No no no. Those boxes on the side of the road are not ticket cameras. They are traffic survey stations. The reason I point this out is that it is in our best interest that the public gets the memo.

There is a little known law that says that one way to contest a ticket is to prove that the speed limit is unreasonably low. They setup these boxes on the side of the road (the ones that show you how fast you are going) and collect the data. They have to do this every 3 years if I recall correctly. If they fail to adequately survey the road on which you are cited, you can fight the ticket.

Of course, most people see their speed, freak out that big brother is watching and slow down. That negatively affects the results of the survey.

It goes without saying that it's up to you to determine what is a safe and prudent speed given the circumstances. And any time you speed, you could theoretically be cited by an observant traffic officer.

One final disclaimer. Every state has their own laws and the reason to survey a road might be specific to California. But I have never heard of a survey machine that was equipped with a camera. Cameras are hidden and are either in fixed locations or in unmarked cars.

 

That is not the case in my area. There are boxes that ARE speed cameras. I have spoken with the police about everything specifically when I moved to the area because I wanted and accurate understanding of the differences between there and where I grew up.

It's not the survey machines I'm talking about, but that is a valid point!

 

Do you know if they have these in California? I know they have the traffic light ones, but is there such a thing as the speed camera in Cali?

 

Counting power line poles...

 

That's a form of VASCAR. VASCAR = Timing the distance traveled between any two or more points.

 

So those little camera boxes (4' tall rectangular post with a glass face) at some cali onramps are what?

 

Those might be the CARB air quality monitors. I got a notification that my car was grossly emitting, however I got the notification that I was apparently driving in the bay area in march (which hasn't happend sine 1999). So the thing was bogus, but it wasn't a ticket. I sent the survey back to them telling them it was not me since I was 500 miles away from that point. I just hope that the record is stricken from the books.

Anyway, back on topic, I got a ticket from a CHP who said "the man in the airplane" clocked me at 82 mph, to which I said, "r u sure 'the man in the airplance' didn't see me doing 71 mph?" Sooo I got a ticket for 71 in a 65 and the ticket was thrown out in court with the judge saying that the 6 mph over the limit "did not pose a serious risk".

my $.02

 

wow... where are all of those judges... I know a judge that found a guy guilty for going 1 mph over the speed limit... true story...

 

But you don't need a computer, just a stop watch and the ability to count and divide or multiply.