Kaiser

I'm very against any totally electronic law enforcement. It leaves you with absolute and unbending enforcement - and that is very opressive.

There are circumstances that make it justifiable to break almost any law... and even if the law doesn't technically allow for exceptions, a human officer might.

If you're in favor of red light cameras, then naturally you're in favor of speed cameras too, right? How will you feel when they put a GPS and a transmitter in your car and mail you a ticket every single time you exceed the speed limit by 1mph or more?

It's a slippery slope my friends.

I've had a can of photoblocker for a couple months but I haven't actually sprayed it on yet.

Doug0716

Just wanted to note a couple things:

Guy out of control behind you:
The cameras (in Plano) at least record 10 seconds of action so it WOULD catch the guy too close behind you or out of control. Secondly, if somebody is too close behind you then you are suppose to SLOW DOWN (according to defensive driving schools that are approved by TX) so that you are at a comfortable speed at which you could stop if you need to (or ultimately, they pass you).

Ticket gets sent to car owner:
Don't loan your car to somebody that you don't trust to be a responsible driver... but that should go w/o saying.

Light timing:
When I was reading up on the ones in Plano, the companies that operate the camera do NOT have any access to the control/timing of the light. All they have is a wire tap on the yellow and/or red (can't remember) light to sense when it's on. Any timing changes would have to be done by the city.

The cameras themselves: I'm not sure if those small white ones on top of the lights do anything... I know I was really worried about them when they started popping up in The Colony and other areas around there... the ones in Plano, Richardson, Garland, ect. are separate poles/boxes on the side of the road (you'll "pass" them in the direction that they are aimed). While I don't support the cameras and don't like the idea of simply getting a ticket mailed to me instead of being pulled over... a lot of the arguments in this thread are unfounded.

I will agree that they tend to cause more accidents, but I think a lot of that is how people drive here. If people drove like they do here in the parts of California that I was in there would be a TON of accidents, because in California you don't run red lights... when the light turns green you GO... after all green light means go. If Dallas drivers weren't so use to running red lights (or yellow ones, which I'll admit I'm getting worse about) then that wouldn't be a problem.

Personally I do think it is to just create cash flow, because if it was anything more then the cameras would be hidden so you would drive naturally and if you run it you run it (and get a ticket). I would much rather see hidden cameras for red light runners as long as the lights had a reasonable time for the yellow light. However I would *RATHER* see cameras that run statistical calculations so the cops would have an idea of where to watch for red light runners in a personal encounter.

Let the fames begin.
-Doug

Wildncrazy

The cameras in Plano are not situated so as to show the precipitating cause of running the red light.

Plano is one of those cities that has shortened the time of the yellow signal in selected intersections. You know the ones, the ones the police cycle back and forth around, the ones with cameras and the ones with artificially short green lights and long red all 4 ways of course these intersections are also heavily populated by police.

No one actively tries to run a red light but if you'd read one of the first link you'd find that most camera derived red light tickets are given in the first less than 1/2 second with most being in the .2 second range. That is completely driven by shortened yellow light times.

I am all for doing what is necessary to cut out running the red lights but studies have shown the best way to do that is to lengthen the yellow light cycle not add a camera.

Doug0716

Oh really? Go sit at 121 and The Colony Main st. for about one or two cycles... I think I counted an average of 3 cars AFTER the red from just about any direction at almost every cycle when I lived there... this might have changed w/ all the construction, but last I knew the construction 18 wheelers were running em too.

cdelena

I think the small sensors on top of the lights allow emergency vehicles to change the signal.. they are not cameras. (have been told it is a crime for unauthorized use of the remote that does it, but some have been sold on the black market).

Like most I have no problem with the effort to reduce light running.. but have reservations regarding the methodology and am against it being implemented as a revenue source.

I really don't want automation used to cite citizens for technical infractions (of the many justified and unjustified tickets written for me not a one was for running a light).

outlaw442

I seem to recall that yellow light timing is that they are lit for 1 second for each 10 mile increment of the speed limit where the light is located..

so if you are on a 30mph road the yellow light duration would be 30 seconds.. 35mph 3.5 seconds...40mph.. 4 seconds... and so on...

turbolane

I think most cities balance out the income vs potential of lawsuits; if it's too "sneaky" they are more likely to loose in court (though not always, Campbell CA won it's case on hidden automated photo speed traps; judge agreed the income they provided outweighed the right to privacy issues).

Those pole-top mounted cameras I think are now also used for sensing traffic for purposes of switching the light (vs the old magnetic sensors in the asphalt). At least where I see them I don't usually see the asphalt sensors.

I also found that flashing your brights often causes them to switch faster to green (by accident, really! My wife's car flashes it's brights when turning on the signals). And at least at the light by work, if I tap the brakes 2-3 times on approach, to cause my lights to bob up & down, the light switches for me almost immediately (vs. the typical 4-7 minute wait).

CosmosMpower

I read that flashing your high beams at those cameras/sensors work but I spoke with one of the people in charge of traffic control in carrollton and he insisted they only work on certain infared light frequencies. I think I saw a write up on how to use LED's to make a light beam to change the lights but it's pretty hard and highly illegal.

Doug0716

I guess I don't understand the "privacy" issue when you're driving along a public road in a vehicle that has been registered for use on those roads then you're pretty much agreeing to follow the rules... The cameras aren't there to spy on you, and if they're hidden it shouldn't matter, as long as you're following the rules. Also note that in the scenario that I gave (cameras are used for statistical analysis for where the cops should be stationed) it would not be a lack of privacy because they would not be used against specific people, just telling the cops where they need to make sure they're seen.

Now does this mean I'm happy about them: No! I would be even more un-happy about speed trap cameras... however I think that people over-react to them and I don't think it's an abuse of power as long as the yellow is sufficient time to slow down and stop.

outlaw442

well because the same reason that a police officer needs a search warrant to view you with the FLIR inside your car. you own the car you pay taxes to use it on public roadways but it is your car and your property. they cannot govern what you do in your car anymore than they can govern what you do in your home.

if you are driving with your pants off and they notice with the FLIR that your pants don't look quite right they cannot do anything about it. and also at the same time if you're wearing just your underwear and get pulled over. the cop is gonna have to just suck it up.... (oooohhh bad choice of words) they can't get you for indecent exposure because you are not exposing yourself... you're in YOUR car...

just don't ride on the bus naked