Busted twice in one day by the red light camera

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

One more time...

Are there any RIGHT ON RED AFTER STOP signs around town?

I'm going that direction tomorrow and will check. I don't recall currently, but clearly my memory is not very good to begin with.

[chocolatelab]

google the red light tickets issue in your area. i bet someone is figuring out a way to avoid that fine.

Judi got one here in california and the key was not to respond in any fashion to the citation.

if you didnt respond the local pd had to find you and hand deliver to make it stick.

[DARISC]

Stop signs are confusing also. I got three citations yesterday afternoon from the same cop. He was following me, I came to a stop sign and stopped. The cop ticketed me for obstructing traffic. Same thing happened for two more stop signs.

Should I fight the tickets? NONE of the stop signs said. "then go."

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Scott R

...I own a check cashing store at the top of this intersection and I was driving to the hardware store around the corner to get something. In fact I drove to the hardware store TWICE and they got me both times.

I now owe $150 to the city, ($75 each incident) and possibly more coming in the mail....

It's payback for being a freakin' loan shark . Those "revenue generation devices" are now ancient history around here. Here, they were technically "minicipal fines", and not tied to the DMV, points on your license, insurance, etc. so many (myself included) just told 'em to F-off, and they eventually did. I received phone calls for a couple of years from the collection agency they turned it over to: "Yeah, that was me, and I'm not paying"....the stammering (or silence) was golden. I'm at the point that I couldn't give a rip about my exceptional credit rating (not a blemish ever), and in fact, it never did show up at any of the three agencies. Cameras eventually disappeared on legal grounds...YMMV

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've NEVER turned right on red at a camera controlled intersection. I just don't trust them - yes I've been honked at and yelled at but I don't give a damn, the impatient person behind me won't be the one going through the grief of trying to fight a ticket against a nameless accuser if the thing decides to snap me "running" the intersection (even stopping and then making a legal RH turn). At that point your only recourse would be to contest it and I always figured it'd go something like this:

Judge: So what happened
Me: I stopped, looked and then made a legal right hand turn
Judge: But the camera picture shows you running the light - how do I know for a fact that you stopped and properly followed the law requiring you to make a full stop prior to the stop line?
Me: I guess you don't
Judge: That's right, sorry but the only available evidence (photograph) compels me to uphold the fine - you can pay over there

See what I mean?

Frankly if enough people do that and get pissed off that traffic is snarling up at intersections because of these stupid things, maybe there will be enough of a public outcry to get them pulled out. I'm certainly not going to give Johnny Law an "easy one" to nail me with.

I'm REALLY happy that there are no traffic lights at all near where I live (I pass four stop signs on my way to the train station and that's it), although there's talk that they might start getting installed in Boston (where I work) and in several surrounding suburban communities. All the more reason I'll never give up my house in the country and stick to riding the trains. I don't drive into the city unless there's literally no other alternative. Too much B.S. to deal with between traffic, parking, idiot drivers and now crap like this - I don't miss urban living at all. It seemed like practically every single intersection had cameras back when I lived in SoCal and I don't miss them one bit. I hope they don't migrate eastward to cities on this coast but it's probably inevitable - all the crap seems to eventually leech its way from L.A. and infect the rest of the country.

[red-beard]

I was tagged for a right on red at a red light camera a few years back.

Get one of the new Escort Radar units with Escort live. They have the country mapped for red-light cameras. There are other advantages too.

[madmmac]

I don't know of any state that a right turn on a red light is permitted without stopping first. You at least slowed down for the corner.

You have dodged tickets, cars and yours or someone else's life for years.

It is a basic law.

The sign stating, no turn on Red is the exception, not the norm.

Pay up.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I was tagged for a right on red at a red light camera a few years back.

Get one of the new Escort Radar units with Escort live. They have the country mapped for red-light cameras. There are other advantages too.

Does it just beep at me when I'm coming to the intersection? I think I need this if so just to remind me to do the right thing.

[techweenie]

We got rid of red light cameras in most -- if not all -- municipalities in California. I have mixed feelings about it because we have a huge problem in LA with left turning drivers running red lights.

But something new has been added to CA law -- at least to my knowledge -- your car has to be stationary for a count of 3 seconds before you are considered to be legally stopped. Worth researching in other states...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Scott R

Does it just beep at me when I'm coming to the intersection? I think I need this if so just to remind me to do the right thing.

No. Voice ("Red light camera, ahead.") and then a visual countdown to the the location in feet on the radar detector. When you get within a 100 feet or so, it goes voice again ("You have reached your marked location.").

If you have a Smartphone (Android or iPhone), they have the Escort Live option. The radar detector connects to the internet and puts up your radar signals. You are also alerted to radar detected by others in the past hour or so.

The alerts are also mapped out on Google maps in the application. It also has a database of the speed limits of the roads you are using and will alert you when you exceed the speed limit. It also has a button to press if you see a cop, without the radar detector going off, marking the location for others.

The red light camera stuff is built into the radar detector and you can update it by connecting the radar detector to your computer. The Escort Live is an add on, but you also have to pay a monthly fee for the online service.

[dhrcr911s]

Waiting to hear if my father got any Red Light tickets from me driving his Mini in Centenial six weeks ago. I'm guessing not. I hate the revenue generating POS cameras.

[john walker's workshop]

people do that around here all the time. no clue, or don't care. no effort to slow down at all.

[motion]

Originally Posted by techweenie

We got rid of red light cameras in most -- if not all -- municipalities in California. I have mixed feelings about it because we have a huge problem in LA with left turning drivers running red lights.

But something new has been added to CA law -- at least to my knowledge -- your car has to be stationary for a count of 3 seconds before you are considered to be legally stopped. Worth researching in other states...

Still have them down in San Juan Capistrano. I've seen them in other OC locations, too.

[Rick Lee]

My Escort 9500ix is great for alerting cameras coming up. I got flashed in CO Springs once and I didn't go through the red light. I stopped, but suspect I was a few inches forward of the line, so the camera flashed twice. I think they didn't send me a ticket because I hadn't moved at all between the two photos.

BTW, in AZ you can turn right on red from the center lane, which takes some getting used to.

[Targa Me]

Maybe it's time to review the Driver's Handbook, front to back.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by Targa Me

Maybe it's time to review the Driver's Handbook, front to back.

Yes it is.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Targa Me

Maybe it's time to review the Driver's Handbook, front to back.

Yeah, this ^^^. I keep revisiting this strange thread because I just can't freaking believe it. I cannot believe that you did not know that you have to stop at a red light. I'm wondering if there are any other basic rules of the road you do not know.

I could understand the thread if you'd said that you were cheating a little and rolled through the red light w/o stopping and turned right because the coast was clear and visibility was excellent. I've done that. But to claim that you did not know that you had to stop and ran a camera light 6 times in one day makes this one of the strangest thread I've seen here. And that's saying a lot.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by motion

Still have them down in San Juan Capistrano.

Where? Thanks!

[motion]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Where? Thanks!

Thick on Del Obispo.

[motion]

Originally Posted by DARISC

Stop signs are confusing also. I got three citations yesterday afternoon from the same cop. He was following me, I came to a stop sign and stopped. The cop ticketed me for obstructing traffic. Same thing happened for two more stop signs.

Should I fight the tickets? NONE of the stop signs said. "then go."

This really happened?