O/T....Kinda......Red light camera pocket lightener coming to a town near you!

While going to the Road Devils show in New Jersey last month a bunch of us decided to cut through Manhattan that saturday morning...Today i received a 3 picture set of my A roadster going through an intersection while the light was red...{horror of horrors!....I'm sure it was yellow when i started across}.....Now, do i deserve the fine?...{$50.00....Being that this is NYC, home to the $55.00 hamburger and $100.00 Kobe steak, i actually got off easily}.....Sure i do but it just got me thinking with these cameras everywhere how it is really just a source of revenue and if it just happens to prevent an accident than that is just a side note. Statistics in big cities say they do nothing but fill the coffers of the city and the company that maintains them and haven't had an effect on accident rates like they are supposed to.....

Allright, i'll get off my soapbox and go write a $50.00 check

 

Revenue generator. Nothing more.

 

It would be interesting if you were well into the intersection, when the "red" photo was snapped. Obviously you were doing the "New York" yellow technique It was imported to Boston after pioneered in NYC?
I think I'd say "Sorry guys, I entered a Yellow, and rather than panic brake and block the intersection...

 

they are revenue generators for certain, but they do cut down on the red light jammers...was back home last week in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the city is littered with red light camers and photo radar boxes.

My sister in law got two tickets, same intersection, same camera, same day.........and yes they are well signed, lots of warning........................... But then again I remember when I was driving a parts truck in high school, one other parts driver got two tickets in the same "mass" radar trap ( I went through...but wasn't speeding ), they had a bike with a radar gun at the top of a train overpass behind the guardrail and a half a dozen cars waiting as he called the plates and descriptions out to the coppers at the bottom of the hill at the red light. the driver told me at 9 am he got another one again ...not three hours later !

My father always told me " you can tell some people, but you can't tell them much! ( and he was a traffic cop for 28 years ! )

Derek

 

Mike Bloomburg is an asshole,so was Giuliani(and I voted for him!)Watch out for the surcharge,might cost you $110.Believe me,I know!

 

Get T-boned at a red light some time. You'll have a new appreciation for them.

-Brad

 

r da pics good ru smilin?

 

Those cameras are popping up around the area here also. I don't mind stopping for red lights but I'm really starting to wonder about all the cameras they are putting down I-44. (Remember big brother is watching you!!) I think I need to move to the desert, or at least further west...

 

They just outlawed them in the next town. A bunch of locals hired a lawyer and went to court and won.

 

Don't run the red and you won't have a problem. It is not rocket science. In the last few years more and more people think they can just keep going, 5 deep thru the red all the time. Same thing with the idiots that pull into and block an intersection that they can clearly see that they aren't going to cross.

 

Haven't done much good in the metro ATL area, or at least the area that I frequent.

 

They have 2 in Austin now (just on a trial basis). Signs of times to come. Let 'em try 'em, we'll never get rid of them. I personally don't need any government big brother watching me for any reason (yes, I am an old bastard that gave up reckless driving many years ago). It still rubs me the wrong way for people to give up rights and liberties for the "common good and public safety". Stay home if your afraid to take your chances on the road!

 

city of Beaverton Oregon got busted for shortening the time the yellow light was lit. then the following year they got thrown out again. seems the company that the city had doing the dirty work didn't renew their 2 year license with the state.
the part that makes them barely legal is the registered owner gets the citation not the licensed driver at the time the photo was taken. the one I got I just filled out the back and said it wasn't me and I don't know who it was. got a letter that it was dismissed.
Oregon will cite you you a $600 ticket for no front plate. I spray mine with oil and let it collect dirt. I never wash the plate when I wash the car. haven't got any more tickets

 

Just this evening I was stopped at a red light at an intersection equipped with a camera when a guy come blasting through the red light, you could see him coming and you knew he wasn't going to stop. Luckily no one was coming through the intersection. Could have witness a bad one. I hope the camera was working. Just because a cop didn't see you do doesn't make it ok. Bottom line is just don't run red lights and you you wont have any problems.

 

They tried it in Clive, Iowa - near Des Moines with the same results. The Courts said they couldn't do it.

 

They have been putting them up in Phila for a while. There are 2 intersections in NE Philly that are listed in the top ten dangerous intersections in the whole country. Heard a story of a guy who got a pic of his car running the light, he sent them a picture of a check. They sent him back a picture of handcuffs.. He mailed them a check.

I got a letter once from the state of PA litter patrol because someone saw me toss a cigarette butt out of my window and turned in my license #. Funniest thing was the the location they said the infraction happened was....YEP one of those 2 most dangerous intersections !!!! ( No Shit!!)

Glad to see one of those " Club Sandwitches Not Seals " douchebags was busy watching what I threw out the window instead of watching the intersection !!! Fuckin dirty feet, sandal wearing, hairy armpit, hybrid drivin cocknockers!

 

I bet you pay more attention to the yellow and red lights now. If so I guess the camera system works. I bet you will tell your friends about your deal and they will also watch the lights closer. It sucks having to pay 50.00 but what can you do when they send you a picture. I guess you could autograph it and send it back. Good luck, Keith

 

You order the T-bone first. If it looks good on your plate I'll think about ordering one for myself.

 

You guys should try Australia for those fuckers and radar traps. In Melb they are every 5km!!

 

Frankly, that's another thing I'd really like to see--people who think the world is their ash tray getting cited for throwing their butts out the window. What's so damn hard about using the ashtray in your car? Oh...it's dirty and it stinks...okay.
Seriously. Look at an intersecting some time and you'll be amazed at the piles of cigarette butts. Wanna smoke? that's fine. take the time to throw your butts in the garbage, instead of littering.

-Brad

 

I had to see if you were one of the tree huggers from Cali.
I quit smoking 2 years ago. Dirty habit but I loved it. If they ever make smpkes that are not bad for you I will be the first in line to get em.

 

Me, a tree hugger from California?! Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I don't even know where to begin...They say if Global Warming isn't reigned in, then the polar ice caps will melt, causing New York, Los Angeles and Florida to be under three feet of water or more...I regularly release an entire can of Right Gaurd into the atmosphere just to help that along.
I do that when I'm not driving a polluting SUV or shooting small furry woodland creatures to put on my dinner table. I use an assault rifled to target shoot the cans of Right Gaurd. Doesn't take as long that way, and helps keep my aim sharp. We call that a "win-win" here in Flyover Country.

-Brad

 

Speeding and running red lights are a no-no and cameras should be too. You young folks will live to regret this infringement of privicy. The patriot act is an infringement as well. Nothing good has or will come of it. It is a sorry statement that it makes you feel safer. Sorry for the rant. I am sure that George, Thomas, and Ben Franklin are turning over in their graves.

 

Some a-hole in a semi blew through a red light as I was driving around town this evening. The nut had time to stop too. What's worse is that he caught the next light full red and rolled halfway through the intersection before it was green again. The worst of it, he had three crosses on his cab door. I guess the big man even forgives blatant pricks. Would have liked to see him get a ticket though.

 

$50 bucks,,,,,,,,,,in California, the fine is $471

What people tend to forget is driving is a priviledge, not a right. When ever I witness an accident, I will get involved because you know the person at fault will lie and deny. People complain that theres never a cop when you need one (good reason for photo radar and red light cameras) but also complain that there is one cuz you got caught.

 

How do the cameras work anyhow, do they film the whole time the light is red or are they tripped by something ? If they film the whole time and get no one that's a big waste of the tax payer's $$$

 

It seems they work with a timer,I got mine because someone decided to make a u-turn on Houston st,NYC.Madness! I got caught in intersection,had to pay.By the way,I was T-boned by a guy running a red,not the same day, but the cameras didn't seem to slow him down!

 

over here some of the cameras are linked, digital with ANPR (they read your registration number) and average speed ...you slow for the camera then speed up and slow for the next...they get you because they calculate your average speed over the distance (that can be up to 30 or 40 miles!!). Not only that but they check your road tax, insurance and MOT (roadworthyness cert) all at the same time.
In certain areas the speed limit has been lowered at the cameras just so they get you. There are variable speed limits depending on the time of day and traffic conditions. There are mobile camera vans (called "Safety Cameras"!!!!) who hide behind bushes, bends, traffic signs, in peoples drives etc. Some areas have Zero tolerence 30mph means 30mph, 30-35 gets you a course costing £60 or a fine of £60 and 3 points on your licence , over that it's a fine and points... 12 points means you get a driving ban. You got caught 3 times in one journey....that would be £180 and 9 points...
Revenue gathering??? you fucking bet there's one camera on the North Circular road in London that makes £120000 per day!!!!!

 

They tried Portable Photo Radar here in the "School Zones." No one would have stood for it except it was supposed to protect the kids, right? Well whomever the moron was that negotiated with the contractor to operate the thing worded it so poorly that the contractor could "Declare" just about anywhere in the school district a "school zone." The contractor also didn't always put the proper speed limit in the machine so there were tickets for people that weren't even speeding.

After the ruckus (and the pending law suits) the Municipality finally pulled it (gee its costing more than it's generating, how about that). So I don't expect it here anytime soon. So tomorrow I will probably see them puting up a red light camera on my way home.

Call me old fashioned but if I screw up I believe I should be reprimanded right away, not when they get around to it.

 

Next will be estimating the time it takes to go from one toll booth to another then sending you a speeding ticket if that time was too short.....Just wait.....Another thing about the cameras.....It clearly shows me alone in the roadster......Suppose i was with Paris Hilton going to a hotel room for her to practice her "oral technique" for her next home movie and the little lady at home opens the mail and see's those long flowing blonde locks in the pass. seat of the roadster.....{just a scenario....Dare to dream}.....Now big brother is involved in my personal life