Motorists vs traffic cameras

Just slow down and dont run through the red lights and you dont have to worry about that sort of crap. Do Americans really believe that everything is okay, as long as you dont get caught?

I don't believe that I won't get caught if I'm not doing anything wrong.

nate

It's a well known fact that speeding doesn't cause accidents, it's driver's not paying attention. But you can't get someone for not paying attention. You can get speeders, so that's what they go after. The easy way to get rid of the cameras is to drive less than the posted limit. Once they do their yearly consultation and evaluation then the cameras will be found too expensive to operate. But if they can't raise money that way, then they'll raise it some other way. Isn't it better to have law breakers pay the "hidden tax" than to have everyone pay it?

rtc wrote:

Being intoxicated is a large factor, but speed is frequently a contributing factor. Stopping distance is proportional to the square of the speed. The severity of accidents goes up even more as speed increases.

The idea is to get people to obey the traffic laws, not raise money.

-- Ron

Read the article or read it again, the point of the article was it has become a revenue generating mechanism.

Just get a can of clear high gloss spray Poly or Acrilic finish, spray it on a plate and a Clear Lisence plate cover, the reflection will overexpose the camera at the plate, or you can spend 40$ for a can of the same.

I understand that part. Cops have long used zealous prosecution as a revenue generating mechanism. Usually (but certainly not always), however, if you aren't breaking a law, they dont catch you in the snare.

Actually, speed in and of itself is meaningless. It's speed differential that's the issue.

Speeding doesn't kill, otherwise everyone on planet earth would be dead.

Besides the speed differential between yourself and the road and other immobile objects, the REAL issue is speed differential among cars on the road. If everyone is going at about the same speed, no big deal. But when someone comes blasting through traffice 30mph faster than everyone else, HE'S the problem.

Likewise, when grandma is going 40mph when everyone else is going 70mph, SHE'S the problem. She thinks she isn't, because she thinks that "speed kills, therefore the slower I go the better". Uh-uh. Doesn't work that way.

Don't you watch those two guys on tv who test myths? That myth was "busted". Cover up your license plate too much and you'll get a ticket for that.

You're right.. Some places have minimum speed limits, out of necessity.

In Houston, I regularly see people going 85-90 mph on Beltway 8. They need to be stopped, fined, and possibly jailed. The maximum permitted speed is

2. The freeway system there, in general, has a 50 mph minimum speed.

Wrong. At least with RLC's often the yellow interval is shorter than MUTCD recommendations to force people to either jam on their brakes for a yellow and risk being rear-ended, or else get a ticket.

I would imagine that speed cameras are set up similarly, I know there was one on New York Avenue leaving DC eastbound that was notorious, I think that the road was posted something like 25 or 35 MPH, it is a four lane divided highway!

nate

Why? Are they driving unsafely? I doubt it... maybe a few of them are but most of them are probably just getting on with their day.

nate

No it doesnt cover anything, its Clear Gloss. as a matter of fact it was maybe Dateline last night that confirmed its the only legal way to ruin a photo. The gloss reflects light to overexpose just the plate. if you make the plate unreadable by your eye that is different.

The idea is to generate money. Legislators and attorneys don't give a damn about you and I. They just want our money. That is the real world.

Hey Ron, if you believe that then I have this bridge in New York you might be interested in buying. It will pay for itself in tolls in just a few short years. Asking price is less than $5,000,000.00. Email me for details.

I've noticed that consistantly the people who drive the most above the speed limit also signal the least. That doesn't make me think much of their driving skills.

Well, Nate, here in Texas it is not against the law to enter a light on the yellow, but I avoid doing it if I can.

If the speed is posted at 35 or 25 mph, then that is the law. We may not like it but that is just tough.

I got a ticket last year for excessive speed in a construction zone. It turns out that I had already left the construction zone, but that meant nothing to the Highway Patrol. I could have fought it and probably lost. I dont like it, but it served the purpose of making me a heck of a lot more observant.

yeah, and they're also cops, so they don't have to. I'm talking about the people actually at risk of being ticketed.

nate

right, it is not illegal here either. What I'm talking about is if a driver is tooling along at the speed limit and the light turns yellow there may be a "dilemma zone" where he may be unable to stop before the line but also unable to make it into the intersection before the light turns red. This is VERY common with RLC installations.

Stealing money from you (and putting you more at risk of losing your license, and depending on what you do, possibly your job) for something you didn't do is a good thing? I fail to see how that follows.

nate