quote:

ORIGINAL: DarlingSavage

FR

I don't like those things.  I mean, how fucking petty can you get if you get a ticket cause you ran a red light in the middle of the fucking night when no one else was around and the light was red for what seemed like 20 minutes?  Aside from that, I really don't see the necessity of cameras all over the place, unless we're going for a police state.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DarlingSavage

FR

I don't like those things.  I mean, how fucking petty can you get if you get a ticket cause you ran a red light in the middle of the fucking night when no one else was around and the light was red for what seemed like 20 minutes?  Aside from that, I really don't see the necessity of cameras all over the place, unless we're going for a police state.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

So because no one sees it, its perfectly ok to commit a crime?

quote:

ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

quote:

ORIGINAL: DarlingSavage

FR

I don't like those things.  I mean, how fucking petty can you get if you get a ticket cause you ran a red light in the middle of the fucking night when no one else was around and the light was red for what seemed like 20 minutes?  Aside from that, I really don't see the necessity of cameras all over the place, unless we're going for a police state.

So because no one sees it, its perfectly ok to commit a crime?

quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCord

These cameras have zero to do with safety and everything to do with creating another revenue source for the municipalities who use them. It's a tax, and a not so cleverly hidden one. The traffic safety claim is pure, unadulterated bullshit. The promotional material of some of the manufacturers of these cameras touts the increased enforcement revenue possible at a lower cost than using officers.  Here in MA, the incidence of rear-end collisions at lights known to be equipped with cameras has risen, as people unsure of the "criteria" the camera uses slam on brakes for yellow lights. A friend who is a local police officer in my town says the same thing - they do nothing for safety and everything to raise $$$.

These things should be outlawed and efforts are underway in many states to do just that.  Where removal is not the goal, efforts are being made to force government to conspicuously post large signs before such cameras (speed cams as well) that the camera is operational and its' effective  range begins _______ feet ahead and a similar sign placed where the camera is no longer effective. If the REAL goal is safety, these signs will do more to slow down drivers or increase compliance, than the cameras themselves will do. If the actual goal is revenue, the government entities will squeal like stuck pigs at having to do this.

It is just more "big brother" stuff. I have no issue with them personally as long as warnings are put in place about their presence and they are not a way to get around needed government spending cuts by raising revenues with them. I have a stellar driving record, having never had a single moving violation/ticket in 40 years of driving, so I'm not likely to be a victim of one.

The following sites provide databases of locations nationally of these, ways to get around the tickets, etc. GPS manufacturers are rumored to be working on adding them to their GPS to warn of approaching one. There is also supposedly a company working on a cover for your license plate that can be read easily by a following police officer or a toll camera, but cannot be read by a high-mounted red light or speed camera (polarized?)

http://www.photoenforced.com/

http://www.highwayrobbery.net/

http://www.motorists.org/photoenforce/

http://www.safernet.org/

http://speedcamerapoi.com/


...and lots more....

By the way...the place cameras are really needed is at rail crossings. As a former locomotive engineer, I can tell you that the number of people who go around gates in front of approaching trains is a real problem.  Those people need to be ticketed or worse and cams are the perfect way to do this.....as they can be low-level cams that defeat things like polarized license plate covers.

MC

(...noting that others made the same points above....)

quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy
Suppose I do not have $100 for the fine?

Perhaps they will let you work off the fine?

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

If you can't pay it, then go get a second job for a couple of weeks. That's all it would take to earn a $100 at minimum wage.

quote:

So because no one sees it, its perfectly ok to commit a crime?

quote:

ORIGINAL: DarlingSavage

quote:

So because no one sees it, its perfectly ok to commit a crime?

That's just a little ridiculous.  It's not really a crime, is it.  It's a crime to run a red light if you hit somebody cause you ran it in the middle of the day and that's a busy intersection.  That's a crime.  I'd hardly call running a red light in the middle of the night with no one else around a crime for who is being hurt in that instance?

quote:

ORIGINAL: DarlingSavage

quote:

So because no one sees it, its perfectly ok to commit a crime?

That's just a little ridiculous.  It's not really a crime, is it.  It's a crime to run a red light if you hit somebody cause you ran it in the middle of the day and that's a busy intersection.  That's a crime.  I'd hardly call running a red light in the middle of the night with no one else around a crime for who is being hurt in that instance?

quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

If you can't pay it, then go get a second job for a couple of weeks. That's all it would take to earn a $100 at minimum wage.

From reading his posts he seems to be hard pressed to part with his cash.... Doesn't like tipping, taxes, so it stands to reason he would gripe about fines...

I have the same feelings on fines as I do about life's other expenses... if you can't afford a tip, don't have people serve you, if you don't wanna pay taxes stop spending and making money, and if you don't wanna pay the fine you don't do the crime.

quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

If you can't pay it, then go get a second job for a couple of weeks. That's all it would take to earn a $100 at minimum wage.

From reading his posts he seems to be hard pressed to part with his cash.... Doesn't like tipping, taxes, so it stands to reason he would gripe about fines...

I have the same feelings on fines as I do about life's other expenses... if you can't afford a tip, don't have people serve you, if you don't wanna pay taxes stop spending and making money, and if you don't wanna pay the fine you don't do the crime.

quote:

ORIGINAL: ElizabethAnne

Hello,

I agree with Cord, only another way to gain revenue.   There is a road that about 1/2 mile away from a school, and a sign regarding the speed limit;  This is a fairly busy road, and they have the yellow lights for school caution, and  you slow down during specific hours, such as 7:30am to 9:00am, and from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.    And as such I've always followed the law to the letter;  well apparently they made some changes in the sign, as I received a WARNING in the mail, the NEW hours are Monday through Friday 7:30a to 4:00p, and they had installed a camera.  They were able to detect I was going 37 mph in what was a 35, but because of the change it was 20, and this would be my only warning, I had passed through this area at 11am.

About a week later there was a huge news article, apparently the city government, officials had them installed because their revenues were down, this is an area hit really hard by the recession, and a couple of the officials now have other jobs...or unemployment... as they were voted out of office, and the cameras are down.

So yeah, this is just a money making scheme.

Elizabeth

quote:

I am not a fan of laws, police and the ways they earn their cheddar, especially traffic laws, especially in the middle of the night when common sense makes more sense than the traffic lights.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCord



GPS manufacturers are rumored to be working on adding them to their GPS to warn of approaching one.

quote:

I am not a fan of laws, police and the ways they earn their cheddar, especially traffic laws, especially in the middle of the night when common sense makes more sense than the traffic lights.