trancemission

SouthernBoy

VT06TL

In my area I live the running of red lights, turning left on red lights and having multiple cars going through after the light has turned red is a common thing. So I wish they had cameras because the police are not around and most important concern I have is one of these idiots are going to hit my new TL. Imagine some person in a 2000 Ford Focus on a cell phone runs a red light and t-bones your pride and joy Acura.

SouthernBoy

Thanks, friend.

I would like to clarify something from my post. In going back over it, I'm afraid I may have inferred that the gentleman who started this thread about his own red light running was ignorant. I did not mean to imply such. However, the ACT of running a red light is an ignorant act when done deliberately.. and I would bet nearly 100% are deliberate acts.

We all make mistakes from time to time, but I like to live by the credo that says, "try to live your life making as few mistakes as possible". This is what I tried to teach my daughters and the reason is quite simple.

Most mistakes are minor in nature, but a few can be serious. The more mistakes you make, the greater your chance of making that one big one. Running a red light or a stop sign or making an illegal turn or driving recklessly in areas where more than yourself could be in danger could result in a very costly "mistake". Not only that but I have to admit it pains me to see car enthusiats doing such things. Gearheads should always try to set an example to other "less knowledgable" drivers.

'Nuff said?

VT06TL

Couldn't have said it better SouthernBoy

S PAW 1

Let's see.......this is your second ticket in 16 years, and you're 26?
Write on the board 10 times (since 10 is when you started driving):
ACCOUNTABILITY!

neuronbob

Here in Cleveland, where cameras went into use last year, the law is to have signs posted at the intersections. Interestingly, the cameras here catch more speeders than red light runners, according to news reports following up on the cameras' use.

By the way, one of our local TV stations did an expose on the spray for license plates. They actually took pictures from known camera angles for traffic cameras, with different lighting conditions, with and without flash, and you could still clearly see enough of the plate to make an ID. So, the spray is .

Here, license plate covers obscuring the plate are illegal, but how are they going to catch you? Those actually work.

kkltam

Let's see. You are 53 yo and have had 16 posts. And you are not reading carefully. Please take reading classes first before you start ranting on inaccurate info.

I have had 26 posts. I'm not 26 yo, but thank you though!

Tripp11

You're 27 now.

kkltam

Thanks.

1995hoo

In some jurisdictions it is illegal to enter an intersection if you cannot clear the intersection legally without stopping, and in most of those intersections, it is illegal to be in the intersection when the light turns red. This varies from place to place, so you have to check the local laws. Most people assume that you can legally enter the intersection and sit there waiting to turn left, then clear the intersection after the light turns red, and in practice almost nobody ever gets ticketed for this, but it is not legal everywhere!

Someone said that camera tickets require a clear picture of the driver's face. Not always. I don't believe the original poster gave a location, so it's hard to know the applicable law. But in DC, for example, and in Virginia when we had cameras, the camera takes a picture of the REAR of the car only and the driver's face never shows up in the picture.

I've never tried the spray (I always stop if the light turns yellow). Somewhere I do have an "Eliminator" license plate cover. I bought it when DC got photo radar to enforce speed limits because the speed limit on I-295 is 50 mph, but traffic goes 70-75. I don't recommend an "Eliminator" because it's too obvious that you have it on the car; it will be readily apparent to anyone, and I took mine off after I got pulled over on Christmas Eve 2001 (on the way to church, no less).....the cop just made me take the cover off the car and said "Happy Christmas." In Virginia it's illegal to do anything that changes the appearance of your license plate, and the "Eliminator" definitely does that! I would have had to remove it anyway because I was going to Canada a few weeks later, and after 9-11 the LAST thing you want to try is to have an illegible license plate at a US Customs station!

I1Money

In California, if you purchased a new car, your license plates don't actually come until a month later. Usually, the dealer would put plates on the car advertising their dealerships until your plates come in the mail. My question is say I run a red light and was caught by the camera, however there are no license plates on the car so all they have is a picture of a random guy running the red light, do they just tossed the pictures away as they won't know who the car belongs to?

Flash80

Yes. Nothing they can do.

chfields

I beleive they can also see back of car which will have temp plate that can be traced to you.

INSPIRE 32V

iTrader: (1)

they send the pic to the lab and do further test on it and get the temp plate number on the windows and come to your house and put u behind bars and crush u new Tl. LOL

I1Money

Actually I only have one plate and it's in the back. It does not have my temp number but rather it just says the dealership's name. I think the temp number is on the windshield but I'm not sure and I really doubt the camera can zoom in that far. If they do, I'll be glad to pay the ticket because that's simply amazing.

SouthernBoy

I have to say that I am against traffic cameras for a few reasons.

I am an American.
I am a Virginian.
I am a Southerner.

Now for the other reasons.

Yes, in Virginia when we had traffic cameras, they only took pictures of the rear of cars. Now suppose you took your car in for service someplace and the mechanic took it out for a test drive, then ran a red light during this process. YOU are the one who will receive the ticket in the mail.

I know some will say, "well just go down and submit your receipt and that is it". But it's not "it". Suppose you lost the receipt or threw it away.. or didn't even get one? Also there's this. The presumption of innocense no longer exists with traffic cameras.. you are presumed guilty and it is up to you to prove otherwise. Suppose you were off to dinner with the wife in her car and your delinquent son (or daughter) decided to go for a joy ride in you wheels.. then ran a red light. I suspect this one would be hard for the local police to believe.

And then there is the invasion of my privacy.. a whole other matter.

1995hoo

In Virginia you didn't have to "prove" your innocence by ratting out your son or daughter. You just had to submit an affidavit that you were not operating the car and that was the end of it. Back in 1999 or so my brother got a ticket from the camera at the corner of Pickett Road and 236 driving his own Civic. He deserved it. But because my brother was 24 years old, the car was still registered in our father's name for insurance reasons, so the ticket went to our father. I typed up an affidavit for him, he got it notarized when he stopped at the bank that Saturday and mailed it in, and that was the end of it. So at least in Virginia it was easy to deal with it.

But I agree with you, I didn't like the cameras and I think they're in essence a band-aid, a cosmetic solution to a bigger problem.

VT06TL

I fully agree with 1995hoo, cameras are an attempt to fix the problem. If people would just follow the rules of the road, but people are in too much of a hurry. So yellow means speed up to some no matter how long it has been yellow. Unfortuneatly cities have to deal with the problem and cameras are the way they do it. The alternative is to have several 300 lbs guys the put a beating on the offenders and then throw them back in their car, they'll think twice before even going through a green light next time! But if you drive an Acura you would be exempt and just given a warning.

SouthernBoy

Thank you, sir, for your corrections. Still having to go through the trouble to submit an affidavit seems to be against something uniquely American to me. At least that's all that you dad had to contend with.

As for "a band-aid, a cosmetic solution to a bigger problem", I agree with you here as well.

SouthernBoy

Heh, heh.. nice idea.. maybe. The only thing is if some of us (me included) saw several 300 lbs guys coming to do some damage on our bodies, we may be seriously tempted to shoot them.

We should be glad we don't live in London, England. They have quite a few cameras in that city and they're not looking for red light runners. Also, there are soon-to-be actions taken in the UK where if you are stopped for a traffic incident (or whatever), they will have a little device with them which will allow them to take a few finger prints and transmit them to a local police bureau where they can be searched against stored prints (local and national) to determine if you are wanted for some reason. Good ole' England. Good thing we kicked them out 225 years ago.

1995hoo

Funny to see someone mention the UK. I went to Edinburgh for the weekend in April and I drove out to St Andrews and to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune. They have speed cameras on the roads, but the funny thing about them is how easy they are to spot. I asked one of my friends about it and she said that they used to be inconspicuous, but people said that it was too hard to see the cameras and that they were all made more visible. Seems to me that this sort of defeats the purpose of a speed camera! (Not that I'm complaining, of course.)