OK, Red Light Cameras really strike a nerve with me. I can't stand them. Their primary target is people not coming to a complete 1 second stop on a red light. How can a city claim to be doing this in the name of public safety when at the same time they issue permits for people to wander around busy intersections at rush hour to collect money?
OK, Red Light Cameras really strike a nerve with me. I can't stand them. Their primary target is people not coming to a complete 1 second stop on a red light. How can a city claim to be doing this in the name of public safety when at the same time they issue permits for people to wander around busy intersections at rush hour to collect money?
I know the answer...I'm just saying.
What gets me are parking tickets... I know a friend who was trying to clear up a improperly issued ticket, and got another fine while she was parked at the parking services place. Enough is enough!
I worked parking citation review for years. A camera or a cell phone is your best friend. If you receive a citation unjustly, take a photo (time stamp helps greatly!) of the citation you received, the positioning of the car, and submit a certified letter (you keeping copies, of course) as to why you believe the citation was written in error. Remember, the old "I didn't see the sign" or "I didn't know it was illegal" usually doesn't fly, unless you are a new resident to the area. I would usually dismiss the first "oops" but kept track so you don't try it again in the future.
My biggest complaints were from being parked in a posted Handicapped parking spot. Once they saw the $355 fine, they would always come in ranting and raving, using every trick in the book. Our officers were instructed to take several pictures while issuing the citation and submit it with our copy of the cite, which the public was unaware of. When they claimed they didn't park in that specific area, I would show them the pictures and it became very quiet as they paid for the ticket.
Just to play devil's advocate, doesn't a red light mean stop, not slow down?
Also, I guess a stop line means your bumper must be at the stop line at the moment that you make your 1 second stop. Who does this exactly? Not many.
My main premise isn't any dispute the law, but rather the irony of the situation.
I would much rather get my tickets from a uniformed officer, even if it meant the extra delay. At least someone is making an honest living at it instead of implementing a surveillance system as a way of taxing the people.
The "stop" lines are actually called "limit" lines. The engineers place them in such a position that a car will stop clear of any pedestrian traffic, but close enough to be able to see cross traffic.
I agree with you. I do not endorse camera enforcement, and never will. There are always exceptions to the rule, which can be explained to a blue suit but not a pencil pushing, non-officer dweeb who issues the camera citations.
Just to add, camera citations were designed and run almost exclusively by private enterprises, with great salesman promising cities that they get a free cut of the profits. After a few years, and when there is no return for the money, most cities scrap them unless they renegotiate the profits to the cities.
I worked parking citation review for years. A camera or a cell phone is your best friend. If you receive a citation unjustly, take a photo (time stamp helps greatly!) of the citation you received, the positioning of the car, and submit a certified letter (you keeping copies, of course) as to why you believe the citation was written in error. Remember, the old "I didn't see the sign" or "I didn't know it was illegal" usually doesn't fly, unless you are a new resident to the area. I would usually dismiss the first "oops" but kept track so you don't try it again in the future.
I did this in Chicago, sending in a request for appeal complete with pictures, and it was denied. This was a spot near a T intersection. There was no yellow where my car was parked, but there was in front of me. There was no "No Parking" sign. However, I guess that the ramped sidewalk on the opposite side of the road must have indicated a cross-walk (my ticket) even though there was no ramp on my side. Confusing at best and I think no way justifies a ticket.
Chicago is good about confusing parking signs. I think, seriously, that they do it on purpose. Like signs that use AND and OR in the same sign. You can interpret it different ways depending on the punctuation (which signs don't have).
I agree with you. Many people would come in demanding a "no parking" sign posted on every tree or telephone pole up the entire street. The law stated that there must be one sign per block and at the cost of $151 per sign, most cities will post just the minimum.
As a patrol officer, I would issue a written warning to people I believe were just unaware of the violation, so they could learn, but would not cost them any money or time to appear in court. After all, we are all human and make mistakes occasionally!
I have heard that all of the redlight cameras are also set up to act as speed traps as well. The city would be able to issue speeding tickets at the intersections as well. I am curious if anyone else has heard about this....
Personally, I support them.. IN THEORY... unfortunately I think they weren't implemented in the best possible manner.. There are numerous cases of them wrongfully issuing tickets...
Now of course I may be biased.. I'm related to a person who is a great supporter of them and was involved in getting them implemented in Chicago...
I can't stand them. Their primary target is people not coming to a complete 1 second stop on a red light. How can a city claim to be doing this in the name of public safety when at the same time they issue permits for people to wander around busy intersections at rush hour to collect money? 
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