Ping
Another problem is more rear-end collisions, as drivers in front slam on the brakes to avoid going through on a yellow (which is permissible).
The city fathers attempt to justify this by saying, "Well, rear end collisions are safer than T-bones." As though drivers were totally interchangeable and fungible, and a rear end collision is a T-bone prevented (not!). Doesn't help the guy whose car is totalled when the engine compartment collapses (or the guy whose nose is broken by the airbag.)
Part of the problem is the judge's and prosecutor's salary comes from the same kitty fed by the traffic citations.
This is akin to the tax farming of the Roman Empire: Wealthy or soon to be wealthy men would buy the right to collect taxes, fees, tarriffs, or tolls, over a certain geographical area, for a certain period of time. The government was paid up front, and the people were squeezed to make the profit. Such was the life that Matthew the Publican led.
Let us hope that we can give these new ticks "religion".
So to keep you from running red lights and broadsiding my family you decide you are losing your freedom.
Ha. Ha. (McCain-Feingold, gun control, income tax, regulation, litigation, EPA..,
Wait until these speed cameras start ticketing speeders on freeways and surface streets. It's already done in one State but I forgot to make a note what State.
You know what would work? When the light turns red and 3'' steel plate comes up vertically from the street 3 feet high stopping any moving object in its tracks.
Traffic Tickets have always been guilty until proven innocent. Nothing new about that.
Tell me one other court where a police officer can testify alone ,his word against yours and you are guilty.
Arizona has the most egregious examples of this hidden tax program. The CITY of Scottsdale is taxing citizens, er I mean issuing tickets to speeders, by positioning unmanned photo radar (speed cameras) along a stretch of STATE highway in one of the most affluent sections of Arizona.
Wait til the other states get a load of the revenue, excuse me, I mean safe driving conditions, this will generate.
Puhlease.
The highway patrol's union head (I think that's who said this) had it right:
"Convincing citizens that photo radar is in their best interest is like convincing trout that fishing in their stream is for their benefit".
One city in AZ realized they were short of revenue for their targets...so they decided to buy another camera to offset the decrease in tax revenues. Now, all these redlight cameras have been "upgraded" to add speed detection capability.
Read the Arizona Repulsive's coverage of the issue. See how they repeat the tired mantra - "its about safety, its for the children". Not content their message was getting through, they even named the section of freeway a catchy name like "the death corridor" because it had 7 fatalities in one year (or some such relatively insignificant and easily spun statistic).
With their worn out mantra about safety, they mention all the stats about tickets issued, fines collected, non-issuable tickets...conspicuously absent is accident prevention metrics where the best they can do for relevant metrics is comparing this heavily regulated, camera-covered stretch of highway to an equidistant (yet socio-demographically opposite) but non-camera covered stretch of highway on the absolute other side of town.
They have yet to "release" the metrics showing how effective these tactics have been on reducing accidents in the same section of freeway in a similar time period after the install of the cameras.
For a time, the state legislators balked at the audacity of Scottsdale to poach on their turf...right up until they got a whiff of the cash involved. Seems the state is now complicit after a deal to share proceeds. Our "Janet Reno-lite" governor is now pushing for more cities to adopt this tactic to fleece law abiding citizens and enrich the camera company that pockets the lion's share of the fine. The city of Scottsdale opened a revamped impressive payment processing center that has 20 some windows to handle the volume of transactions around these tickets.
We need to stand up and resist these veiled attempts to make law abiding citizens pay, meanwhile they do nothing to add police to the streets to pursue thefts, drunk drivers, and legitimate threats to public safety...
Arizona has the most egregious examples of this hidden tax program. The CITY of Scottsdale is taxing citizens, er I mean issuing tickets to speeders, by positioning unmanned photo radar (speed cameras) along a stretch of STATE highway in one of the most affluent sections of Arizona.
Wait til the other states get a load of the revenue, excuse me, I mean safe driving conditions, this will generate.
Puhlease.
The highway patrol's union head (I think that's who said this) had it right:
"Convincing citizens that photo radar is in their best interest is like convincing trout that fishing in their stream is for their benefit".
One city in AZ realized they were short of revenue for their targets...so they decided to buy another camera to offset the decrease in tax revenues. Now, all these redlight cameras have been "upgraded" to add speed detection capability.
Read the Arizona Repulsive's coverage of the issue. See how they repeat the tired mantra - "its about safety, its for the children". Not content their message was getting through, they even named the section of freeway a catchy name like "the death corridor" because it had 7 fatalities in one year (or some such relatively insignificant and easily spun statistic).
With their worn out mantra about safety, they mention all the stats about tickets issued, fines collected, non-issuable tickets...conspicuously absent is accident prevention metrics where the best they can do for relevant metrics is comparing this heavily regulated, camera-covered stretch of highway to an equidistant (yet socio-demographically opposite) but non-camera covered stretch of highway on the absolute other side of town.
They have yet to "release" the metrics showing how effective these tactics have been on reducing accidents in the same section of freeway in a similar time period after the install of the cameras.
For a time, the state legislators balked at the audacity of Scottsdale to poach on their turf...right up until they got a whiff of the cash involved. Seems the state is now complicit after a deal to share proceeds. Our "Janet Reno-lite" governor is now pushing for more cities to adopt this tactic to fleece law abiding citizens and enrich the camera company that pockets the lion's share of the fine. The city of Scottsdale opened a revamped impressive payment processing center that has 20 some windows to handle the volume of transactions around these tickets.
We need to stand up and resist these veiled attempts to make law abiding citizens pay, meanwhile they do nothing to add police to the streets to pursue thefts, drunk drivers, and legitimate threats to public safety...
The good news is they're already being paintballed.
Pretty soon, they'll get pushed over or pulled down with chains, then they'll start suffering from a combination of old tires and gasoline.
It appears NewsChannel5 can't tell the difference between a red light camera and a speed camera. Both the incidents described involve a speed camera.
Houston PING
If they send you picture of your traffic violation in the mail send them a picture of your check.
Two tickets since ~1988 for no front license plate here. It is worth it. ;)
We are increasing your safety.
Brought to you by the Dept. of Homeland Stupidity.
Resulting in more cynicism and lack of respect for authority. Witness the 55 MPH speed limit and the damage it has done.
BUMP
Actually he was. He was going five miles an hour over the limit. He just wasn't speeding as bad as they said he was originally.
we need to adopt a loser pays for CRIMINAL court.
If a defendant is found not guilty they they SHOULD be reimbursed for their legal fees for WHATEVER lawyer they have hired.
Here's one writer's analysis of this situation:
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=20437