Speed Traps

scaredofthedark

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Sep 11, 2005
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TX
yea why waste effort catching real criminals when no money comes from it...
get the speeders more moeny and less work required
 

MarNav1

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Nebraska
I think they have facial recognition software coming out too. Lot's of new things coming out.
 

scott.cr

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Los Angeles, Calif.
There was a news bit on the radio here in L.A. a couple days ago stating that red light camera violators on Orange County (California) that simply ignored the notice to pay received no additional consequences, no collection agency, no points assigned to their record.

People who paid their camera fines, however, were nailed for $377 AND points assigned to their driving record.

PS: I just paid a $952 fine for "speeding" on the 405 freeway on Christmas Eve. The state of California can kiss my rear-end when I visit my tax preparer this weekend...
 

jzmtl

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Geez, a grand? How fast were you going?

I was seriously thinking about trade my jeep for a mustang cobra with a guy I know, now I'm having second thoughts.
 

kelmo

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Sacramento
Hey jzmtl,

Is it true if you get a camera ticket in Canada you just pay a fine and it doesn't go on your driving record? I visited Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto a while back and thats what one of my inlaws told me.

kelmo
 

jzmtl

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There's no redlight/speed camera in Quebec (yet anyway, but there are talks :sick2:), so I really don't know.

As far as points go, quebec has reciprocal agreement with NY/VT so points are automatically transferred. But if you use CA license I don't think you'll get any points on any ticket.
 

frosty

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Jun 17, 2006
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Glasgow / Edinburgh
In the UK there are 1000's of speed cameras. Some are real and some are dumbies. Most people seem to view them as a form of roadside taxation.:scowl:
 

scott.cr

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Geez, a grand? How fast were you going?

I was seriously thinking about trade my jeep for a mustang cobra with a guy I know, now I'm having second thoughts.

95 mph, but there was no traffic and the weather was totally clear. I think the fine was so high because I was cited in a construction zone. California has this thing where they double the fine in a construction zone. California also has a habit of signing "construction zones" where there's no actual construction, just a place where they want to increase revenue.
 

frosty

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Jun 17, 2006
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Glasgow / Edinburgh
In the UK they are normally set at the speed limit + 10% + 2mph. So a 70mph limit would see it going off at 79mph. But they can be set to any threshold.

With the use of digital cameras the number of offences that can be recorded by one camera is huge. I recall one camera on the M4 motorway that generated over £1,000,000 in a single year. The fine for each offence is £60 plus points on your license. Traffic police are few and far between, now the machines have taken over.
 

flashlite

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May 10, 2004
Messages
386
Location
PA
Anyone have any experience with Washington D.C. speed cameras? I'm from PA and received a $50 ticket in the mail last July. I ignored it and the fine doubled to $100. I ignored the next one or two notices and haven't heard from them since. The letter states that non-payment may result in you not being able to re-register your car in your home state but I had no problems doing that. I assume that if I get stopped again in D.C. I'll have to pay up. I wonder how long that will stay in their database? I had a $100 parking fine from D.C. about 12 years ago that I never paid and it has apparently been purged.
 
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Lightmeup

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Aug 3, 2004
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Chicago
This guy got a red light camera ticket while part of a funeral procession (legal to ignore red), and it took him forever to get it cleared up. No one cared.
---------------
Verissimo told the city they made a mistake, and even sent them a letter from the funeral home verifying he was in a procession, stating in part, "The vehicle in summons was part of the funeral procession."

But the city told Verissimo to "contact the customer service department of American Transportation Systems," the company that processes the red-light camera tickets.

That company sent Verissimo right back to the city.

"So, you contacted the company that's responsible for processing the picture. They tell you to contact Philadelphia who told you to contact them. What do you make of that?" Hairston asked.

"I look like a ping-pong ball. Go right, go left, go right. I don't know what else to do," Verissimo said.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/15296359/detail.html?dl=mainclick
 

f22shift

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Singapore, NY,SH,BJ
ny is ridiculous nowadays. i got a speeding ticket for about $125 (90+surchages) which is not too bad considering i've gotten a no standing at a bus stop for $120 once :mecry:. anyway, in addition to getting a ticket and points you also get taxed by the NY DMV. they tack on $300 as a driver "assessment" fee. when did the dmv start cashing in?

what's even more ridiculous is that they send that bill to out of state drivers. i know someone from nj who has been sent the assessment fee. what does ny state motor vehicle dept have to with other states?


i also heard that you do NOT have to pay the speed cameras.
 

gadget_lover

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Near Silicon Valley (too near)
Well, there are speed traps and there are 'driving modification incentives'. Speed traps are mainly for income, and set up a condition where it's hard not to break the law. The cameras are supposed to prevent red light running, but some are set up so that you can enetr on a greena and the light will be red before you get through.

I'd love to see traffic cameras in every intersection in San Francisco's financial district. It's scary to drive through there with all the red light runners. During evening traffic there's frequent gridlock as people drive into the intersection even though there's no way to get out of the intersection due to other traffic. This sets up a chain reaction that ties up traffic for hours.


In many areas the cameras are owned and operated by a vendor on behalf of the city. The vendor installs them in exhcange for a percentage of the fines. The vendors sell cities on the concept much as they lobby them for other contracts.

In my city, a Red Light Camera Company (RLCC) offered to so a demo at their own expense. The RLCC installed the equipment at a freeway offramp. Then they 'tuned' the traffic signal to work with thier system. It turned out the 'tuning' included shortening the yellow light interval to increase the number of infractions. Set to the normal intervals there were not enough violations to pay back the RLCC's investment.

There used to be a true speed trap in Marina Ca, a little coastal town next to the Fort Ord army base. Coming into town was a downhill slope, and the speed limit dropped from 55 to 40 and less than a block later was 30. A few blocks further it was back up to 35. The cops with radar sat at the 30 MPH sign and popped you if did not drop the extra 10 MPH. Since it was downhill, it was easy to pick up a little speed without noticing it.

Daniel
 

kelmo

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Sacramento
In Sacramento the city in it's infinite wisdom reduced the yellow light time from 1 second to 0.5 seconds to enhance the ticket revenue of the red light cameras. As it turns out this is illegal as the yellow light has be at least one second long to allow drivers time to stop in the downtown area. They had to overturn all the tickets issued and return the yellow light time to one second.

I know we shouldn't speed, run red lights, etc. But if Big Brother is going to automate the infraction process they should also modify the point process reported to the DMV.

If the infraction does not involve an accident or injury it should take multiple "Robotickets" before it is reported as a point to the DMV. This will allow people who make simple/honest mistakes time to adjust their driving behavior and not be overly penalized by our insurance carriers.

kelmo
 
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gadget_lover

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Near Silicon Valley (too near)
While I agree to some degree with Kelmo, I hate to think that running red lights is a common enough behavior for most drivers that it falls into the realm of "allow people who make simple/honest mistakes time to adjust their driving behavior ".

I've seen accidents caused when a person speeds up to get through a stale yellow light, or when the driver makes an "honest mistake" and just misses the fact that it's red. A 40 MPH side collision is ugly.

On the other hand, the occasional red light camera that I do run into makes me rethink whether I should should down and stop for the yellow VS speeding up to get through it.

BTW, the safety experts say that you should stop on a yellow if it's possible. They are probably right.


Daniel
 
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