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Italian Red Lights Rigged With Short Yellow Light
suraj.sun writes with an excerpt from Ars Technica which brings to mind the importance of auditable code for hardware used in law enforcement: "It's no secret that red light cameras are often used to generate more ticket revenue for the cities that implement them, but a scam has been uncovered in Italy that has led to one arrest and 108 investigations over traffic systems being rigged to stop sooner for the sole purpose of ticketing more motorists."
reducing the yellow will probably make the intersection more dangerous.
From a theoretical point of view, it shouldn't make the intersection more dangerous, it should just increase the ticket revenue.
According to traffic laws across lots of countries, a yellow light doesn't "push the accelerator and try to make it through as fast as possible".
A yellow light means, "try stopping if you can, because the light will turn red soon - if you can't stop, only then you should cross" - with a yellow light you're supposed to stop anyway (just like with a red one) if you still have enough braking distance to stop.
If a driver sees a yellow light from far away, no matter how short the duration of this light, still has enough time and braking distance to come to a stop before crossing.
If a driver sees a yellow light really near, right before crossing, that means that the drivers hasn't the necessary braking distance to stop before crossing. Therefore the driver should be allowed to cross.
A normal traffic light stays yellow long enough to let the driver reach the other side of the crossing.
A yellow light shortened way too much means that the driver can't escape the ticket : the light turned yellow too late, at a moment when the car can't be stoped before crossing and is forced to continue. But as the light turns red too fast, the car still hasn't reached the other side of the crossing and can be ticketed by the camera.
The other traffic light won't turn green simultaneously (there's always some safety margin). Thus no car will come crash sideways against the tricked driver.
So in theory, there's no additional risk of collision, only the risk that the driver won't be able to make through the crossing before the red light in case the driver couldn't brake in time.
But, yes, in practice, lots of drivers will probably slam their accelerator even harder, and this increase in speed will probably bring more accidents.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I think the crooks running the city of San Diego originated this. They had the redlight cameras shut down in 2001 for doing it. They put them at intersections where there was a high percentage of people that would pay the tickets and not at "Dangerous" intersections. Then they tweaked the timing on the lights and started raking in the dough. Read about it here.
why not rely on brakelights to prevent rear end accidents? because if i need to slow down, i downshift, you don't see brakelights unless i'm slowing down REALLY fast
ok, you got me there. =P
actually, i stayed in Melrose Park, a western suburb of Chicago, one summer with a tattoo artist friend of mine. it was a predominantly Italian town that, as i understand, was run by (or at the very least had close ties to) the mob. needless to say, the local police were a bit corrupt. the cops also didn't seem to mind that we were smoking pot or doing lines of coke in front of them since my friend and his family were well known in the community.
coincidentally, a few weeks before i left their entire police department was raided by SWAT teams and the FBI. apparently the police chief had been busted for--supposedly--embezzling over a hundred million dollars (how he did that as a police chief of a small suburb i have no clue). but still, that did make the news and wasn't something that happened everyday.
And that general strategy is what got me rear ended once! A truck had cut in front of me blocking the signal, so when I could again see the signal it was yellow and I had no idea how long it had been so. I didn't enter the intersection - cost the insurance company of the guy behind me a bunch of money! In fact, I could have easily made it into the intersection before the light turned red, but I didn't want to risk a "running red" ticket so made a split second decision to risk an accident because of a tailgater behind me instead.
Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading
I had an idea a little while ago that involved adding an LED timer right next to the stoplight that counts down to red when the light turns yellow, to tell people exactly how much time they have before it turns red.
Why hasn't something like this been added yet?
they might slam right into you.
All these drivers (read: Freakin' morons) slamming into others simply because somebody slowed down in front of them shouldn't be on the road. When an adequate distance is maintained between the two vehicles, if the one in front slows or stops there's no reason the one behind shouldn't physically be able to do the same thing. The distance should be adjusted accordingly. If it's wet or slippery, the distance should be increased. As the speed goes up, the distance should also go up. It's just common sense. But unfortunately I see a lack of common sense every day. Some people think it's NASCAR out there and they have to draft the vehicle in front. Unfortunately (speed x reaction time) > distance between vehicles.
I once had a car really close to me in a dangerous street, and I couldn't seem to shake him (couldn't change lane, he wouldn't take the hint). Luckily I remembered something my father had told me, about racing cars of yore, that they would hit the brake lightly without releasing the throttle, so that the lights would go on without decreasing speed by much.
It scared the shit out of the car behind me and he braked hard, hopefully he learnt a lesson. And had I had to brake hard at an intersection later on (it's a long road with intersections every 100 metres), it would have probably saved my life.
Sometimes the best defence...
These people could use your money and support: http://www.motorists.org/
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Here in the Chicago suburbs, a red-light camera made the news recently. It is at the entrance to a large and very busy mall. In its first month of operation, over 7000 tickets were mailed out. Many of the tickets were people legally turning right on red. These people shouldn't worry, though. Here in the USA we have the right to face our accuser...oh, never mind.
In my town, they claim that the camera tickets do not count against the point system on our licenses; I don't know if that is statewide, a local ordinance, or just false. The village officials were saying anything to try and quiet the public outcry when the cameras started appearing about 6 months ago. Funny how the ticket sticks as far as paying a fine, but the rest of the official law doesn't apply. It really is all about the revenue.
As a person who detests the abuse of the laws like this, it really bothers me. As a driver, it doesn't matter as much to me - I am not one of the yellow-light hotshots. Driving fast on open roads is more my thing.
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. It only affects the people around you. Same thing when you're stupid.
On top of it all, red light and speed cameras have been known to be wildly inaccurate at times, which is why some teenagers have taken to pranking their enemies by masking their cars with fake license plates and speeding through lights so that they get caught on camera.
I know in Canada a car can't be charged with running a red light. The driver must be charged. How does issuing the tickets work if people can be falsely charged?
If the driver behind you cannot see you are slowing down (with brake lights coming on) and stopping, and slammed into you instead, he has no business driving a car.
The idea that because someone is tailgating you so you cannot slow down is stupid. I always slow down when someone tailgates me (slowly! just pull up your feet from the gas pedal and let the car coast, press very lightly on the brake to light up the brake lights at the back), both to give more reaction time for both of us in case the car in front stops, and to agitate him so he will switch lanes and pass me ASAP.
Oliver.