the reds and stops, now they can patrol the twisties and nail all the rickie racers haulin butt, go to jail Ha Ha. | ||
| Hootowl |
I don't know what outfit runs the cameras near my house, but the yellow times are the same as they were before the cameras were installed. | ||
| Sifo |
Hire COPS!! Put people to WORK!! A working policeman is not only a deterrent, but he earns MONEY that he can spend in the community on himself and his family. That money goes back into the community. Nothing against cops, the good ones deserve the utmost respect, but the salary that they get is a drain on the community not a benefit. They are on the government payroll and have to be paid with tax dollars. That's dollars that the people that earned them can't spend. The government has to have police however, but the more they can do with less officers the better. Traffic light cameras allow cops to be doing something more productive. A sign at a photo enforced intersection is far more cost effective than a cop camping out there. |
