More Trouble With Red Light And Speed Camera
from the problems-everywhere dept
Bob Dole writes "Red light and speed camera supporters always claim that the camera never lies. These news items suggest otherwise. An Australian woman lost her license because a speed camera showed she was driving 104 MPH. The problem? Her nearly 30 year old Datsun's top speed is only 73MPH. Likewise, a Raleigh woman found herself trying to fight a camera ticket sent from a city she has never visited. Back down under, the police escorted hundreds of Aussie motorcyclists into a speed camera trap as they drove to an event organized by the police. Police collect $12,000. In each case, the use of machine enforcement causes the burden of proof to be placed on the innocent. They're each forced to fight city hall every time the camera is wrong (which is more than the proponents admit). The revolt against this setup grows in the UK with speed camera operators calling in sick because of the "stress" caused by angry motorists." This seems to be getting a lot of attention lately. We've also had another submission as frankiejr writes "Seems as though a woman in South Wales was clocked at 480mph by a speed camera and was promptly issued a ticket. Funniest part about it is that it was a really cheap car that can barely reach 50mph." Seems like this is the topic of the season.
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Simple
Repeat if needed for rear license plate.
Call it an experiment "anti-animal roadkill" device (wink, wink).
Let the tech wars begin...
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Tech Wars
the best idea is a reflective aerosol coating that they sell or ive even seen a "protective cover" that is rounded and warps the view of the plate at extreme angles but not from right behind.
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Re: Tech Wars
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Re: Simple
These cameras are way too 'Big-Brotherish' for my taste.
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Re: Simple
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Re: Re: Simple
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I demand justice without delay
When a policeman pulls you over, your memory of the incident is fresh and you know whether you were really speeding or not.
With the cameras, it's unlikely you can recall if you were or weren't speeding 3 weeks ago.
If the camera error in the 1st article wasn't off by so much (e.g. only off by 5 mph), the error never would have been found. Nobody can remember if they were going 5 mph over the limit 3 weeks ago.
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No Subject Given
Of course, this makes the intersection less safe, but then it really isn't about safety.
What these cameras amount to is automated graft.
Jon Acheson
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Which driver gets the fine?
If you use the argument that if I let someone drive my car, then I also should take responsibility for their actions, you are being foolish. The first judge to actually use this argument to fine someone will have opened the door to an untold number of lawsuits. The gun companies become liable for every single gun death in the world. Car manufacturers become liable for every drunk driving fatatlity. If I loan my neighbor my screwdriver with the idea he needs to tighten some screws, and he takes it and stabs someone to death with it, am I guilty of murder? Using this argument, I am and it's completely unreasonable.
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Re: Which driver gets the fine?
In Finland, IIRC, the ticket from a speed camera is issued to the owner unless the owner provides information about the actual driver. So unless you know who's driving your car you'll have to pay the ticket.
I still think speed cameras suck.
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CA is great
The police leave people alone unless they really are speeding (10% is the usual in australia, so you WILL get ticketed for 66Mph in a 60Mph zone). And there are no camera's (except red lights) so they only get one person at a time rather than 1000 per hour.
Skippy - there are plenty of things you can buy already, like plastic covers for your plate that can be read straight on, but not from the side (of course they are banned in aust.) Yours is a nice idea though - but not 100% foolproof (maybe in some lighting they can still see it)
NoDefense - Trust me (about 9 or so tickets) - you usually see the flash.
Itchyfish - usually you get the option - tell them who was driving and we will give them the fine. In Western Australia, they didn't used to have this law - and if you could go in person and show that the person in the picture was not you then all was cleared. Of course, people started swapping cars so they never got caught in their own car :) (husbands and wifes etc have car in one name, drive the other).
Actually I found that the speed cameras were really obvious to see - I always drove watching the side of the road (which raises the issue of having an accident because you were watching for speed camera's). It was at night that they were a problem. During the day police with laser guns were the worst, my radar detector wouldn't detect them (until I was already caught).
To put things into perspective, I had been living in the bay area about 2 years, and in that time I saw about 3 police cars stopped with a radar gun.
I went home to australia for a visit and in 3 weeks I went through 3 speed camera's and saw 2 police cars with laser guns. And that wasn't a freak 3 weeks - that was average.
At least in CA the police spend time dealing with real criminals. (I also have to say that petty crime like car theft, home invasion and purse snatching seems to be much much lower here in CA - maybe a correlation?)
hmmm sorry about the long rant.
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Ticket given with no defense
I sent in paperwork showing it was not my plate and not the same model car I own, but a week later I was told that the traffic court ruled against me with no recourse.
Welcome to Chicago.
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Red Light Camera Tickets
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