NM Ping
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Posted on 03/29/2009 5:58:34 PM PDT by george76
Red light cameras shut down across Italy in massive fraud scandal involving 109 public officials and contractors.
Red light cameras are shut down across Italy as the largest ever government investigation into the illegal use of photo enforcement expands.
Motorist complaints about being trapped at camera-equipped intersections with short yellow signal durations sparked the inquiry.
Criminal charges of forgery and fraud are based on four basic complaints, many of which represent common practices in the United States. First, municipalities are accused of shortening yellow times to boost profit.
Second, investigators found that municipal police never reviewed the camera fines. Instead, the tickets went straight to private companies ...
The fourth and most damaging charge involves contracting irregularities.
The no-bid contracts offered to the companies that operate the systems with a per-ticket compensation of 35 percent of each fine issued, while common in the US, violate Italian contracting statutes.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewspaper.com ...
Over there, they throw the perps in jail. But here in the Land Of The Free, no such luck. Tagline says it all.
Teenager gets speeding ticket... while her car was parked outside her house and she was asleep in bed
Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2730.asp
3/28/2009
Italian High Court Overturns Red Light Camera Tickets
Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy overturns red light camera system.
Tickets issued by unmanned red light cameras violate the fundamental legal rights of Italian motorists, according to a ruling handed down yesterday by Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation. The high court sided with motorist Lorenzo S. who had received a ticket in the mail from a private company operating on behalf of the city of Modena six years ago.
“The lack of agents working in that location precludes the possibility of an immediate challenge in cases where this is possible, circumventing legal obligation in this respect,” Second Civil Division ruling Number 7388 stated. “It also makes it impossible to verify the concrete circumstances in which the automatic detection unit operates, allowing possible misunderstandings, no resolutions with certainty, because of the very absence of agents on the spot.”
The court overturned the decision of an appellate court in Modena and canceled the fine issued against Lorenzo. The consumer watchdog group Codacons celebrated the ruling as the end of automated ticketing machines in Italy.
“This is an important decision because it recognizes the fundamental right of motorists to immediately contest a fine,” Codacons President Carlo Rienzi said in a statement. “The result now is that all those who have received a high fine from a machine without the presence of a policeman can request and obtain cancellation of the penalty.”
The ruling came in the wake of the January arrest of red light camera makers on the charge that they defrauded the government and conspired with over one hundred mayors and local police officials to shorten yellow times to generate profit both for municipal coffers and, in some cases, for the officials themselves.
This week, representatives from the Ministry of Transport confirmed to investigators in Verona that the red light camera model delivered for certification by Stefano Arrighetti, CEO of Kria Inc, differed significantly from the device actually used in the field by more than sixty jurisdictions. The relay component that transmits data between the camera and the microprocessor that determines guilt had never been sent to the ministry for official certification. The evidence provided by the ministry is considered a key element in the case against Arrighetti as the investigation continues.
These camera’s are money losers unless the yellow light timing is shortened.
These camera’s are money losers unless the yellow light timing is shortened.
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Tell me about it ,, I have one of those camera’s just blocks from my house in Apopka, FL ,, the yellow has definately been shortened... now it takes twice as many light cycles to get through the intersection as no-one chances being in the intersection on a yellow ,, I haven’t been in a rear-ender but I’ve seen plenty... The cops here have decided over the past few years to write fewer speed tickets and concentrate on red lights.. must be more lucrative to be able to stake out an intersection and write up anyone who goes past the white line even a little... or in my town their favorite stretch of road that transitions from downtown (35) to a downhill 4 lane divided (50mph) ,, they’ll write 100 tickets a day in that half mile outside the city before you get to the first 50mph sign.. YEAH ! Thats for public safety !!!
Only corrupted politicians can exploit the drivers safety into a revenue generating debacle. We survived decades past with simple traffic lights..use of cameras now pure government greed!
From the link you posted of the abuses in the UK: Nationally, around two million motorists a year receive a £60 fine from 8,000 speed cameras.
That adds up to $120 million pounds. Nice payoff if you get a piece of that action. Sounds like something the mob could have come up with - set up a system that makes it very difficult to avoid breaking some law, automate the enforcement so that everybody eventually gets caught, and make the fine an amount that most people figure is cheaper to pay than fight.
That’s hard to explain, eh? She was out havin’ unprotected sex and doesn’t want her parents to know. ;’)
Sounds as if some of the problems are not just the makers’ doing.
The bottom line is that these cameras simply cannot make money unless the system is gamed. They do it here by nailing people on right turns who don’t fully stop at intersections, behind the line. Saw that 3 times here in Houston yesterday.
It’s sick.
save
Talivan
Camera vans are being dubbed Talivans because of the way they're terrorising motorists. These vans have made a killing in recent years by being able to hide in discreet locations and being painted in dull colours. The aim of these vans is to catch as many motorists as possible....
...Here's another Gwent Talivan also parked on a dual carriageway. This one is parked on the A48 at Caerwent and this short dual carriageway is useful to pass slower traffic. Unfortunately the scamera partnership has taken exception to this and anyone wanting to make progress will have to pay for the privilege by exceeding the 50mph limit.
Vandalised Gatsos
This page is probably the highlight of the entire site. To my knowledge this is the largest collection of wrecked Gatsos on the internet, and its growing rapidly. So long as these cameras are robbing motorists of their cash they will continue to be destroyed.
Five Gatsos have just gone up in Nuneaton. One of them was completely destroyed before it had even gone live. The workmen hadn't even finished installing it.
"Gatso" is a speed camera.
How do you feel about LAS CRUCES red light camera ticketing program?
http://www.lcsun-news.com/index.html?_requestid=29323010
NM Ping
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My co-worker worked all the numbers, and went to the intersection and took measurements. He even got the specs for the camera shots. Most folks in the courtroom agreed he wasn't speeding. He even had the cops and the camera reps on his side. But the judge decided to fine him anyway. Lesson learned - never be the first case in traffic court for the day.
By my co-worker's calculations, he should have been 3/4 of the way through the intersection (or more) between the first and second shot at the "ticket-stated" 56 MPH. Problem is, he was barely 1/3 to 1/2 the way through. The measurements he took worked out to right at the 45 MPH limit, given the position of his vehicle in the pictures (the camera takes two shots, a pre-disposed time apart).
That was completely unexpected. [/sarc]
>Tagline says it all.
Ouch! But frighteningly correct.
Was that the one at Paseo and Coors? I’m sure the city has added more camera’d intersections since I left there in ‘06 (I remember San Mateo/Montgomery and the Coors/Paseo Del Norte intersections having them).
Was at Paseo and Jefferson, just west of I-25.
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