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NYC Mayor Wants Traffic Camera On Every Corner
Mr_Blank writes "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made it clear that he wants to see more traffic light cameras in the Big Apple, saying that he'd have the devices on every street corner if possible. According to The New York Daily News, the city brought in $52 million in fines generated by red light cameras last year alone. Bloomberg doesn't just want a jump in the number of cameras, however. He also wants to publish the names of those who blow through the stop lights in local papers to help shame wrongdoers into changing their ways. What's more, the mayor wants to look into the possibility of adding speed cameras to the mix. Big brother is coming to NYC."
It's all in pursuit of another revenue stream. New York City is full of this kind of nickel-and-diming. Check out this parking ticket scam on truck drivers.
It sounds like a perfect plan. I *LOVE* the idea. It sounds great!
There are exceptions to it though.
The day they start doing it, I could just imagine flashmobs, or even the Anonymous group, going around with pre-printed license plate stickers with the mayors plate number on them. They could slap them on every car they can . Sure, it wouldn't be *every* car in the city, but it would be enough for the Mayor himself to be published as running stop lights thousands of times per day. That, parking tickets, etc, etc.
These printed plates with numbers on them are such old technology, and so prone to counterfeiting, I'm surprised they're still used. They rank right up with paper cheques for transferring money. They're trivial to print for illegitimate uses, once you have the required numbers.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Not necessarily. They had speed cameras on the highways and freeways here in Arizona, and once Janet Napolitano left as Governor to be Secretary of Homeland Security at the Federal level, the new Governor, Jan Brewer, removed them.
In the City of Tempe, they had an agreement with Redflex Traffic Systems for red-light cameras, but that agreement has ended and the cameras have been shut off. Granted, the agreement's end happened in part because Redflex was too stupid to stipulate that they got a cut when an offender went to traffic school and got the fine scrubbed from their record, as opposed to having an actual ticket, so when they pushed that Tempe just nixed the entire arrangement at the next opportunity. The lawsuit is still pending.
One problem with photo enforcement is that the camera doesn't stop you and serve you a ticket like police officer does when pulling you over. Instead, they mail the fine to you, but because you haven't been officially and legally served yet, if you ignore the mailing then they have to actually send a person to serve you the ticket in the manner of a process server. Here, a LOT of people have been ignoring the mailings, and they're considering changing the law to not require the in-person serving, but they're receiving resistance to that. So, if a bargain-basement process server costs $40 for three attempts, it's difficult to argue the cost of the process server should be added to the ticket since the complainant didn't pull over the defendant and serve them a ticket in the first place.
I think that if they're going to institute Red Light Photo Enforcement, they need to paint an actual intersection-entering stop line prominently on the ground. The stop line for the crosswalk isn't the start of the intersection, it's further forward. One might assume one's in the clear if one is crossing the crosswalk, but they technically haven't entered the intersection yet.
Of course in my world, I'd define the start of the intersection as the stop line before the crosswalk. But I guess we don't care about pedestrians...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
A friend of mine recently became embroiled in a small claims suit after he go involved in a no fault, non injury accident with a cabby at a dangerous intersection on a parkway.
The suit was brought by the cabby because the accident was his second in 5 years. This is important because of the monetization the city has implemented over the cab industry, and the resulting imposed legislation. As a result of the accident the cabby was not legally eligable to work and was discharged without pay. For this reason the cabby filed small claims for lost wages against my friend.
Long story short, rediculous things like this happen frequently in NYC because the city government legally taps the till of public transit, and does so because it does not spend money efficiently. This is one of the many reasons that public transit in NYC is abysmal.
The underlying problem (poor fiscal policy, and corrupt contracts with construction unions) causes the city to seek any and all forms of extraordinary rendition of funds from the public and from its civil servants, such as registered cab companies.
This is why the mayor wants to institute a KNOWN bad solution. The problem it aims to fix is NOT dangerous traffic-- it is ALL about revinue. Installing more cameras ans watching more people means more people will get caught and will pay bigger fines.
That is what NYC knows that FS doesn't.
More than half of the tickets in LA were sent to people who were legally turning right on red. In may cases this was obvious in the photograph but they still had to squander most of a day waiting for their turn in Traffic court. There's no right on red in NYC. Cuts down on gridlock and makes the crosswalks safer for pedestrians and makes brainless traffic cameras more accurate.
Not at all. The best recent breakthrough in getting people to stop speeding have been big signs that show you your speed. Now, just about in every school zone, I get a flashing light when I'm going over 20mph. No cop, no ticket, no privacy invasion. I get a personal message that I am breaking the law. And really, that's all it takes.
Someone's obviously thinking about this problem. Sounds much more likely to have an impact than receiving a ticket in the mail two weeks later.
One other idea I had was to configure traffic lights to turn red for 5 minutes if someone is speeding in the road leading up to them, and a ticker at the intersection showing the number plate of the offender for all to see. There's no justice like angry mob justice :)
Interesting Houston has been going through traffic camera limbo, first they voted to have them, then not have them, then have them again because of some contract and now finally the city has decided to break the contract and repeal the ordinance that allowed them in the first place. So all the traffic cameras that are up are going to be turned off and to get them back on again or install any new ones the mayor and the city council will have to pass a new ordinance which likely won't happen any time soon. It's been a surprisingly big issue locally.
My father recently got a 'fine' for not coming to a full stop on a red when he was going to make a right trun he slowed down stopped and then made the turn but the camera decided no it wasn't kosher he didn't come to a 100% complete stop for the required amount of time so he got a fine. All they could do was fine him 75 bucks and say he couldn't renew his registration till he did it. Turns out you can renew online and bypass any such thing so that's what he did and he still hasn't payed the silly fine.
Washington, DC...
was not designed to be an inhabited city. It was designed for looks. Nobody was supposed to be a permanent resident of Washington, D.C.
That's why it's such a shithole. Compared to NYC, which is a shithole because they keep electing Bloomberg mayor (how is this guy not in jail, anyway -- he proudly has boasted about sending people under his employ and direction to states other than New York, having instructed them to BREAK FEDERAL LAW BY LYING on paperwork for firearm purchases, and then illegally transporting those firearms back into New York state. none of this was done with any authority other than his as a *private citizen*, since the powers of a mayor end at the edge of his jurisdiction and the entire affair was his own private enterprise).
DC was actually very well designed if it was kept to its original purpose, but they kept letting people build houses all over the place instead of kicking them to the curb like they should have.. now look at it. good lord. i'd rather be homeless in alaska than a homeowner in DC.
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
The cop stops you, immediately, thus ending the unsafe situation on the road.
Remember, traffic enforcement is about the safety of the public, not revenue generation.
traffic lights cannot resolve an unsafe situation. at best, they'll stop it roughly 2 weeks after it's happened.
if traffic tickets were, in fact, simply a form of revenue generation and not intended to be rules by which the roads may be made safer for all using them?
well by golly, if that were the case, it sure would be a good idea to use traffic cameras! same revenue stream as an officer, less overhead!
of course, we all know traffic tickets really ARE about revenue generation, but if they were to admit that the public would be on their ass to reform the system -- and so long as they're keeping up the charade that it's all about keeping us safe, traffic cameras should absolutely be disallowed from ticketing anybody for anything, ever.
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
Cite your sources, because there are numerous studies that refute your claims.
http://www.motorists.org/red-light-cameras/effect-yellow-timing
http://www.motorists.org/red-light-cameras/timing-myths
http://bancams.com/get-the-facts/studies/seattle-yellow-light-times-study/
http://www.shortyellowlights.com/rlcinfo/
Also, quit spouting your "feelings" on the issue when it doesn't match up with facts.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
-- Isaac Asimov