I just got a red light camera ticket, but...

[Hatta]

[Luke]

This isn't necessarily what I would say in court.

My bad then. I thought you were telling us what you planned on saying in court.

[Luke]

But when they've been studied, it's been found that red light cameras actually increase accidents due to people stopping short .

My ears are wide open. Source?

[Ziggy]

This isn't necessarily what I would say in court.

My bad then. I thought you were telling us what you planned on saying in court.

Yeah, I literally opened up the letter maybe 10 minutes before posting here.

But when they've been studied, it's been found that red light cameras actually increase accidents due to people stopping short .

My ears are wide open. Source?

Google it, I'm sure you'll find plenty. All that stuff has been in the papers here, specific to my county. From adjusting yellow light times, to accidents going up from people stopping short. I've read numerous stories from actual investigative reporting (as oppose to tabloid newspapers).

[Luke]

Google it, I'm sure you'll find plenty.

Exact source please.

All I found on Google as usual were vulgar people (especially around the area of out our Nation's Capitol) saying they didn't want to pay fines and that the system is *bullshit* and no one seemed like an intelligent source.

As far as "short stops", if chodesmokers didn't tailgate, it wouldn't be an issue.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Here you go:

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.as ... yid=316418

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013 ... ed-cameras

Red light cameras are a great source of income for many municipalities, and driver safety is probably not the only reason their use is becoming so widespread.

[CRTGAMER]

I would definitely fight the ticket. Maybe a good idea as Luke mentioned keep it to the level that you believe the light was broken due to the long delay of not turning green. There has to be a way to pull the records of all the other drivers that were tagged by the camera after that emergency vehicle went by.

Did you actually get the ticket or are you basing this on the camera flash? I once got that dreaded flash, got lucky and never got a ticket. This happened a few years ago, maybe I was far enough into the lane to invalidate the ruling of that robot camera?

At least you are not in my state which charges over 400 bucks for a red light camera citations.

[wclem]

Isnt a malfunctioning light a 4 way stop? I know when the power goes out it becomes a 4 way stop, dont see why it would be different if it stopped working correctly.

[Ziggy]

Google it, I'm sure you'll find plenty.

Exact source please.

All I found on Google as usual were vulgar people (especially around the area of out our Nation's Capitol) saying they didn't want to pay fines and that the system is *bullshit* and no one seemed like an intelligent source.

Yeah, I hate it when that's what you get from a Google. I can't give you a source. I don't read news online, I read newspapers. I'm not taking a trip to the library to look through newspaper archives.

As far as "short stops", if chodesmokers didn't tailgate, it wouldn't be an issue.

You can be riding at a safe distance (2-3 seconds) and rear end some one. Here's how it typically goes down: You're approaching a green traffic light, there's a car in front of you, you're both going an appropriate speed. The light turns yellow, you're split second driving mind tells you, "You can not stop for this light at this distance going this speed, you have to go through it." The person in front of you thinks, "OH FUCK! I DON'T WANT A FUCKING TICKET!!!!" and slams on the brakes. You were thinking you were going through the light, and not that the person in front of you would stop short because that person had even LESS time to stop for the light than you, and with even perfect reaction time (which many people don't have) you don't have enough time to avoid crashing into the car in front of you.

Think that sounds far fetched? Not at all. I see people slam on their breaks for red lights with cameras all the time. I've had people admit to me that they brake for green lights.

Did you actually get the ticket or are you basing this on the camera flash? I once got that dreaded flash, got lucky and never got a ticket. This happened a few years ago, maybe I was far enough into the lane to invalidate the ruling of that robot camera?

No, I got the ticket in the mail today. This happened on August 7th.

About the flash... I've seen the flash in my rear view mirror before too, that doesn't mean you got a ticket. You could have went through a yellow light, perfectly, and saw the flash because some one else tripped it. Sitting at red lights, I've noticed that if the light is red and a car pulls up to the line and stops the flash goes off anyway. So yeah, seeing a flash doesn't mean that you or any one else got a ticket. But it does scare the shit out of you, and you walk to your mail box with dread for a month after it happens.

At least you are not in my state which charges over 400 bucks for a red light camera citations.

You're in CA, right? Don't they take pics of the front of vehicles there? In NY, they record the back of the car and get you by license plate. I've heard that in CA they get the front of the car, and in addition to the license plate they can possibly identify you by your face. That's why it's lower in NY, they can't prove that it was YOU, just that it was your car. You don't get points.

Isnt a malfunctioning light a 4 way stop? I know when the power goes out it becomes a 4 way stop, dont see why it would be different if it stopped working correctly.

Even though most people don't know this, yes, a malfunctioning light becomes a stop sign. At least it is in NY. This light wasn't out though, it was on. It was just stuck on red forever. So I have no clue if those rules would apply, but that's a good point. I probably shouldn't bring that up in court though because I didn't treat it as a four way stop. I rolled really slowly through it, thinking, "OK, I guess I'll go through the red light."

[Luke]

Yo Zigzag,

When I was a student driver, and when the Ford Probe was the coolest car on the market , 5-7 seconds was a safe distance (around 8 if behind a motorcycle).

At stop lights I stop a car's distance away from whoever is in front of me (again, a bit further away from motorcycles). However I do floor it if I'm in a turning lane and the light turns green as I want everyone behind me to make the light as well.

Related: Please guys, encourage your friends to never tailgate a motorcyclist. Even if the cyclist is an a$$hole remember they have no frame to protect them and that usually all the helmet does in an accident is prevent the brains from falling onto the street.