Red light cameras are primarily about revenue generation rather than safety. Increasing the duration of yellow lights results in much fewer accidents at intersections than having cameras.
Fromhere:
To the OP: it’s not surprising that this is the attitude of law enforcement. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.
There is no “passing lane” in CA. The law here is “If a vehicle is being driven at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic mov ing in the same direction at such time, and is not being driven in the right-hand lane for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb, it shall constitute evidence that the driver is operating the vehicle in violation of this section.”
aka “slower traffic keep right”
It’s important to note that “slower” means “less than the normal speed of traffic”, thus if the normal speed of traffic in the left lane is higher than the speed limit, and you are only going the speed limit, you can be ticketed for impeding traffic, despite the fact you are going the speed limit. Generally of course you will get a warning (my friend with the new Prius got such a warning) but as with many traffic infractions, mouthing off or being rude will get you that ticket.
Yes, that article is from another state, where *such laws do not apply. *
Why can’t it be both like the late Earl Warren?
We’ve had parts of this conversation before, so I’ve related on SDMB my Dad’s experience in the late 40’s.
He was busted for speeding going through a cutting, where the speed sign was placed at the top of the cliff, with the road down at the bottom.
Clearly, speeding fines as revenue raising was a thing then,
End-of-month quotas is another thing that has supporters and detractors. A relative spent some time talking to a small town cop who kept his annual averages up mostly by detecting out-of-towners at the start of hunting season. This helped him avoid making local enemies. My relative wasn’t judgmental: his most interesting cases every year were gun wounds caused by out-of-towners at the start of hunting season.
I can’t wait until self-driving cars put these guys on the unemployment line. I’m throwing a party. They’re not invited.
And if you think the speed traps are some bullshit, do a little research on non-violent drug offenses like low-level possession, paraphenalia, etc… Also take a look at civil asset forfeiture. We might as well not even HAVE a 4th amendment anymore.
Marijuana legalization hits these guys HARD, because the money that used to go directly to them will instead start going into the general fund. Total drug legalization would decimate their funding. Self-driving cars, on top of legalization, would get them firmly back under control, for the first time in a long time, if ever.
So, in other words, you are not being ticketed for obeying the speed limit, you’re being ticketed for failing to keep right (I.e. travelling in the passing lane).
It’s good to see that we agree on this.
Yeah, who needs police or laws or social peace anyway? Things were much better when everyone just took the law into their own hands.
I think you miss the point. Not only are these clowns enforcing traffic laws for the sake of enriching themselves and their department, and not for the purpose of public safety, but they’re likely spending time pulling over soccer-mom piloted minivans going 4mph over the line for those reasons, rather than investigating and deterring actual, real, serious crimes.
That IS a travesty; maybe in smaller towns there aren’t enough real crimes to go around, so the cops can sit around effectively shaking people down for money, but in most big cities, I’d guarantee that every minute giving someone a dubious traffic ticket is time not spent investigating or deterring a serious crime, or apprehending a serious criminal.
That seems kind of naive. Exceeding the posted speed limit isn’t inherently dangerous, as most of the policies determining it have little to do with safety. When the US dropped the limit on interstates from 75 to 55 it had little to do with road safety. Staying at that limit for 30 years after the fuel shortage that precipitated the drop had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with revenue. The raising of limits now has nothing to do safety either - we’ve just reached a point where it’s cheaper to field fewer troopers than write a lot if tickets.
If anyone seriously thinks revenue from speeding tickets goes directly into enriching cops wallets or goes into some police party fund you really need to re-educate yourself to where the money actually goes.
If you don’t want to be pulled over for going 4 mph over the line, then don’t go 4 mph over the line.
It’s as simple as that.
All the rest of this about “They’re just trying to boost revenue” or “my second cousin’s barber got ticketed for not speeding” are just excuses people come up with to justify their inability to control their speed on the road or their belief that they really need to get where they’re going 15 seconds faster.
Nobody’s claiming that; some departments keep a percentage of ticket revenue, therefore giving them an incentive to issue more tickets in order to get themselves better toys and equipment.
In that situation, the cops have a reason to go after the “easy” tickets- why try and set up to catch some rice-burner driving like a maniac, or street racers when you can ticket 3x as many soccer-moms who aren’t driving erratically or maniacally, but who are technically breaking the law by going 4 over the limit?
It’s a sort of perverse incentive away from enforcing the law in a way that is most effective, and toward enforcing it in a way that gets the most revenue, whether or not it is actually useful in terms of public safety, order or anything else.
Nobody’s denying that someone going 4 mph over the limit isn’t breaking the law, but what we are saying is that considering the conditions, and other stuff, it may not necessarily be dangerous or a problem in any way whatsoever.
And when there are both other more serious crimes and worse drivers out there, it’s particularly infuriating to think that cops are spending their effort pulling over soccer moms for revenue purposes instead of actually you know, protecting the public and enforcing the public peace and all that stuff.
It’s an example of them going after technical violations because they’re easy, instead of going after real criminals or dangerous drivers, because they’re hard and don’t net as much revenue. That’s what irritates a lot of us.
Choose your D&D response.
Lawful Good: All law is a law is a law. Pay up.
Chaotic Good: Some laws are more lawful and we should do what’s right.
Neutral: Meh… that’s the way it is
Chaotic Evil: Rebellion!! Anarchy!!! Mwahahah!
Lawful Evil: All glory to the master’s totalitarian state!
Apologies if there are any major mistakes. Haven’t played in a long time.
In other words, you’re irritated because you got caught.
I do have some issue with the cameras when it comes to certain turns at certain intersections. Motorcycles don’t always trip the sensors so the general rule is “after 3 cycles, make your turn when you safely can”. A flesh and blood cop can see that I’ve waited, waited for a safe break in traffic, and judge that. The camera just shoots the still and some time later the ticket arrives. And just try to fight it in court - the time and evidence you need is 10 times the cost of the ticket. Which is one of the reasons those tickets are just fines and do not count against your “points” or insurance. Yes - we note the bad lights and complain and follow it up the food chain. But many of the ones I deal with regularly haven’t been fixed or addressed in over five years. If they used my fines to fix the $&@ things I could maybe live with it. But as it is its just extortion.
I don’t speed, and I don’t get tickets.
I think it’s a crock if cops go after jaywalkers/not-quite-stopped-right-on-red-drivers at the expense of catching more dangerous violators.
So are you saying that jaywalking and running red lights should be legal, or that it should be illegal but that people shouldn’t be punished for doing it?
No, that’s not what he or I is saying. What we’re saying is that the cops should prioritize more dangerous crimes and violations over penny-ante, chicken-shit stuff like jaywalking and running red lights.
Which is more important? Deterring and/or nabbing people driving 85 mph on a 55 mph freeway in the rain in heavy traffic, or pulling someone for going 40 in a 35 over on a straight, flat road with very few cross-streets on a sunny dry spring day with no other traffic within 400 yards of him?
The far left lane is **NOT the “passing lane” in CA, in fact CA doesnt really have them. You can drive all day in that lane as long as you do not impede traffic. **
Thus you are ticketed for Impeding Traffic- even tho you may be going the posted speed limit.
I had a cop tailgate me at 11 pm on Christmas Eve, on a night so dark I couldn’t see he was a cop. He was about 18 inches off my bumper, doing about 45 mph. I was concerned that it was a psychopath trying to get into a wreck with me, and then try to murder me, so I rolled through a stop sign. He then ticketed me for rolling through the stop sign. He broke the law and terrorized a citizen for the purpose of entrapment.
He did this tailgating trick for years in my county. He retired last year, having wrecked more patrol cars than any trooper in North Carolina history. Eventually the state stopped paying to have his car repaired, they forced him to start paying for repairs.
He never lost his job. He has his pension. This is unacceptable. People like him belong in jail.