rm9792 wrote:B8 and Telephone Rd arent on any list I could find of red light cameras. They are just traffic control cameras.
Nope, it is a "red-light camera" revenue generating zone...
It has a sign and everything telling you it is...At least for the westbound feeder lanes...I do not know about the east bound side at this time...
"Perseverance and Preparedness triumph over Procrastination and Paranoia every time.” -- Steve
NRA - Life Member
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
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I wonder how this will be applied to company vehicles. The company I work for has work trucks that multiple people in one day drive. A lot of times we will have pipe, steel beam, grating etc headache racked on the truck that would obscure a cameras shot of the driver. So when they run the LP it would jsut come back to the companies name. Now I might get something that says we caught one of your trucks running a red light two weeks ago etc. But I garuntee none of my drivers are going to remember who was in that truck on that day making runs. So basically it would be an un-eforceable ticket, much like a parking violation.
My posts on this website are worth every cent you paid me for them.
I'm pretty sure I read that failure to pay the red light ticket is a civil offense, so the town has to sue or get a collection agency to chase you down. There are no criminal fines associated with it.
There is talk about linking the failure to pay with the vehicle registration system though.
This thread strikes close to home for me. A little over two years ago I was hired by a company to do on the road training on new election machines across the country. After that project ended I was "promoted" to engineer and assigned to (among others) assist in designing and supporting the wireless network for the red light cameras here in Dallas.
Being a little contrarian in nature, I took it upon myself to time the lights at intersections where I was doing site surveys, well before the cameras went up, and then to time the lights after they had been in place for a while. I didn't get a chance to collect a definitive sample, but did observe that a couple seemed to be adjusted by a few tenths of a second less yellow time after the cameras went active.
I wasn't able to complete my survey because, while conducting one of those site surveys, I fell and broke a finger, and the company first assigned me to meaningless tasks while I was on "light duty" and then laid me off the day after workman's comp released me. I never should have had the unmitigated gall to file for comp.
A little that I know about red light cameras: First, very few are actually owned or run by the cities, they are usually owned, operated and administered by private companies, and those companies are not in the charity business.
Second, they are computed controlled, triggered by various means. Dallas' are radar, some are eddy current loops embedded in the pavement, and others use other detectors. The sensors must be very precisely adjusted to trigger the cameras properly and if they even slightly out of whack, the cameras will take pictures at the wrong times. The computer programs must do everything in precise sequences too, parameters that are custom adjusted for each intersection.
One of the first intersections in Dallas was adjusted so far off that it was taking beautiful pictures of people proceeding through green lights while ignoring the red light runners.
I would also suggest, from observations of testing the live systems, that the arm mounted radars may be subject to falsing on windy days when the arms are being blown around.
One of my fellow engineers on the project got no less than three notices from red light cameras, not ones involved in our project, during the time we worked together, which goes to show that awareness of the cameras does not necessarily lead to compliance.
The process as described to me during my involvement, and observed, was: The pics go to a central clearing house where they are reviewed and assessed for their accuracy, many falses get discarded at that step and only after they are reviewed do they get sent out.
I, personally, think that most of the pics could be beat by questioning the accuracy of the timing of the system and whether the weather had a deleterious effect on that accuracy or lack of same, but I think it would cost more for the appropriate attorney than actually just paying the civil fine and being done with it - an unfortunate commentary on the state of affairs that encourages cities to generate revenues by using these things.
Of course I was involved in the network side of the system, which would have little or no effect on the actual pictures, so things I know about problems there would be of no help.
Nolo contendre does not mean you are guilty, just that you can't prove you are innocent.
Good stuff Jim...I think we should all put this info in the knowledge locker for future reference!!!
Mucho Gracias!
"Perseverance and Preparedness triumph over Procrastination and Paranoia every time.” -- Steve
NRA - Life Member
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
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nitrogen wrote:When I lived in Arizona, the judiciary there helped neuter the speed and red light cameras.
They said that the photo had to positively identify you before a ticket could be issued. If you could not be positively identified, then you could not be compelled (4th amendment rights) to name who was driving at the time.
Also, speed camera and red light cameras would not count as moving violations.
As well, when you get the notifications in the mail, you could "ignore" them, as there was no proof you received them. The PD would either have to send them certified mail, or serve you. Which I know for a fact that at least Scottsdale PD rarely did, at least in the case of my father.
I'd be interested to know if Texas feels similarly about this.
Video and photos aren't the evidence they used to be. After all, I saw Forrest Gump shake John Kennedy's hand. (I used that line in court once and the judge was laughing so hard he couldn't breath. He also overruled my objection.)
Chas.
But your point was still made upon the jury.
Russ
kw5kw
Retired DPS Communications Operator PCO III January 2014.
We just got those red light cameras here in College Station. According to the press releases from the PD and TxDOT, private companies run the cameras and collect the money from the tickets, however, any unpaid ticket is not enforced by the local PD, it actually goes on your credit record. The tickets also do not show up on your driving record.
On a previously mentioned note, College Station was one of the experimental cities for the speeding cameras which was to be erected on highway 6 south, but I never heard what happened to that.
TexAg08 wrote:We just got those red light cameras here in College Station. According to the press releases from the PD and TxDOT, private companies run the cameras and collect the money from the tickets, however, any unpaid ticket is not enforced by the local PD, it actually goes on your credit record. The tickets also do not show up on your driving record.
Sounds like a typical private vendor scenario. The definition of "fascism" includes a collusion between government and private forces.
Supposedly, there is a video that they check to see if you entered the intersection on the yellow light.
In Dallas, when you receive your notice in the mail, you also get a link to your video.
Charles - in reference to your rant: there are plenty of officers in Dallas that agree with you on this one. The media up this way has been showing lots of reports where they've found that the city has "decreased" the length of the yellow light from what it was prior to the cameras being installed. They said that it's still within guidelines but the reporters have found several instances where they are short cycling. The various city reps say that's too bad but they are keeping them this way.
Red Light Cameras almost got banned during the last legislation session so that might be the only way to stop them.
Oh yeah, Speeding Cameras are just around the corner. You think that Red Light Cameras cause controversy, just wait until speeding cameras start going up all around the state. The media ran a story about a town in North Texas that put one up and the residents were going crazy about it. It's portable so it gets moved all the time.
We had that back in Pasadena, California - both the red light AND speeding cameras. The speeding camera was in a white, unmarked (from the rear) Chevy Blazer, pointing out the rear window.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
Hey as long as the MONEY rolls in the cities dont care who gets hurt or killed they will just say
he shouldnt have been speeding threw the light in the first place.
TexAg08 wrote:We just got those red light cameras here in College Station. According to the press releases from the PD and TxDOT, private companies run the cameras and collect the money from the tickets, however, any unpaid ticket is not enforced by the local PD, it actually goes on your credit record. The tickets also do not show up on your driving record.
This is now illegal, sort of. The contractor can still runt he system and collect the money, but they must be paid based on the costs of the system and not on the number of tickets written> They cannot collect a per ticket fee, sot he profits for cities will be dropping drastically, and I expect to see less cameras going up.
On a previously mentioned note, College Station was one of the experimental cities for the speeding cameras which was to be erected on highway 6 south, but I never heard what happened to that.
If it was being done by a city, it is now illegal. This law says cities cannot use speed cameras:
I note that it does not say the state cannot do it, and I don't think it forbids the counties from doing it either. At least, as far as I know, those two could do it but I have not heard anything about DPS wanting it yet.
There's just one, fairly ironic, flaw to the otherwise totally lovable red light cameras that adorn Dallas: they work too well. Turns out the cams have curtailed red light infractions by 50 percent, which in turn has put a budget crunch on City Hall. The city is now considering stopping its planned rollout of more cameras, or shutting down the cameras on a rotating basis -- upkeep when off is next to nothing, but the city pays $3,799 per month per online camera to its service provider. That sounds like quite a spendy broadband bill, but we're not the experts here. Just remember kids, your government wants what's best for you, and what's best for you is a well-funded government, alright?
There's just one, fairly ironic, flaw to the otherwise totally lovable red light cameras that adorn Dallas: they work too well. Turns out the cams have curtailed red light infractions by 50 percent, which in turn has put a budget crunch on City Hall. The city is now considering stopping its planned rollout of more cameras, or shutting down the cameras on a rotating basis -- upkeep when off is next to nothing, but the city pays $3,799 per month per online camera to its service provider. That sounds like quite a spendy broadband bill, but we're not the experts here. Just remember kids, your government wants what's best for you, and what's best for you is a well-funded government, alright?
I love how they report this paragraph as if it's a problem:
Exacerbating the drain is a new state law requiring that municipalities send half of their net red-light-running camera revenue to Austin and post signs alerting drivers of upcoming camera installations. Also, city records indicate Dallas has lengthened yellow-light intervals on 12 of its 62 monitored traffic signals, giving motorists more time to beat a red light.
So less people are running red lights, and that's a problem. It seems the folks down at The Dallas Morning News are beginning to master the principles or Incsoc and doublespeak. Doubleplusgood!
War Is Peace
Freedom Is Slavery
Ignorance Is Strength
(I used that line in court once and the judge was laughing so hard he couldn't breath. He also overruled my objection.)
