Got Caught By a Red Light Camera?

I realize this thread is about red light cameras but it seems to have taken another direction. On Long Island, Nassau County implemented a school spped zone camera program. When it was introduced the politicians taunted it as a way to close a 30 million dollar budget gap. After a few complained that they shouldn't put cameras in school zones as "money makers". The powers then changed their tune and said the camera were for safety. Lol. Fast forward five months, surrounded by way too much controversy, the program was ended. But here are some raw facts: the cameras were set to issue a ticket to those that exceeded the posted school speed limit by 9 mph. So math say you get a ticket when traveling 29 in a 20 mph zone, sounds reasonable. The program issued over 400,000 tickets from September to late November to the tune of $31 million. I don't know but those numbers do indicate a tremendous problem with speeders in school zones, imo.

Not a huge fan of the way cameras have been implemented but...

Unfortuantely, it's a lot easier than you think to get ahold of the owners address and once in the Iowa system you are no longer immune.

The newer cameras can incorporate license plate readers. It would be easy to stage a live officer downstream and when a car with multiple tickets is detected, he gets pulled over, his address goes into the system and he gets a handful of tickets (and little lienency in an attempt to get SD to play along)

This probably addresses a once in 10yr trip across country but if you live near the border, it could be a real mess when they do catch up with you.

This is the heart of the issue! So many towns are setting unrealistically low speed limits, so that they can generate revenue.

valhalla360 wrote:

The more important issue is are the speed limits and signal timings set correctly.

If you set a speed limit too low, you actually increase the probability of crashes.

3oaks wrote:
I don't see anything wrong with red light cameras or electronic speed recording devices as long as they are calibrated accurately. Just obey the traffic laws and they will be a non issue. :R

The more important issue is are the speed limits and signal timings set correctly.

I'm a traffic engineer and set both (I haven't done cameras as the states I typicaly work in don't allow them).

If you set a speed limit too low, you actually increase the probability of crashes.

Likewise there are nationally accepted formulas for setting yellow/all red intervals. Setting them consistently allows motorists to react consistently and largely eliminates any arguements about drivers being unable to stop.

When used properly, these devices provide a margin for error (ie: no ticket is issued for 56 in a 55.

I don't see anything wrong with red light cameras or electronic speed recording devices as long as they are calibrated accurately. Just obey the traffic laws and they will be a non issue. :R

Ohio also just passed a new law requiring any citations issued from a red light or speed camera must be personally witnessed by a police officer. That effectively puts them out of business. Goes into effect April 1. However, Ohio cities that are using them are expected to take the new law to court, saying it is an infringement on Ohio's city home rule law. We'll see how this plays out. In Toledo, they budgeted $3.5 MILLION as income from their red light and speed cameras for 2015. Only about half of the notices ever get paid, and I don't know why anyone would pay them. The current law has no teeth, they can't issue a warrant or seize property (like a car), all they can do is send it to a collection agency, and they can't even put it on your credit record.

Red light cameras are ineffective. If intersections that have these cameras for some time still have a lot of violators, and camera citations are still issued in large numbers, what's gained other than the city and the camera owners making $$$ off them?

Even that editorial points out the biggest issue with the speed / red light cameras -- the corruption that seems to be rampant with them. Between kick backs to politicians for contracts, changing the timing of the yellow light intentionally to catch people, and changing speed limit sections on highways with, again, the sole intention to catch people - the cameras are not good. The idea behind them may not be bad (depending on how you look at it), but the implementation has been horrible.

NJ just ended their trial program for red light cameras. Good riddance! There were a couple of these near my house, and I know several people who got red light camera tickets for making a right on red without coming to a full stop. I watched several of the videos of these scofflaws flouting the law as they were video'd. Did they come to a complete stop? No. For all the videos I watched, they were barely moving and I doubt an officer would have ticketed them. Some towns even started to make up their own rules about how many seconds you have to stop fore before proceeding in a right on red. I don't think they increased safety at all. Even the mayor of Pohatcong (where 2 of these cameras were) is glad to be rid of them.

dons2346 wrote:
Well, if you are a South Dakota resident and have SD plates, worry no more. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/3/editorial-three-cheers-for-south-dakota/

The article talks about speed cameras, not red light cameras.

I was never fond of photo radar but I do like the idea of red light cameras. We have them here but they are set to go off only if a vehicle enters the intersection on a red. There was a lot of resistance to photo radar when we had it and now it's gone but I haven't heard of any when it comes to red light cameras. Most crashes happen at intersections and I think most people understand that running a red light is a heck of a lot more dangerous than just exceeding a speed limit.