Posted on 02/05/2012 7:25:54 PM PST by WilliamIII
California has the most expensive red-light camera tickets in the world - the fine is so steep that one camera in Oakland generates more than $3 million a year - and a Fremont man is launching a protest group to do something about that.
If Roger Jones has his way, that freezing dread that knifes through a driver the moment he sees the overhead flash of a traffic camera will become a thing of the past.
But he's facing quite an uphill fight against officials hungry for the cash the cameras sweep in and police who are convinced they make the roads safer.
Anyone in California snapped violating a red light pays a fine of $480, and according to the traffic-watch site TheNewspaper.com, no other jurisdiction anywhere has a tab that high. The second-highest fine in the United States is $250, and it is usually more like $100.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
When I lived in Seattle, I went through a red-light camera on my way home from band practice. I learned that I can go the speed limit up to the last second, brake hard (stopping short of the stop line) and get the camera to flash me every time. It anticipates I’m gonna run the light.
It’s a bit comical that the lions share of tickets generated at these lights are for “California stops” when people plan on taking a free right turn. And that type of ticket requires a “video” of the infraction to prove you did not come to a full stop. It’s why my actions were safe. The video clearly shows my coming to a full and complete stop without entering the intersection by so much as an inch.
And on Youtube you can see some people’s videos that “proved” their guilt. In many cases, they are on deserted roads and come virtually to a complete stop - but not quite. The cameras are very unforgiving.
—I’ve also seen them in Texas become “victims” of gunfire!—
I woman I used to work with had come to Seattle from Arizona. She claimed to have taken a couple out with her glock. Considering the type of person she was, I believed her.
When I lived in the Seattle area I noticed that they were all on relatively narrow aluminum poles. I always fantasized about riding a bicycle to them with a mall and a rope. You could give a good swing with the mall to crimp the bottom of the pole and then lasso the top of the pole and pull it down. At least, I’m guessing it would work.
Sort of related.
Whe were able to drive on the toll roads in one state with impunity without paying the tolls because we had out of state plates and were moving to another state. When we got to our new home we licensed our car in that state. It will be interesting to see if technology has caught up with that sort of license movement yet. It was a sort of test.
I believe that in every single instance where the presence of the cameras is put to a vote of the people, the people vote to have them removed.
—It’s considered a “parking ticket” in most jurisdictions because a private company runs the cameras.—
I understand that in some states you can ignore them and there is really nothing they can do. The private company will even send it to collections but because you never agreed to pay, there is really nothing, legally, to collect.
In other states, the situation is similar, but the state will revoke your drivers license if you ignore these tickets. IIRC.
Houston voters overturned City Council and the Mayor and had the red-light cameras turned off and taken down.
—The claim is that red light cameras are for safety, but I would dispute this—
It’s easy to dispute, since most tickets are for rolling stops before making a free right turnd. That activity is not even all that dangerous. It is the people going THROUGH the intersection that these are being advertized to prevent.
And in one city in Texas they turned off the cameras and the accident rate went DOWN. The city was so embarrassed that they tried to argue that they just had really good weather so there were less accidents.
It is ALL about money. Safety is not even a red herring, because even a red herring has “some” credibility.
I agree. EVERYBODY should fight these damn things. Flood the courts with not guilty pleas and this crap would stop.
L.A. City Council shuts down red-light cameras headline from a July 28, 2011 a LA Times story.
Now you have to be prepared for return fire. I know at least the one camera in Moses Lake fires back (38 Special).
I was reading about the license plate obscuration covers and
their sometimes-ability to spoil the photo. In the case of the high-mounted I-520 cameras, the overhead-type diffraction grating type cover does sometimes work, but you are guaranteed the State Patrol will pull you over sometime because they are so easy to spot (the rectangle outline in the cover).
—I know at least the one camera in Moses Lake fires back (38 Special).—
Are you serious? I’ve been through that town hundreds of times. I had no idea.
RE: I520 bridge.
I was in Seattle visiting the family between Christmas and New Years and considered trying it. I was driving a rental car with Illinois (?!) plates. I didn’t because you don’t want to mess with that stuff in a rental car. The company simply pays the fine and charges you. It’s an unbelievable hassle to do anything about it.
I need to check the WSDOT traffic maps. I can only assume I-90 is now a quagmire.
England has a unique way of dealing with them. Hanging tyres on appendages and soaking them with petrol - ignite and enjoy.....
In my case the car had washington plates and I had a washington license. Then we changed the plates to Kentucky and went back to “that other state” and flew through the toll roads again. A month later we changed our drivers licenses to Kentucky. This state REALLY ties your car to you personally. The tabs expire on the month of my birth.
These moneymakers aren’t usually to catch speeders. They put them at extremely congested intersections with short cycled lights. They bag more on yellow/reds that way. They have one here in Georgia that is purely, purely for money only. If I could take it out, I would.
Only if an officer happens to be standing behind it when someone shoots at the camera.
Good point. I think Paradise Valley was one of the first, if not the first, to use them. They had one rigged up on a van. Always sat in the same spot. I always got a chuckle because these cameras had to be posted with warnings signs.
I was back in Glendale a few months ago. I did note see any there, and did not see any in the parts of Phoenix I traveled through.
Still the point that widespread disregard for such policies does pretty much make them null.
IIRC, San Diego once had such a backlog of ignored parking tickets they wiped the system clean and started over again.
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