cameras at stop lights...is Big Brother watching you
05-17-2011, 08:04 AM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Largo FL
Posts: 917
Originally Posted by feline fanatic
I haven't seen them up here, I do know they are on the Thruway though for the EZPass lanes. The EZPass ones we have had to fight because the camara doesn't always get a clear shot of the plate so they use a computer and send the ticket to every plate number that may resemble what the camara could capture! We had a relative that worked for the NYS Thruway authority at the tiem that told us that! She said you would also be surprised how many people who get those notices just pay the fine because they think you can't fight it if you can't absolutely prove you weren't in the area on that particular date/time. With us it was easy because it was a week day and the exit lane was down near the city.
To go just a little over the stop line is not right though. What if the light suddenly turns yellow on you? I know there are plenty of times I have gone just a little over the painted line on the ground when stopping for a light. And a light changing to yellow I have definitely gone over the stop line. If you stop you stop and should not be ticketed, only if you run it.
Heck you can easily go over that line when you have plenty of time to stop, it is hard to tell where it is when it gets out of your field of vision which is still about 5 ft in front of your car. I think it is another ploy to generate revenue. I read a recent news story on Florida jurisdictions and the official in Florida (sorry can't remember the town) one of his cheif complaints was that revenue from speeding tickets was down due to the economy because when someone is out of work they can't pay the fines! Since when is it about revenues? I thought it was about safety! I am not defending speeders, but please how many of us have been traveling along and were speeding without realizing it? Especially when you enter an area where the speed limit changes and you either didn't notice the sign or just plain didn't realize you were going a little fast.
To go just a little over the stop line is not right though. What if the light suddenly turns yellow on you? I know there are plenty of times I have gone just a little over the painted line on the ground when stopping for a light. And a light changing to yellow I have definitely gone over the stop line. If you stop you stop and should not be ticketed, only if you run it.
Heck you can easily go over that line when you have plenty of time to stop, it is hard to tell where it is when it gets out of your field of vision which is still about 5 ft in front of your car. I think it is another ploy to generate revenue. I read a recent news story on Florida jurisdictions and the official in Florida (sorry can't remember the town) one of his cheif complaints was that revenue from speeding tickets was down due to the economy because when someone is out of work they can't pay the fines! Since when is it about revenues? I thought it was about safety! I am not defending speeders, but please how many of us have been traveling along and were speeding without realizing it? Especially when you enter an area where the speed limit changes and you either didn't notice the sign or just plain didn't realize you were going a little fast.
05-17-2011, 08:11 AM
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Union, Missouri
Posts: 1,542
In the next town over from where I live they actually REMOVED the red light camera in March when the contract was up. Although the cameras brought in about a half million dollars in paid tickets they did not lower the numbers of crashes at the intersections the cameras were at.
In the three years PRIOR to the camera going up there were 169 accidents at two intersections where cameras were placed. From Jan 2008 to Nov 2010 there had been 152 accidents! accidents with injuries had a mere drop of two from 15 to 13 after the cameras!
In the three years PRIOR to the camera going up there were 169 accidents at two intersections where cameras were placed. From Jan 2008 to Nov 2010 there had been 152 accidents! accidents with injuries had a mere drop of two from 15 to 13 after the cameras!
05-17-2011, 08:24 AM
#15
Power Poster
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Long Island
Posts: 24,820
Originally Posted by feline fanatic
I haven't seen them up here, I do know they are on the Thruway though for the EZPass lanes. The EZPass ones we have had to fight because the camara doesn't always get a clear shot of the plate so they use a computer and send the ticket to every plate number that may resemble what the camara could capture! We had a relative that worked for the NYS Thruway authority at the tiem that told us that! She said you would also be surprised how many people who get those notices just pay the fine because they think you can't fight it if you can't absolutely prove you weren't in the area on that particular date/time. With us it was easy because it was a week day and the exit lane was down near the city.
To go just a little over the stop line is not right though. What if the light suddenly turns yellow on you? I know there are plenty of times I have gone just a little over the painted line on the ground when stopping for a light. And a light changing to yellow I have definitely gone over the stop line. If you stop you stop and should not be ticketed, only if you run it.
Heck you can easily go over that line when you have plenty of time to stop, it is hard to tell where it is when it gets out of your field of vision which is still about 5 ft in front of your car. I think it is another ploy to generate revenue. I read a recent news story on Florida jurisdictions and the official in Florida (sorry can't remember the town) one of his cheif complaints was that revenue from speeding tickets was down due to the economy because when someone is out of work they can't pay the fines! Since when is it about revenues? I thought it was about safety! I am not defending speeders, but please how many of us have been traveling along and were speeding without realizing it? Especially when you enter an area where the speed limit changes and you either didn't notice the sign or just plain didn't realize you were going a little fast.
To go just a little over the stop line is not right though. What if the light suddenly turns yellow on you? I know there are plenty of times I have gone just a little over the painted line on the ground when stopping for a light. And a light changing to yellow I have definitely gone over the stop line. If you stop you stop and should not be ticketed, only if you run it.
Heck you can easily go over that line when you have plenty of time to stop, it is hard to tell where it is when it gets out of your field of vision which is still about 5 ft in front of your car. I think it is another ploy to generate revenue. I read a recent news story on Florida jurisdictions and the official in Florida (sorry can't remember the town) one of his cheif complaints was that revenue from speeding tickets was down due to the economy because when someone is out of work they can't pay the fines! Since when is it about revenues? I thought it was about safety! I am not defending speeders, but please how many of us have been traveling along and were speeding without realizing it? Especially when you enter an area where the speed limit changes and you either didn't notice the sign or just plain didn't realize you were going a little fast.
i had 6 accidents in one year, everyone was eating or drinking or smoking i was rear ended at 5 stop lights, and broadsided. i don't think this will stop those who run them, people will still talk on their cells even though here in NY it's against the law, drink hot coffee, smoke cigarettes, shave their legs and face, read the paper, and put on makeup.
05-17-2011, 08:30 AM
#18
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,789
Originally Posted by QuiltnNan
we have them in Minneapolis. the cameras, themselves, have been fought in court. i'm not certain if they are still there as i don't drive in the big city. my brother got a camera ticket in the mail from one of the carolinas, but he deserves to get caught he-he-he. if they work properly, i'm in favor of them. MN's argument is that it punishes the car's owner and not the driver of the car, who could be a different person.
05-17-2011, 09:01 AM
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Atlanta, Ga
Posts: 1,516
DH d/l'ed an app for our GPS that bongs when there is a red lite camera at the intersection. Having learned to drive in Mass and being stubborn, he thinks stop signs and red lights shouldn't be stopped for unless someone is there. He's also fond of going thru intersections where stop thing didn't used to be but are now...doesn't make me happy, but I can't convince him he should stop every 15 ft for a stop sign just because it's there and in all honesty, about 50 % of them are not necessary. And before you get all hairy, he does look (and believe me so do I) and hasn't had an accident in years and only a couple over his whole life...go figure.
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