Red light cameras & yellow times

A DOT study I once saw said that an increase in the time a traffic light stays yellow would decrease red light running and make an intersection safer, but many cities decided to decrease the yellow time and add red light cameras so that they could make some money. Look what happened here.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2713.asp

I just want people to pay attention while they are driving instead of eating. drinking (whatever), talking on the phone. just drive and pay attention! As James Dean said, "the life you save just might be mine."

One city in our area, Plano, has decreased yellow times by as much as 2+ seconds and added that to a dead time (when no lights are green) so that there won't be a statistical increase in accidents inside the intersection where there are red light cameras which, of course, could help in the fight against the cameras.

The fact that money is lost due to wrecks and people are hurt doesn't seem to matter to them.

This is totally true, I have been tagged in downtown Atlanta next to the Varsity (I went to Georgia Tech for 7 years so I know this light) and it was a helluva lot shorter with the cameras in place.

Conversely Marietta on Cobb Pkwy & Windy Hill increased their yellow time with the camera and almost no one runs that one because you have plenty of time to either punch it or slow down.

Also, these things aren't infallible, I got snapped turning left in Alpharetta, only I was so far over the yellow line (oncoming traffic lane) the camera couldn't get my plate :)

Traffic cameras suck. Just read an article about people collecting enough siganatures to get a ban put on the ballot. Every time a vote comes up, the cameras lose, massively.

There have also been glitches with the cameras in dowtown Dallas. At some intersections if you turn right on red the camera will snap you and send you a ticket even though you were in the right. They found out when it caught a cop doing it and I never heard if they fixed it.

My old high school government teacher put it best, though I'm assuming this phrase didn't originate with him: "There's two ways to change things, the ballot or the bullet."

Not that I'm advocating any course of action... [whistles innocently]

Toledo has a bull E36 M3 system. The yellow lights are maybe a second long, and there is virtually no dead time, so within 2 seconds it goes from green one direction to green another direction. Most of the speed limits were 35 or 40mph for the speed traps/red light cameras, and there is no way in hell I can slow a cadavalier from 40-0 in about a second.

I witnessed an accident ATLEAST once a week (for 2 years!) while going to UT. All to put a few extra bucks in their pockets. They neglect the fact that it costs money for emergency personnel to respond to the accident.

I don't condone drunk kids painting the camera lens

YaNi wrote: I don't condone drunk kids painting the camera lens

You don't condone, but you've paid several to do it.

ReverendDexter wrote: My old high school government teacher put it best, though I'm assuming this phrase didn't originate with him: "There's two ways to change things, the ballot or the bullet." Not that I'm advocating any course of action... [whistles innocently]

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9015768

This guy tried that in my town. I applaud the destruction of the camera, but he is a dumbass for firing a high-powered rifle in a densely-populated area.

Of course...he denies shooting the camera. There is evidence that a county Sheriff's deputy shot the camera. 1 week after a subpeona to that fact, the charges were dropped.

Found the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33649164/ns/us_news-washington_post

Where are the highschool kids with fake tags when you need them.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Found the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33649164/ns/us_news-washington_post

I like this from your link

"Virginia Tech did a study of Fairfax's red-light cameras before the jurisdiction got rid of them in 2005, studying four years of data. The thesis looked at red light intersections, intersections without cameras but a longer yellow light, and a control group with no cameras and not-so-long yellow lights. The finding was that there was "no statistical difference" in the number of crashes with red light cameras and the others.

In Britain, the British Medical Journal looked at hospital admissions from car accidents over the previous eight years. The authors reported that "Hospital statistics show that there has been no appreciable reduction in injuries."

"These cameras don't catch the wanton speeders, the killers we need to get off the road," says Lon Anderson, public and government affairs director for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Automobile Association and a vocal critic of the cameras. "They just nab the guys going 11 miles per hour over the limit with $40 in their wallet."

Another city gets rid of red light cameras http://www.nbcdfw.com/traffic/transit/Frisco-Puts-Brakes-on-Red-Light-Cameras.html

I would argue its the "Wanton idiots" we need to get off of the road, not the "wanton speeders".

The article in the original post is from March.

Article said: In ninety days, on or before June 7th, the city and Lasercraft will meet to review the most current citation counts and make a decision as to reactivation of approaches, continuation of the suspension period, or de-commission of the program

So I wonder what decision was made?

carguy123 wrote: One city in our area, Plano, has decreased yellow times by as much as 2+ seconds and added that to a dead time (when no lights are green) so that there won't be a statistical increase in accidents inside the intersection where there are red light cameras which, of course, could help in the fight against the cameras.

Sounds like Fresno. But I still hate the electronic snitches.

We have an intersection in Oak Ridge TN that has both the red light camera and the speed camera. Light turns yellow, you speed up, you get a speeding ticket in the mail.

I can't stand those or the automated speed cameras. My wife got a speeding ticket in Cleveland a few years back. Problem was, she hadn't been to Cleveland, the tags that were listed were no longer valid, and the car in the picture wasn't hers. Took too much work to get out of it, still. If we hadn't, I vowed to go and do $160 of damage to municipal property in Cleveland.

I didn't know we had speed cameras in the U.S.

A bunch of them.

I don't know about red light cameras, but one thing I noticed when I moved from Massachusetts to Maine is that the yellow lights in Maine are a LOT shorter than in Mass. There are many intersections where the yellow is so short I have to either squeal the tires to stop in time or just run it. There are cameras around, though I haven't noticed any correlation between stupid short yellows and the presence of cameras - there are many stupid short yellows without cameras as well.

I am not a lawyer. I am not qualified to give legal advice. But...

I have been told by the lawyers I know (several, including family members) when this topic comes up: don't pay the camera tickets. They're not constitutionally enforceable. The charges won't stand when/if challenged in court.

Am I the only one who has a desire to drop a gear and accelerate to see how fast I can register whenever I see one of these signs:

SPEED LIMIT
........XX.........
YOUR SPEED

MrJoshua wrote: Am I the only one who has a desire to drop a gear and accelerate to see how fast I can register whenever I see one of these signs: SPEED LIMIT ........XX......... YOUR SPEED ____________

Yes

carguy123 wrote: <>MrJoshua wrote: Am I the only one who has a desire to drop a gear and accelerate to see how fast I can register whenever I see one of these signs: SPEED LIMIT ........XX......... YOUR SPEED ____________

Yes

Knowing many of the people here, it would really surprise me if I am.

(don't get me wrong, I resist the urge, but its really tough)