I’ve heard somewhere that New York City got some of those traffic light cameras. IIRC, each one made something like $100,000 a day in tickets.
I was going east on Wilson Blvd., after Clarendon Blvd. turns into eastbound Wilson, headed into the block with the Newseum. Downhill, blind turn, and washboarded asphalt.
The offense was on 12/15/00, the ticket was mailed 12/27/00, and I have 30 days to pay it.
And to counter what EJsGirl said, they took pictures from behind. And darn it, there’s no disputing that the tag is mine, plus the fact that it’s on my Suzuki Samurai with a bikini top. 
Wow, AWB, new wrinkle- in CA they never did, because the photo had to clearly show who was driving in order to process a citation. I guess as long as the front shot is clear, they could use the back one to catch or recatch the plate. Hmmmmm…
BTW, your daughter IS very cute!
And you find this fucking funny huh? I think it’s sick, especially for the cops to be doing it. Its no wonder people don’t have respect for cops when they do shit like this. The local cops in MD do 70+ all the time in 55mph zones and have no problem for pulling you over.
Actually I have no problem with someone doing it if they know they just got caught, but to do it on pourpose is sick and dangerous.
As for the cameras I have mixed feelings about the damn things. On one hand they are good because they keep people from running lights. The problem is though that what happens is it makes a mistake. We used to have a couple of lights that would only stay green for litterly a second if someone else was waiting, you could be the second car in line and by the time you start moving the light becomes red. Or if I’m riding my motorcycle and the light doesn’t trip for me so I go through it which is my right if I sit there for a minute or so and it gets me.
Oh Ed, relax. Do you think that a cop would endanger the public to do something like that? No.
I assume that you never speed, since it’s so sick and dangerous, right? Whether or not there’s anyone there to see you do it?
And from what you posted, I don’t see a “camera mistake.” I’m sorry if it’s a fast light, but that’s the city’s fault, complain & get it recalibrated.
What’s this last bit? That if your motorcycle doesn’t trip a green light, it is your “right” to run the red? Where the hell do you live, buddy? That is total bullshit.
Whatever. I would hardly consider your opinion on this issue informed, based on the content of your post.
You said they did, or at least implied it otherwise how would they get a picture taken without the camera going off? if they needed to be going through then they shouldn’t be playing around with a camera.
I didn’t say I didn’t speed, but it is hipocritical for a cop to be doing over the speedlimit, running red lights whatever then stopping someone for the same infraction.
They did fix the light and it’s not really a camera mistake but if I’m a visitor to town and don’t know the light is that quick and don’t see it changing, do you pay attention to the lights right after they change, especially if you are the first or second car in line?
actually it’s not bullshit, how long am I supposed to wait at a light all night? if a light doesn’t chage I have two options, “run” it or wait for someone else which can be dangerous. to the best of my knowledge in all states if the light doesn’t turn for you after you wait for a few minutes then you treat the light as a stop sign. I don’t know of any states that don’t alow you to do this and no I’m not saying you pull up to a light and then just go yuo have to wait.
Whatever. I would hardly consider your opinion on this issue informed, based on the content of your post.
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EJsGirl, dismissing for a moment Ed’s latter arguments, I’ve got to agree with his outrage over the preferential treatment of cops, and the fact that you seem to have no problem with it.
You didn’t explicitly state one way or the other, but I really doubt that any of those cops who were flagrantly violating the law recieved citations for it. If a private citizen were to do the exact same thing, you know they’d be busted for it.
Cops should have to follow all the stupid laws that they enforce on the general public. Now, whether this means they observe the laws more carefully or enforce them less stringently doesn’t particularly matter to me, but it should be fair.
I’ll second that one Nerd. The almost total lack of turn signal use by patrol cars is disgusting.
As to the photo radar tickets. Some town sent me a photo of my car and a ticket for sixty bucks. So I sent them a xerox of three twenty dollar bills.
::d&r::
Just for the record i live in Austin, TX. I’ve seen those things here and there, but mostly the ones that bust you for speeding. A friend of mine got a ticket from one (hidden on a side street in a neighborhood!), but it was just a warning and no fines or anything. If a good application of black Krylon to the lens of that thing would make them go away, it’d be worth the risk. Sadly it’d just come out of our taxes and we’d all pay for it so what’s the point really. Although, a heapin’ helpin’ of vaseline on the lens would not only distort the picts beyond all recognition, but it’d be a bitch to clean off, and wouldn’t really destroy the machine, so maybe there’s an idea…
On an interesting side note, another friend of mine is big into motorcycles and communicates regularly with like minded individuals in Australia. Whenever a new speed camera is put up, they always give the location of the thing on a message board. Then, it becomes a day event of buzzing the camera at 170+ MPH, just to eat up all the film and fuck with the cops. Gotta love that! 
-Dani
Gee, leave for a couple of days…!
As stated in an earlier post, cops do get citations. I did point out that, at least in CA, cops, DAs & others are able to block their personal info on the DMV records. This is for their safety. However, the citation can be sent to the department for follow up, and was.
There is a difference between members of the department making a run past a unit on purpose, and a cop being caught by the unit.
ANYWAY, I don’t condone cops getting away with stuff that others get busted for (see my looooong day in traffic school this weekend). I was not describing a situation involving anything except cops messing with other cops, rather like computer geeks sending each other viruses.
And Edward- I am still smiling at the idea that the “visitor to town” who doesn’t know that the light is fast will run the red. In my neck of the woods, there is a yellow light that comes on before the red one, which is a good indication that a red light will follow.
<hijack> Hey Dani, did you see that the Austin dopers were getting together in February? You can read about it here. Some other posters from San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas are planning on coming too.</hijack>
Wow, thanks Grace! I just might be interested in that! It’d be cool to meet some fellow dopers IRL…
-Dani
Actually they fixed that light and made the one after it do the same thing. yes it has a yellow light but it changes from red to green to yellow to red before the first car can even make it through the traffic light. my point was do you really pay attention to the light if you’ve been sitting at it? I don’t, I’m expecting to be able to go if I’m second or third in line.
I have another question too, does the cammera show the red light or is it just the car? someone above was saying that cameras are allowed if it caught you doing something. I can agree with that because it catches you robbing the store, however, if the camera only catches the car then all it shows is a car going through an intersection. You can’t prove to me that the camera got me on the red light. I’ve never seen one of these photos so I don’t know what they look like.
Edward- the layout of the photots varies from company to company (the machines are manufactured and maintained by private companies), but generally there will be a wide shot of the intersection including the light standard, a close up of the car, and then a close up of the plate. There is also a readout in the corner showing the date & time of the violation, and the length of time the light was red at the time of the photo (light was red for 2.5 seconds when I came through the intersection, for example).
Interesting note- while in traffic school this past weekend, several people asked about red light violations. Specifically, where does your car have to be when the light turns red, in order for you to be ok. Guess what? There’s nothing at all in the CA vehicle code about it! This referred to various ULs such as “as long as you’re past the crosswalk when the light turns red”, or “as long as your at least halfway through the intersection when the light turns red”, etc. The only thing our instructor had seen in writing was from the DMV, and it said that your car had to be “clear of the intersection” when the light turned red. I guess this means either stopped behind the limit line or all the way out the other side!
This, like so many other vios in CA, is left to officer discretion.
I’ve never seen a red light camera, but I’ve never looked for them. I saw something that I figured was one, but I’ve never seen it flash. I also drive the speed limit and signal before I change lanes, and all that jazz because I can’t afford to be getting tickets, heh…
“I wonder if they’d prosecute for vulgarity if I flipped the camera the bird next time this happens?”
Doing things for the camera got me thinking (wrote about it somewhere else, and I’m basically cutting and pasting it into here):
What if, should some uncontrollable event happen that resulted in you knowing your photo was about to be taken (I’m not talking about if you just run the light because you’re one of the many idiots I see driving every day who has to shave off 12 seconds, only to be stopped at the next light when I arrive at it too, and become subject to my silent in-car mockery of you), you looked forward and made a totally shocked expression, like you were scared out of your mind. Then when you end up in court, you claim that you tried to stop, but your brakes were out and didn’t work. You could back that up with the photo of your shocked “I’m going through an intersection during a red light and I have no breaks, augh!!” face.
My first post, and it has to do with trying to get around the law…
- Tsugumo
[ another little hijack ]
I’m not sure if Arlington County still does this, but they used to broadcast live feed from a camera just above Tom Saris Orleans House (sorry this is so region-specific, but you D.C. dopers will know where I mean) at the intersection of Lynn and Wilson. It was broadcast on a public access channel.
I actually watched it a few times for a minute or two at a time…interesting to watch how traffic works when you’re not in it yourself. I even saw a great accident live! (Great meaning spectacular—car parts flying and all, but no injuries)
I’m wondering if a police officer could watch the channel (tape it) and send tickets to the constant stream of drivers making improper turns, failing to signal, stopping in the crosswalk, etc., etc. Assuming they had permission to use the feed from whomever broadcasts it, if it’s not the Arlington Co. gvmt.
Oh, and sorry about the ticket, AWB…those camera-thingies are popping up like weeds in Arlington and Alexandria, aren’t they? It’s rare not to see one at a big intersection.
Welcome to the SDMB, Tsugumo! It’s always good to have another criminal member. 
Carry on.
this is the story of a wiseass and the police spun from a picture taken of the wiseass by a traffic light camera.
well, the wiseass recieves a fine in the mail attached to a picture of him crossing a red light. the wiseass, being what he is takes a picture of a check and mails the picture to the police.
the police, in a surprisingly good mood, reply with a picture of handcuffs.
bj0rn - the wiseass paid the fine…
Doubt that would ever happen in the US bj0rn, but a kind of cute story, I guess…
Aaaaarrrgh, I’m gonna be all stressed out about this now because two days in a row I’ve had to run a yellow light at one particular interesection or slam on my brakes and skid halfway into the interesection… And it’s the only intersection from my house to school (of the eleven stoplights I go through) which has cameras. Here’s to hoping that I don’t get a picture of my car driving at 55 mph (in a 45 zone, doublely screwed) through a red light. I will say that I never saw it turn red either time, but I have a small car and my sun visor was down both times.