Red Light Camera

In your case, if there was no one else in or around the intersection, you and everyone else was very fortunate. Next time, you and everyone else may not be so fortunate.

 

Agreed. Many traffic laws are silly. Many are poorly and inconsistently enforced. Worse still, there are crooked cops and lawmakers that profit from abusing the system. All of these are bad at very basic levels, and furthermore they serve to muddle otherwise clear arguments like the one in this thread.

We need to fix these laws and their enforcement, and remove and possibly punish those involved in abusing the public trust. This is a separate discussion that would be a good subject for another thread.

If our roads are so congested that our traffic controls don't work, perhaps it's time to go back and reconsider our transportation system. Do we need new forms of traffic control? Do we need to limit access to congested areas? We may need to make changes, but ignoring our current laws is not the answer.

Tom

 

I have a radar detector that warns in advance of the stop light cameras. It is a good investment.

 

That's cool! I had to see how this works. At least the cobra website says they use GPS and a speed/stop light camera database:

Cobra Electronics

is this how yours works? Thanks!

 

I do have a Cobra unit. This is the unit I own.



Here is a pic of it mounted.



It stores the database of red light cameras in the small memory stick on the right. On the PC there is software to update the database. I do it every 2-4 weeks. It uses the internal GPS to determine if you are near a red light area.

It does a lot of unique stuff like. It knows if an emergency vehicle is approaching, it notifies you have a locomotive is approaching. They all have unique RF bands they broadcast over a short range.

I never use the remote anymore. It uses voice prompts that give a clear message. Between the voices in my head, the radar detector, the cars hands free audio and the Garmin GPS it sounds like a lunch room in the car.

 

Nice! It looks like you can get that unit for about $130 from here:

Heartland America: Cobra Intellilink Radar/ Laser

There also seems to be one that is just a GPS receiver and their red light/speed cam database for $70 at amazon (Cobra SL3).


I'm not sure I'm ready for yet another car gadget, but this one is certainly interesting. I don't mind red light cams that much but I dislike speed cams a lot.

 

I love car gadgets. Most of them work great. Some work horrible. I just ordered a Scan Gauge II for the car. The first one was defective. I tried to buy a second and it was defective. I emailed them and never received a response. I called them and got nowhere.

You can predict the companies that will not be around very much longer.

 

No, it shouldn't be standard, because it encourages and (absent robocameras) legitimizes bad behavior such as this:

If drivers behaved and that delay could be abolished, that time could be added back to the green cycle, allowing more cars through under the green.

It is an excellent idea. Many of our newest lights have this countdown timer on the pedestrian walk light, but it serves the same purpose for drivers.

Have you measured the yellow duration at the intersection where you were ticketed? If it is too short, you may want to search for the new federal recommendation on yellow light minimums. So even if the light was legal in your state, you may be able to argue in court that it violates federal traffic safety recommendations.

 

This varies by jurisdiction. In the state where I was first licensed, being in the intersection under a red was not a violation, only entering on the red was illegal. I still have the official state drivers manual in case it is ever useful to document was I taught.

My current state does require one to exit the intersection before the red.

 

In Ohio most people get a ticket for speeding through a yellow or red light. The camera starts checking speed when it changes yellow. Most people speed up and that puts them over the limit.

The best solution is to get a radar detector to tell you a camera is watching you. It makes you be careful and make the right decision

 

This is internet BS.

 

I don't know how it works in other places, but in Houston, the red light cameras also have video. When you get a ticket, you get a url for the picture and video and you can see for yourself how you ran the red light. There is a cop that reviews all videos so that they won't give you a ticket if traffic makes you stop or some other legit reasons.

All the complainer about red light cameras are just people who run reds.

 

You do realize that no judge or cop will care that what you were taught is different from the local law, right? They'll just shrug and tell you to pay your ticket.

As for me, I saw flashbulbs go off about 3 or 4 times when I was in an intersection about a week after getting my Prius. There's lots of contributing factors I could blame it on - an unfamiliar car, an unfamiliar neighborhood, a VERY steep down slope making it more difficult to stop, etc. Luckily, my car was still new enough that I had no plates - just the registration slip from the dealer with the VIN in the windshield. Apparently the camera's resolution wasn't good enough to read 10-point monospaced type, as I lucked out and never heard anything about it.

 

I drive 35,000 miles a year. Having a radar detector tell you ½ mile before you approach a red light camera area is a wonderful thing.

 

Exactly, that's what I do.

I actually like the red light cameras because I feel that if someone gets a ticket they will remember it and think twice next time they come to an intersection. I've seen too many needless intersection accidents.