Your views on red light cameras.....?
816215
You get tickets for 'infractions' you could have committed with a cop on your tail!  The cameras don't show the guy hitting his brakes in the intersection, leaving you in the middle saying cheese, for instance.  By the time you get the ticket, you don't even remember driving there, so what defense do you have?  Besides, they make people drive crazy--stopping for stale green lights, racing because a light turned yellow--all because there is a camera there and not a man who can decide whether you are driving safely or not.\n\nI'll bet your city could get a discount on the cameras if they asked insurance companies to help--they love those things!
628726
Yes it is - (in the UK that is - hope you are in the UK?).  You can request proof that appropriate signs were in place as stipulated in the Road Traffic Act.  You may find that sending this letter may get on their wick to the point that they will drop the speeding claim - obviously they have to have photographic evidence of the offence also!  As per the RTA they also have to provide the items requested in the letter.  I managed to get off a speeding fine with it.  \n\n\nIn order that I may honestly complete the required information requested on the reverse of the form, I require the photographic evidence of the alleged offence in order that I may ascertain who was driving.\n\nI will also require:-\n\n•The name of the manufacturer, including make and model and serial number of the radar or laser gun used.\n\n•Copies of the manufacturers recommended maintenance schedule for the above device.\n\n•Copies of the manufacturer’s literature as it relates to the correct use, including but not limited to, mounting, aiming, weather and traffic limitations for the device used.\n\n•A copy of the past six months maintenance records, including but not limited to calibration specifications.\n\n•Photographic evidence that the legally required notifications of speed camera use were displayed at the site being used for speeding offence detection, or a copy of the relevant legislation that states that this in not necessary.\nPlease note that attempted delivery to the address listed on your letter, as detailed above, will be considered as valid service of this document.\n\nI look forward to your prompt response.\n\n\nGood luck with it!!  I don't know about anyone else - but I have no problem with fixed speed cameras - just the nasty sneaky mobile ones - normally hidden away in an area that has no risk to pedestrians, but significant possibility for speeding without endangerment to any other road users.  GRRR nasty money making machines!!
23348
I drafted a pretty good LIDAR (laser-radar) speeding defense using these websites:\n\nhttp://www.helpigotaticket.com/proc/...\nhttp://www.tipmra.com/\nhttp://www.ticketassassin.com/\n\nThey give free advice for beating traffic tickets. I must caution you to verify the law contained in these websites. Hope this helps.
811918
I'll join you bud. \nI've still not heard of a valid reason for having them. Stopping crime? Will it hell. And it'll spawn a whole new world of fraud with people making fake ones. Stop illegal immigration? They'll just buy one from Camden Market. \nAll I can think of is the safety in numbers...like the poll tax. www.no2id.net is a good place to start.
641871
Dear Tony Cologne,\n When you say a red car appearing to move faster, do you mean to the human eye or to the device that the cops use. I think you may have some confusion that is evident in popular lore about the Doppler shift. \nHowever, you might have a point about the cops coming to a complete stop and then catching up again within a quarter mile. At 37 mph a quarter mile is 24 seconds. That means the whole time they are stopping it is adding to your lead as well as the whole time they are accelerating to catch up. Then once they surpass your velocity they have to exceed it enough to catch up within what is left of the 24 seconds they started with. Plus, nobody pulls over right away the instant the lights start flashing. If you had a savvy lawyer you might have a case, plus the judges know these cops usually embellish the truth. Who cares, its a traffic ticket, might as well fight it and have some fun. Its not like you'll get the death penalty if you lose.
825380
Ok... obvious answer is... dont speed or run red lights. If the camera caught you, then you were doing something wrong. Fighting it is damn near impossible because they have photo evidence that you were breaking the law. Like you said.. you dont know if you were speeding or not- we all tend to drive faster than we should, and you were probably speeding. Those cameras dont randomly take pictures and try to bust you on something you didnt do... they actually have a rhyme and reason. Why should they have to post signs informing you that you are under survelliance? When you signed for your driver's license you agreed to follow all rules of the road. So therefore the police and the government have a right to make sure you are following through with your promise. There was most likely an article in the local paper when these cameras were incorporated into the system, and where they are located... that's about all the warning you are going to get. You should assume that at any point in time you are being watched... that makes me nervous but that is the way that it is. Every light you stop at has cameras, and most are recording license plate numbers. Even if they aren't equipped with the technology to send you a ticket for running a red light. Now that i have strayed from the question... you cant beat the photo radar unless you have solid proof of what you were doing or how fast you were going at that precise moment.. as that is impossible because you have no knowledge of when the camera is recording you, i would recommend being careful. Respect the laws in the area and you wont have the problem. As for malfunctions... machines aren't perfect and if they have recorded you at something you know is impossible (say you drive an old beater that couldn't go over 70 if your life depended on it and it records you going 90)then you are gonna have to prove how that is an impossiblitity. Other than that... good luck!!
454142
well I think a lot of it depends on who sees the whats on camera, and where exactly they point. if you think about it lunch room, classrooms, and hallways are really public and fairly high traffic areas. even if there where no camera's around I think most people would figure out that you don't do stuff there you don't want everyone else seeing as there is a fairly good chance of them walking through or by that spot.  it would be another matter if they where in bathrooms or locker rooms or places that are supposed to be more private. but for places where there is usually a crowd of people I don't see how a camera added to the mix is going to reveal anything that wouldn't normally be found out if they had the staff out wondering the building more.
818194
Most people will say the emergency services ..... but they have to treat lights as a give way sign, and go when they can, and are still punishable if involved in an accident.      However .....  it's the Royal Mail who can legally go through red lights.     They don't of course, but they carry the Queens emblem and as such entitles them to ignore red lights in the eyes of the law.
1171094
it surpises me that the police do not film the events like the arrest of the two suspects recently, from helmet cameras to show exactly what has happened, if only to protect themselves etc.\n\nIt is a difficult call when one segment of the community which is clearly identifiable by colour or religion contain members who pose significant threat to the rest of society, because inevitibly there will be accusations of targetting. But it does seem to make sense to stop and search/question more of those perceived to be a threat especially if you have limited resource, or am I wrong?\n\nAs for the heavy handed approach, surely if the ultimate precautions are taken to ensure no one is hurt no 'collateral damage' for example, this is always going to be the result seen from some eyes. The important thing to remember is why they do it. Not because they they are racist or anti this or that, but because litigation and public pressure for the ultimate in standards dictates they go to these lengths. \n\nI don't think they can win, the information they get is often false, flawed and deliberately misleading, but they have to act, just in case. If the press reported in a less sensationalist way I am sure that would help a lot.
896055
Those cameras are meant to deter misbehavior - that is, the Board of Education wants you to think that they have assistant principals and/or school safety agents watching those cameras all the time\n\nOf course, they do NOT - there isn't enough money in the budget for them to have personnel watching those cameras..\n\nBut, they MAY have a videotape system that can be reviewed at a future time if something bad happens, and on any given day they MIGHT just have an SSA or an AP watching that camera \n\nSo, they want you to behave all the time, to avoid the risk that you MIGHT getting caught...
1130231
I know of one with a criminal record who started a "newspaper" in a town. Every time he was stopped (always with cause) he'd write something nasty. He'd publish outright lies and slanderous things as 'fact' then scream freedom of the press when criticized. \n\nI've had - quite some years ago - a couple tickets. And you know what - I deserved it. I wasn't paying attention to speed and was driving too fast. Few things are important enough that an extra 5 minutes is an issue. \nI've also seen both sides...for a while in another state had an older piece of crap car and ALWAYS got pulled over. I mean 2-3 times a month and seldom drove more than 5 miles. I know why, though no one would admit it. And it wasn't *me* - I'd drive the same way in another vehicle and wouldn't get stopped. The car wasn't illegal but was suspect. Was that the cops fault? no. \n\nI can say there were people in that city that had FAR worse attitudes than the police officers.
782524
63 mph in a 30 zone !!!!!!!!!!!!! are you some kind of idiot, i hope you get a ban as you deserve one, at over 60 mph you could have killed someone, if a child had steped out in front of you there is no way you would have been able to stop. Speed cameras are there to stop people like you !!!!!!!!!!!!
187354
I used to work for a county government in Virginia.  The vehicle pool had a former sheriff's car, and I took it to Richmond once.  The car was that model they typically use as police cars (I forget what that is) and it was still painted black and white like a police car, but did not have any insignia.  It had two spotlights, but no lights on the roof.\n\nLeaving Richmond during the evening rush hour, I noticed that the traffic was very light.  I was driving the speed limit.  I was surprised that there would be light traffic at this time of day.  Looking in my rear view mirror a while later, I saw about 25 cars backed up behind me, afraid to pass because they thought I was a police car!
74048
Friendly reminder also that your bright lights are blinding me.  Hasn't it become a traffic law in some states that if you aren't traveling at the speed limit you should move over allowing others doing the speed limit to pass?
1025417
Funny you mention that. The police chief of Chiago already wants cameras in the homes of felons. Yes we are entering a total police state here in the USA. There are also directional mics in the public areas with those cameras to listen in on your conversations. The justification for these mics is classic disinfo. I have heard that the mics are to triangulate gun shots, yeah they can do that, but mostly they are here to spy on us. But don't just worry about the cameras. State governments are implementing RFID technology into your cars registration stickers. And there are even plans on making a system like Onstar mandatory so basically you will have to "check in" with your state government in some way before you can even drive your car! It is really beyond 1984 what is being set up here in the US, and the national news will NOT tell you its happening.
906658
I'm pretty positive that it's just for the drama of television.\n\nA real crime scene investigator will definitely take all the light they can get.  They might check the light switch for fingerprints before they use it, but trust me, they're gonna turn the lights on!
477166
Yeah, and how many times have you flashed your baby blues (or browns) and gotten off with a warning?\n\nBe happy that you didn't get a ticket for speeding. (Of course you can't. You woud rather rant about al ittle thing like this.)