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Posted on 04/01/2009 8:20:12 PM PDT by Dubya
Some Texas law makers are pushing a bill to get rid of all red light cameras in the state.
Motorists who spoke with CBS 11 had varying opinions.
Leticia Menchaca said her car was tagged down in Houston by a red light camera. She said she wasn't even in Houston. She hasn't had much luck with red light cameras.
Colleen Pilgrim took a different view, saying she's tired of people running red lights all of the time and causing accidents. But she believes they were put in to create extra money for city governments.
Representative Carl Isett of Lubbock has authored a bill that will do away with red light cameras in Texas. He said, "You do not get a jury of your peers nor do you get to face you accuser. That is in my mind an abrogation of constitutional protections for Texans." He believes that constitutional freedoms are at stake here.
But local governments are struggling with their budgets in this economic downturn. The revenue generated by red light cameras pays for projects that city leaders say are needed.
A recent state comptroller report shows money generated by red light cameras. Check out the top revenue getters:
Fort Worth $439,603 Coppell $555,249 Plano $623,237 Duncanville $954,722 Arlington $1,050,287 Dallas $1,102,463
But not all North Texas cities make money:
Denton -$59,420 University Park -$53,342 Mesquite -$52,446 Frisco -$48,467 McKinney -$36,835 Garland $0
Most of these cities say they don't lose. By contract, the private camera companies eat the loss. CBS 11 contacted many of the cities listed and most say they want red light cameras, even the ones that aren't making money.
The cities bringing in the bucks say they put the money to good use.
Randy Burkett, City Traffic Engineer for Fort Worth, said they'll use their share of the money to upgrade traffic signal lights. They say they have older equipment existing traffic lights. An upgrade would make them more efficient so people wouldn't have to wait as long.
Lt. Blake Miller from the Arlington Police Department said they fund their new DWI unit with red light camera funds. According to Arlington PD, that unit takes 120 drunk drivers off the streets per month.
But the cities stress the bottom line is safety. Both say they have seen significant drops in traffic accidents and red light running in intersections that have red light cameras.
But Isett said, "If we don't take a stand even on small matters, then we will continue to slide off into it and wake up one day and find ourselves very safe and with no freedoms."
Both sides will have their say Thursday in a committee hearing in Austin.
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HE IS CORRECT.
just say no, to redlight cameras
Yes!
I looked at the photographs used in one case and there was no way to identify the driver. Presumption of guilt does not seem to be in the best interest of citizens.
The ones losing money do so because citizens fear the cameras and run less lights. However, I do agree that the way justice is administered is far too impersonal and with potential for error and abuse. If the lights stay, that form of punishment needs to change.
I recently saw a guy on the road driving like a total druggie who either couldn’t drive safely or was preoccupied by too many other things to be driving responsibly. But what frightened me most is that he was driving the same model pickup truck as I was and his license plate was one digit off from my plates (an 8 instead of a 9). The only two differences were his truck is a different color and his had been modified to be a low-rider.
I’m seriously considering get my plates changed. I figure it’s a just a matter of time before he causes a wreck and the cops come looking for me.
I recently had to pay a $70 fine in Dallas for running a red light when the photos very plainly showed I stopped, then made a legal right turn on red. I called to complain and was told the video showed I didn’t make a complete stop. I didn’t believe that, so I went to their website to watch it myself. It would not play on any browser I own, even after downloading all the codecs they claimed I needed. My sister-in-law tried it on her newer computer, and it still wouldn’t play. I called back to protest again and was told they’d show me the video, but I’d have to drive 15 miles to downtown Dallas during working hours. It was so much trouble, I just paid the damn fine, which I’m sure was the whole intent. But I swore that I would do anything I could from now on to overthrow this unconstitutional extortion racket.
Send letters to State Reps and State Sen. Ask them to back this bill. If anyone runs for TX Gov and is against These cameras I will vote for them.
You are right.
That was unfair of them to do you that way.
I hope they don’t get you mixed with him.
Send letters to State Reps and State Sen. Ask them to back this bill. If anyone runs for TX Gov and is against These cameras I will vote for them.
The redlight-runners at Davis Road and US1 in Miami have their faces obscured by cellphones! Stopped at the light on my way from work, I watched these violations for years until FL DOT moved the stop line back on US1 and delayed the US1 yellow—slowing all rush-hour traffic in both directions.
As the minority opinion here, I'd like to see a one-year study done where red-light cameras effectiveness are proved one way or another.
It's not a solution looking for a problem.
At some point, people will get fed up and apply a used tire, a pint of gas, and a match to the cameras.
Indications are that cameras increase the number of rear-ending accidents and that municipalities reduce yellow light times to maximize revenue. Oh, and that in most cases, you can reduce problems more by adding a second or so to the yellow cycle, than by adding cameras to the intersection.
That's really all that needs to be said.
You could just take the cameras out with a rifle. No need to climb the pole and set them on fire.
Often there’s a box ‘o’ electronics at grade.
Rule 308 works too, though.
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