texas911

How is that a red light camera's fault?

techman1

My beef is with the law, as written for my locality. The following two cases would be ticketed the same:

Case 1- Yapping on the cell phone, not watching, light changes, they notice late, and race through the intersection - 1 second into a red, with heavy traffic.

Case 2- Pulled up to the light as it turned red, in the right turn lane, no cars in sight, light traffic day. They did not come to a complete stop before turning right.

Case 1 $262 fine.
Case 2 $262 fine.

Black and white, you ran a light, both generate a fine. Which one really is deserving of the fine?
Unfortunately, there is no difference in letter of the law and intent of the law with the red light camera.

element

A stop is a stop.. I think if they wrote it another way every case 1 would fight it and work a loophole. I got busted rolling\yielding through a yellow that turned red.. I knew I was pushing it, but smiled for the camera. I thought it wasn't thaaaaaaat close until I watched the video :P If you drive, work a few $100 into ticket taxes.. they ultimately keep the roads safter - not perfect, but it's progress.

phil.

tommyg

Martin S.

I sent a can of photo blocker spray to a buddy in NY. Then later he gets a ticket in the mail, from a speed camera, not a red light camera. His front license plate was blocked, as advertised by Photo Blocker. BUT, the camera was so good, in the pic of his front windscreen, the NY state sticker was detected, and they sent him his pic showing the front plate was indeed blocked out, but NOT the NY state sticker.

The front sticker had enough detail for him to be readily tracked down. He paid the ticket.

skl2

Because, I would typically carry on safely thru the intersection if I werent worried about a super short yellow followed by a $300 ticket in the mail. It causes people to react differently and erratically and therefore causes accidents.

That being said, I def cannot stand the idiots who are yapping away and not paying attention, so they clearly go strait thru a red light and they worst is they don't even realize what they just did! The problem with traffic cameras in general is they penalize you after the fact...they are only about revenue, not safety. As soon as people catch onto them and they no longer issue enough tickets to pay to keep them on, they turn them off - that tells me its about revenue.

richardew

After 19 years of driving a 911 ('89,'95,'96), and 325,000 miles in one, I am always aware of what is behind me when I plan to come to a stop. When cars follow too closely I slow down so that they don't hit me in the rear if I slow down or stop. I can only remember one occasion where I actually went through a red so that I didn't get rear ended by a tractor trailer, but I was able to see that there was no cross traffic. Early on when I first could afford a fast car I had the opportunity to go to traffic school in Virginia, twice. The yellow light means stop, not speed up. If you make a habit of going through yellows that turn red on you you deserve the ticket. Occasionally you'll get one because of an unavoidable situation and you can go fight it or pay the fine. If this is happening to you often you need to acquire better driving habits. Man up!

cgfen

LOL
Thanks Martin, this is the ONLY response that comes anywhere close to answering the OP's question.

Cheers

Craig

IXLR8

That has always been a concern of mine when you have someone tailgating you and their car has sub-standard brakes and tire traction.

GT3 Tek

FYI: In California the minimum fine for running a red light whether it be camera equipped or not is $460.00.

Our suggestion is to not run red lights and spend the $460.00 on someting cool for your 993.

Team GT3 TEK

Mark in Baltimore

The problem with many of the plate blockers is that a police officer can tell that you have one on and will pull you over and issue you a citation for it or make you remove it.

There are numerous places in Baltimore city where people have complete disregard for a red light and will punch through an intersection, nearly T-boning another car. It's incredibly dangerous. I have no problem with red light cameras.

matt777

The cameras are pretty darn good so good luck blocking. Around here you could probably just take your plate off and I doubt you would get pulled over. Once in awhile I threaten to burn donuts in a major intersection because apparently you can get away with nearly anything unless a camera is involved. Enforcement of driving laws is nearly non-existent.

skl2

The percentage of time it happens might be low, but if it happens to you its 100%. Im glad you got a chance to attend traffic school....I too have had that opportunity to a great extent as I grew up racing shifter karts in the Constructors Cup champtionships and migrated to cars as soon as they would let me auto cross in the PCA and SCCA. I had a national SCCA license until last year when I took some time off racing to focus on my job. Suffice it to say, I know how to drive and there are a lot of people out there that do not. I don't go breaking rules because I think its cool and I dont hate traffic cams because I like to break rules....I think they are a bandaid for a much broader problem - people dont know how to drive or are focused on doing everything else behind the wheel while they should be focusing on driving. That being said, the yellow light does not mean stop....I figured your traffic school would have brought that to your attention. The yellow means you should prepare to stop in time if its safe to do so - it is by no means an obligation to stop.

richardew

I didn't go to driving school. Traffic school is not optional. The judge made me do it. Twice! LOL
You sound like the people who argue that they don't wear their seatbelts because there is a slim chance that it may trap them in the car. It is possible, but unlikely. In the three years that I did organ procurement throughout North America, I was out on one case where the donor had been in a collision and was wearing a seatbelt. All of the others that were in collisions and became organ donors were unbelted. When the traffic light turns yellow, and you are not yet in the intersection it means stop. There are rare times when it is unsafe to do so and you then need to pick your poison. If you keep track of the cars around you and slow down when somebody is tailgating, thus reducing their stopping distance, you should be able to stop safely. There are two ways to approach the yellow light: 1) speed up to beat the red 2) slow down and prepare to stop.

911Dave

The yellow is intended as a warning that the light is about to change from green to red. You should always stop on a yellow unless you're so close to the intersection when it turns yellow that you won't be able to stop safely. In that case, put your hands over your eyes and floor it.