Photo radar & speed cameras: Are they in your town? (pic)

[Dids]

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You guys should be more alarmed by these things. Our government using cameras and radar detectors to get people in trouble. Our civil liberties are being [censored] on left and right. You guys are right, these cameras are all about money.

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Meh. When these cameras are used for something other than catching people who are already breaking the law, I'll get up in arms. I'm pretty confident that Big Brother isn't spying on the corner of Roosevelt and 45th.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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You guys should be more alarmed by these things. Our government using cameras and radar detectors to get people in trouble. Our civil liberties are being [censored] on left and right. You guys are right, these cameras are all about money.

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Meh. When these cameras are used for something other than catching people who are already breaking the law, I'll get up in arms. I'm pretty confident that Big Brother isn't spying on the corner of Roosevelt and 45th.

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HAHA, they don't even need a camera at Roosevelt and 45th to spy on you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O61YfvPZGJs

Got to love our patriot act.

[Howard Beale]

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Howard,

If you're talking about the ones on Shea Blvd., wow those are well disguised.

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Those are the ones. The 'funny' part is that there are also tiny warning signs that say something like 'speed is radar enforced' before them. Few people are going to notice those signs (and certainly not at night). Residents like me who know where they are aren't going to get ticketed much but there are a 'gabillion' out-of-towners who're headed out that way to golf that are going to get caught. Plus, the picture taking pole looks just plain evil, like something out of the Terminator.

btw: I don't mind the red light cameras. I included them to present the progression of events. However, what is considered red light running (strictly interpreted) would surprise many people and a driver can get ticketed for something they (and everybody else) has been doing for years w/o realizing was illegal.

[tuq]

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what is considered red light running (strictly interpreted) would surprise many people and a driver can get ticketed for something they (and everybody else) has been doing for years w/o realizing was illegal.

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Right. I really wish my post upthread was shorter because I feel a lot of people are going to just skip it (even more than they'd normally skip my posts) but it contains relevant points.

A real-life example would be the intersection of Scottsdale & Thomas Roads. This is a mammoth intersection - six lanes each way, dual left turn bays in all directions, right turn lanes. So the crosswalks are pulled back and the sensors that determine the start of the true intersection are WAY out there, like probably a dozen feet or more past the crosswalk.

Also, cities will put "red light running enforced" signs in all four directions when they are only enforcing one direction. Minor nit but it annoys me anyway for some reason.

[Triumph36]

tuq:

perhaps i'm an idiot, but isn't those sensors being back farther a benefit to drivers? or do they operate coming the other way - i.e. if i go straight through an intersection, the sensor catches me on the way in, and on the way out the light has just turned red - am i getting a ticket?

[tuq]

Triumph,

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking but I believe the sequence is:

- light turns red
- if the sensors (called loop detectors) on the ground register the pressure equivalent to a vehicle it initiates the photo sequence
- smile

So no, the farther out in the intersection/past the crosswalk it is, the worse it is for the driver.

Again, I have no problem with the concept of red light running photo technology, just its improper deployment by some municipalities.

[thedustbustr]

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I am 100% in favor of camera enforcement for red light runners. You azzholes that run red lights are a menace to society and I'm not kidding.

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Nobody blatantly blows through stale red lights at crowded intersections.

People run red lights by going through a yellow light .5 second late, or by stopping at a red light in the middle of the night with no cars in sight and then just going through it.

Neither of these actions are more dangerous than speeding.

[daryn]

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I am 100% in favor of camera enforcement for red light runners. You azzholes that run red lights are a menace to society and I'm not kidding.

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Nobody blatantly blows through stale red lights at crowded intersections.

People run red lights by going through a yellow light .5 second late, or by stopping at a red light in the middle of the night with no cars in sight and then just going through it.

Neither of these actions are more dangerous than speeding.

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you're really wrong. sometimes it's a lot longer than .5 seconds.

[thedustbustr]

It doesn't even really matter, the time between the red light and the opposite green light is 2 seconds in my area. which means you have about 3 seconds before it gets dangerous. 3 seconds is a really really long time when you're going 40mph.

If you run a red when it's been stale for 3 seconds, take your ticket.

I have two tickets this summer for just missing yellows at midnight on deserted roads in the middle of the week, complete [censored] [censored], not unsafe at all, and if there's a [censored] machine thats automating the ticket - ... makes me really [censored] mad.

[kleinstadt1]

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The one problem I remember him not liking about them was that they can't be considered a moving violation since there is no actual cop present, it was more like a parking ticket than a speeding ticket so he thought a lot of people, if they ever knew that, wouldn't pay them.

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I got one of these at a red light in Chicago. They must not be able to make them a moving violation here either, because my insurance didn't go up and I was able to just get a sticker on the back of my driver's license to renew it since I'm a "Safe Driver" without a moving violation in the last four years.