White is right: Cameras at traffic lights can save lives

Houston Chronicle ^ | Dec. 12, 2004, 12:06AM | By CLAY ROBISON

[winner3000]

Anecdote: I have a good friend of mine who would always come back home using the same route (same speed limit). One day they changed the speed limits. He got pulled over and ticketed by the sheriff. He got home, took his camcorder and recorded more signs being put in that day. He also caught the sheriff stop another car and letting the driver go with a warning. He asked the judge for a trial. At the trial date (the same day) the judge pulled him aside and told him the tape was inadmissible! Since it was his only evidence, he was convicted. This little anecdote showcases quite a few potential traffic court horrors:
-The cops never gave any warning of the speed limit change to residents (most people get on auto-pilot when they use the same route every day; there's no way they would notice a changed speed sign)
-Cops do not treat people equally
-Judges are far from objective in traffic court
-Decent citizens end up wasting half a day of work (huge cost) in order to fight a small fine. Most people would rather pay up rather than fight, even if they're innocent.

Seeing cops camped at 15 miles per hour roads ON THE WEEKEND is absolutely disgusting!

[Jorge]

Looks like it's 7 to 1 in favor of murder.

Right. Let's spice up the thread with hysterical accusations.

[Jorge]

The irony is that several camera intersections in DC have suspicously short yellow light intervals. Seems Big Brother is willing to risk lives for new revenue.

I've heard that the duration of yellow lights have been deliberately reduced at some camera intersections in order to increase revenues.

[weegee]

Cops ticket speeders because THEY determine who the offender is. They don't pull over all speeders, they point a laser/rader gun at a single car and get their number to cite him with.

Sit at a red light and you don't know IF there will be an offender (there is not one every cycle and there could be several).

[Dan from Michigan]

Computers f' up.

I oppose this 100% in my town.

[GLDNGUN]

Sit at a red light and you don't know IF there will be an offender (there is not one every cycle and there could be several).

I'm not sure what your point is. Not every speeder is pulled over, either.

[GLDNGUN]

Your anecdote is describing systematic abuse. I certainly don't support that. It happens in the criminal justice system unfortunately; however, the answer is to fix the problem, not to quit enorcing laws.

[oldbrowser]

The traffic court system is the only court system where the prosecutor, the policemen, and the judge's salaries are paid by the defendant's fines.

"If the good lord didn't want them to be sheared he wouldn't have made them sheep." or taxpayers

[kahoutek]

One of the last things caught on a 'test' camera before it was terminally damaged in upper New York State was a ski-masked figure pointing a shotgun at it.

[Dan from Michigan]

Bwhahahahahahahahahah.

BTW - Haven't been to Outstate New York since I was 14...wasn't me.

[Ghengis]

There is an article in The Columbus Dispatch today and various law enforcement agencies were quoted, pimping these systems to the public.

A thought that immediately ran through my head:
Columbus has neighborhoods that are unsafe to live in without bars across your windows and the hoods govern the streets. The police response? Let's put cameras at intersections to catch red light runners.

The company's proposal included the potential $4.5 million of annual revenue to the city. The city politicians may have a fleeting thought of despair for a life lost to a traffic accident. They will mourn for years over lost revenue they can not spend.

[Malsua]

Mandatory helmets for drivers and 20 mph speed limits will save lives too.

A guy I work with is a 2nd generation immigrant from Norway. His extended family is still there. He goes back every year. They keep lowering the speed limits and adding checkpoints so that no one dies on the road. Helmets and an 8 point roll cage may not be too far behind. Let nanny staters get into power, the results are mind boggling

[winner3000]

My point is that I would trust the enforcement of the law if the inherent conflict of interest is resolved. As long as it's there, it gives incentive for abuse. This in turn, makes the public resent policemen (seen as tax collectors) instead of feeling safe when they see one.

[weegee]

To catch people running a red light requires paying close attention to the light cycle. It become a monotonous task of waiting, waiting, waiting, until someone runs a light (most of the time the light is green or red, the officer is only concerned with the transition time from yellow to red and a few seconds after it turns red).

When gunning for speeders, if there are few cars on the road (highway/back road) you can point the detector down the road and go fishing that way. If there are clumps of cars, single out one of the faster ones and pull the trigger on the laser/radar. A lot less monotonous (it can happen anytime, not just once every 55 seconds).

[weegee]

Wait until they start turning long existent freeways into toll roads... There are always new "revenue" sources for bankrupt politicians.

[GLDNGUN]

So are you saying that you don't have a problem with cops using a machine to catch speeders, but you do have a problem with them using a machine to catch people running red lights?

[dennisw]

I'm so glad the uber liberals haven't gotten these cameras in where I live. Let the coppers catch you fair and square. Not some Big Brother camera

[weegee]

The "machine" for speeders is MANNED by a person. I would oppose an automated system for ticketing speeders as well.