Posted on 05/21/2005 8:02:43 AM PDT by Dubya
AUSTIN - Houston dodged what may be the last legislative attempt to stop its plan to enforce red lights with cameras, as the Senate Friday night defeated an amendment that would have required a public vote on the program.
The Senate voted 18-13 against the amendment by Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, after a spirited debate. Houston Democrats Rodney Ellis, Mario Gallegos and John Whitmire joined with Houston Republicans Kyle Janek and Jon Lindsay in voting against the amendment.
Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, supported Jackson's amendment.
Whitmire, who spoke at length against the amendment, said he believes efforts to thwart Houston's red-light camera program are over for this session, which ends May 30.
"That booger is dead. We just gave it a proper burial," he said.
Jackson attempted to attach the requirement for voter approval to a routine transportation bill. Earlier this month, he failed to get enough votes to bring up for floor debate a bill that would have prohibited cities from issuing civil citations against the owners of cars photographed running red lights, as Houston is planning to do.
The House has passed several measures to outlaw the use of red-light cameras but none has been adopted by the Senate.
The Houston City Council voted in December to set up cameras in as many as 50 intersections and to issue civil citations to the owners of cars photographed running lights. It had planned to have the cameras installed by April, but that has been put on hold as the Legislature considers the issue.
Jackson said Texans would not like opening their mail and finding a picture of their license plate and an invoice for running a red light.
Proponents of the camera system countered with safety arguments.
"How in the world could anybody on this floor be against a program that might deter one person from running a red light and taking one of our constituent's lives?" asked Whitmire.
Jackson said the programs are more about generating revenue for cities and allowing police departments to have fewer patrol cars on the road.
Whitmire said Garland has seen a 53-percent reduction in red-light crashes and an 80-percent reduction in injury accidents since it installed cameras.
Several senators from North Texas, where Garland, Plano and Richardson are using or planning camera systems, opposed Jackson's amendment. Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said she received 150 emails from her constituents in favor of red-light cameras.
"The people want it," she said.
janet.elliott@chron.com
"The people want it," she said.
if the people "want it" then why are they afraid to let the people themselves vote on it !
there are WAY to many RINO's in the texas republican party.
if I didn't have so many skeletons in my closet, i'd run for office myself and clean the place up.
Red-Light cameras are a city's cash cow.
Personally I think Predator drones would be even more useful ~ they could give pursuit to the high speed redlight runners and bring them to a sudden stop (if properly equipped).
Bingo!
Well, no problem...if you run as a Dim ;-)
I received a ticket in December for "rolling a right-on-red" here in CA.(of course the cops never "roll-a-red-light"...naawwww...never! LOL)
Cost me $336! And $50 more to go to traffic school.
Most people don't know that the companies that mfg. these video cameras receive a commission for every ticket they issue.
Is this a great country or what! LOL
That is why I own a Passport 8500 radar detector and would advise anyone and EVERYONE who lives in these Orwellian 1984 big brother states to own one and to spray all of their license plates with the special coating product that keeps these photo cameras from capturing your plate number. I do not have the HTML address for the product but would advise someone on FR to post it because the stuff works (as do radar detectors like the Passport 8500 (my weapon of choice) or Valentine 1.
As long as city, town and state governments use speed traps and Red light cameras as their own personal means for lining their pockets and filling their piggy banks/coffers, then I am going to do everything in my power to protect myself from their getting their greedy insatiable hands in my pocket.
For a soultion to your problem see post #11. The Passport 8500 costs less than your ticket and could have saved you the money. The good news is, it still can in the future.
I've seen those license plate clear plastic covers that supposedly disguise the plate numbers...
do they work???
Wow she must come from a really small district if that is an overwhelming majority.
You can't help but wonder what the motivation is behind this. Are there statistics on how many people are killed because someone ran through the intersection as the light turned from yellow to red? Or is this another revenue source for the government...AFTER the expensive equipment is paid off?
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Some people say that ACS has a business model somewhat like the one used by "Don Vito, Michael and Sonny".
Rumor is that the Texas AG has an extensive file on ACS regarding their "activities" in Texas. But has not taken any action. Supposedly, ACS does work for the AG itself.
Also, someone who wants to fight such a citation in court would have multiple angles to go at it such as: Did the camera capture the entire traffic context? (E.g. running the red is excusable if it is necessary to evade an accident, such as getting rear ended if you're a small vehicle tailgated by a large one). Can they show just who was driving the vehicle? (Tickets are against drivers, not vehicles.) Is there a person who can bring the charge? (No human witness on scene available, move to dismiss for lack of prosecution.) It costs some time and annoyance to fight, but if you do you may well win.
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