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Traffic Cameras in D.C.
Kappelmeister writes "The Washington Post has an article about red-light-running and speeding cameras all over D.C. that have issued over half a million citations to date. (Police send you a ticket and photographic proof up to a month after the fact.) Though the cameras successfully reduce dangerous driving and boost the city's revenue, a lot of wrongful citations fall through the cracks and give some that guilty-until-proven-innocent feeling. Once again, how far is too far?" I came across this much more informative investigation of D.C.'s traffic cameras a few weeks ago. It's heavy on facts and figures, and hammers home the observation that an extra second of yellow light is at least as good at promoting good behavior, but much less lucrative for the local government and the contracting firm.
They went down to the intersection with had the most red-light running. As they were interviewing a couple people who said that the camera was faulty, and that there really was a flaw with the camera system, they caught 3 people run the red light.
It was just amusing that an independent camera placed there for a few minutes during rush hour caught the same people.
I think that every time I were to receive a ticket for this from one of these cameras, I would contest it in court. There is no proof that you were driving the car at the time, so why should you receive points against your record for the crime, not to mention the cost of the ticket and the rise in your insurance costs?
They have this in my area (RTP, NC) too. It's fairly well known that unless you're actually innocent, you can't get out of it.
You need to prove that you weren't driving, it wasn't actually your car, etc.
One nice thing about the system is that if you're caught with the cameras, it's not treated like a moving violation. You don't get any points on your record and your insurance isn't impacted.
The system doesn't bother me. It only catches guilty people, it's less fallible than the police, and it provides more money to the local gov. (I like our local gov). And most importantly, it makes the street safer. Let's not forget that running red lights kills people. Punishing the guys that do that is a good thing.
Vanguard
That which does not kill me only makes me whinier
Almst all stated have a document stored at the "Department of Highways/Paths/Roadways" that list recommended yellow-light times vs speed. Usually they are quite conservitive: here in Washington State the WADOT recommends 7 seconds for a 35 MPH zone. Of courss, light arn't set this way. Video tape the light in question, bring document and present in court. You win!
Oh, and supoenna the cop just to make his life miserable. Especially if he's a motorcycle cop. If if the cop is a chick - maby you could strike up a conversation about hand-cuffs afterwards.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Doesn't yellow mean "stop if you can do so safely"? Not, "if you think you can get across the line before the red, go for it!"?
Note: I'm not American, but my question reflects the laws where I learnt, and where I live now.
I work for a company that provides this "service" (through a sister company) for many municipalities in the US, so my opinion may be influenced.
I am against this, unless, the "gotcha" line is well painted in the intersection and well labeled. It is wrong to have some "hidden" line in the intersection. Many people who are going through the light do not know when they are into the ticket zone. Many people assume it is the white "stop here" line...in many cases it isn't. Some places that do this have adjusted their "gotcha" line so it is far into the intersection as a way to boost tickets. People assume that since they are "in" the intersection before the light turns red, they are ok. The practice of a hidden "gotcha" line is wrong, and unethical. Other than that, I don't have a major problem with the system, as long as it is well marked ("this is a red light camera intersection"), and has a very visible "gotcha" line.
I am posting anonymously for obvious reasons.
These things are endemic in the UK, both lights and speed cameras. Some consequences and quirks:
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
We have some interesting new ones over here in the UK now - they take note of license plates as you drive down the road, and if they see a license plate further on but sooner than it could possibly have arrived there if it was obeying the limit then it notes your plate down and takes a photo.
:) ).
So you can do 30mph in the 30mph camera zone, do 50 to the next camera, slow down to 30 again and whallop you'll get hammered.
Presumably it's the technology that TrafficMaster licensed from the police, now that it's been refined and its reliable they are using it to enforce the limits in a much more "reliable" way than assuming people will be good and obey the speed limit when they aren't being watched.
We have tons of the red-light cameras here in London and large quantities of speed cameras.
I don't have a problem with them personally, as someone else has said on the thread - yellow means stop unless it is dangerous to do so. Yellow doesn't mean you can still go, it's as good as Red. I still see lots of people using the rule:
Green means go.
Yellow means go.
Red means go if you think you can.
Lights and speed limits are there for safety folks, and while I would disagree with agencies from manipulating the lights in order to encourage higher "failings", fact is, if there is always a minimum yellow period then you've got no excuse, sorry, if that light is yellow then you are obligated to stop, immediately, no questions and no arguments, unless it is unsafe to do so.
I don't see Tailgating as a valid excuse either, my wifes solution to tailgaters is to speed up to put some distance between them - she hasn't yet twigged that this just means that they'll speed up themselves. The proper solution is to slow down so that you can drive within your normal tolerances given the distance between you and the vehicle behind - if that means you're doing 5mph because they're bumpering you, tough, they'll soon get annoyed and burn rubber past you (which becomes even more satisfying if they then nab themselves a speeding ticket from the camera moments later down the road
Matt.
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I've heard that in Russia and countries close to Russia, all the lights are yellow at the same time, and then they flick from yellow to green and yellow to red simultaneously. A friend of mine went over there with an exchange student he met in the states. He said that there are two speeds of cars: Off, and Maximum. And with a red-yellow-green sequence, it's like get ready, set, go. He says it makes you appreciate yellow lights in America - if you run a yellow light over there, you're probably dead. Yet somehow, he never saw a traffic accident.
~z
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