OT: Does your city/county have red light traffic cameras ?

Charlotte had them for about a year and then stopped using them. I think a judge told them that they could not use them. Not sure what the legal reason was for that. The cameras are still in place, but have not been used for 4 or 5 years. I assume that one day they will be back.

We have a total of 14 red lights but we do have 400 stop signs.

Denver keeps trying to sneak them in and the judge keeps telling them they cant do that. They have vans they park in a median that give tickets. They got called out on the news for being after revenue and not public safety.

San Diego got rid of all theirs, but there are some in the county though

DC has them, and Alexandria VA does as well.

Yep. They've been around here for 10-20 years. Shortly after they started going in one suburb got caught shortening the yellow light time at camera equipped intersections. "Promoting safety" my ass!

no, but there are cops everywhere, raiding strip clubs, shutting them down. I even got pulled over once for going 3 or 4 over the 45 limit. However he let me go after getting a call and figuring I didn't have much to drink. I was thinking it was a good thing I did have something to drink. I would be less coordinated completely sober. No one believes me when I say a few beers improves my reflexes. That's how I got the number one scores on some arcade games when there was a regular bar I used to stop at. Owners changed and I heard they played country music. Never visited again. I can't stand country. Well as much as scratching nails on a chalkboard.

Wait a minute, the speed limit at the time was 45. I got pulled over because I accelerated too fast to the 45 limit. The cop didn't like that I apparently accelerated faster than him but I didn't see him. He harassed me and then let me go after standing on one leg for like 5 minutes after he got a call. I have to get my story straight. I can not remember how long ago this was. sometime in the last ten years. Maybe it was stand on one leg while saying the alphabet backwards and hopping in a straight line along a curb. Sounds like a test the cops would give someone. I think I could only do that after a few beers.

We had them for a while, then they took them out. Lots of issues with errors and what was done with their revenue, at least one constitutional issue was raised over them.

They are/were misused but I believe they really do cut down on people running red lights and have been shown to statistically reduce accidents. I kind of miss them when I see some jackass blatantly run a red light at a busy intersection.

I saw someone run a red light today. so did a cop who sped down the road in the same direction. Maybe not a coincidence. Probably caught the incident on the camera in the car.

I got caught by one of those fucking things leaving a club a couple of years back. It was 2 am, and the light wouldn't change so I went through it. Would have been fireworks but I got the citation from the mailbox instead of the old ball and chain.

No red light camera's in my county. They once had a cut out life size police car sign they put on the side of the road to slow people down but somebody stole it so they stopped using it.

“... I believe they really do cut down on people running red lights and have been shown to statistically reduce accidents ...”

If it's the cities or camera companies touting this, which is usually the case, vs an independent entity, then I have my doubts.

I have read they have increased rear end collisions at traffic lights b/c the PL in front panics at the sight of a yellow light and slams the breaks b/c he's afraid of getting a camera ticket - and the PL behind him will hit him b/c he was anticipating the PL in front was gonna thru the intersection

They may reduce accidents by reducing traffic. I know I avoid them whenever possible. It's just so obvious they shorten the yellow to make more money.

We had red light and speeding cams briefly but they got taken offline due to issues with the contractor and a myriad problems with implementation and rollout. The speed ones were particularly irksome in that in some locations there was little or no warning of the zone change. Much of the hardware and infrastructure was left in place so there is still the possibility of them coming back if the department can find someone who's got his shit together to install and run the system properly.

Papi,

My daughter has gotten hit three times turning right. Full stop, no, rather a slow crawl, but technically, running a red light.

I'm not aware of any cameras but my town is the first in Georgia to start using the new left turn signals.

When solid Red arrow is illuminated, no left turn is allowed;
When solid Yellow arrow is displayed, drivers should prepare to stop as light is about to turn
red;
When flashing Yellow arrow is illuminated, drivers may turn left but must yield to pedestrians
and oncoming vehicles; and
When solid Green arrow is displayed, drivers may turn left.

I like them.

Roswell, GA installed them about 5 years ago. They found the intersections with them did not get as many violations, so were not revenue generators. To make it worse, some folks who got the citations fought it in court. So it took up a lot of expensive court time too, and needed to review the original footage in each case. The review showed 'grey' areas where they sided with the driver. The final nut was incredible expense that did not pay for itself and they were removed.

Are you kidding Shadowcat? Those have been around forever. Except for the flashing yellow

The flashing yellow is what makes them new and you are wrong about the others being around forever. We didn't have them in 1958 when I started driving.

We have them in many of the suburbs of Detroit.

But as far as I know, they are not used for giving tickets or violations.
Most of the cameras are at intersections.
I'm assuming they are there for monitoring traffic flow and for traffic accidents at those locations.

They've been installed in my town for 3+ years, but they've never turned them on. Thank God.

In columbus sullivant ave had such a bad prostitution street walker and drug dealing problem they installed security cameras to monitor the street.

The cameras were ruled illegal because they were found to be prejudiced against blacks for ticketing a disproportionate number of minorities in cities such as Detroit and East St. Louis.

That's what I heard from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson anyway.....

We have them in my county and they are a blessing. Before we had them, we had a significant problem with people running the red lights. It's just about ended. Don't want a ticket? Don't run the fucking light.

Philadelphia is laced with red light cameras, and the city is always looking for a new intersection to put new ones up, Drivers here seem not to care, as they run red lights like it's nothing. $100 fine for a red light violation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_B… - If you've ever been to Philly, you know how dangerous Roosevelt Blvd is.

It doesn't prevent accidents to have short yellow lights. It causes them.

Council Bluffs, Iowa has a number of them. They were ordered to eliminate one of them at the end of the interstate exit ramp recently, however.