Red Light Cameras Can Be a Good Thing

Yesterday I'm sitting at the head of the line at a red light in a
neighborhood, waiting to turn right. One lane for each direction. I see
the light turn yellow and as always I right and left to see if anyone will
try and run the light. Sure enough!

A black Jeep Cherokee comes roaring down the street from the left, doing at
least 50 (estimating). The light is red for at least a full second as he
blasts through. If I had proceeded without looking I might not even be here
to write this. I still give him a long earful of horn.

Of course, doing 50 in a residential district meant he caught up with the
car ahead of him in short order. He hit his brakes (ALB kept him from
skidding) and he started weaving back and forth trying to get around the
front car, which didn't pull over to let him pass although it could have
(sorry Jim!). The approaching lanes had traffic and they wouldn't yield to
this idiot either. As I approached, we had all stopped at a stop sign and I
could see through his rear window.

Like I'm surprised? Yakking on a cell phone.

A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him. I'd'a loved
to have been a witness had he wanted to contest the ticket.

Skip Elliott Bowman wrote:
> Yesterday I'm sitting at the head of the line at a red light in a
> neighborhood, waiting to turn right. One lane for each direction. I
see
> the light turn yellow and as always I right and left to see if anyone
will
> try and run the light. Sure enough!
>
> A black Jeep Cherokee comes roaring down the street from the left,
doing at
> least 50 (estimating). The light is red for at least a full second
as he
> blasts through. If I had proceeded without looking I might not even
be here
> to write this. I still give him a long earful of horn.
>
> Of course, doing 50 in a residential district meant he caught up with
the
> car ahead of him in short order. He hit his brakes (ALB kept him
from
> skidding) and he started weaving back and forth trying to get around
the
> front car, which didn't pull over to let him pass although it could
have
> (sorry Jim!). The approaching lanes had traffic and they wouldn't
yield to
> this idiot either. As I approached, we had all stopped at a stop
sign and I
> could see through his rear window.
>
> Like I'm surprised? Yakking on a cell phone.
>
> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him. I'd'a
loved
> to have been a witness had he wanted to contest the ticket.

There's no way for a RLC to differentiate between someone running a red
for a legitimate reason (like the logging truck behind them that's
cooked its brakes and desperately trying, but failing to stop) and a
friggin' idiot like this. There's also no way for it to stop potential
witnesses and get their contact info. This is why the RLC is a ****
poor substitute for a real live police officer.

If it makes you feel any better, it's only a matter of time before this
jackass does do something like this in front of a cop. (Of course, the
cop has to actually stop and ticket the guy, but that's another
matter.)

nate

"N8N" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Skip Elliott Bowman wrote:
>> Yesterday I'm sitting at the head of the line at a red light in a
>> neighborhood, waiting to turn right. One lane for each direction. I
> see
>> the light turn yellow and as always I right and left to see if anyone
> will
>> try and run the light. Sure enough!
>>
>> A black Jeep Cherokee comes roaring down the street from the left,
> doing at
>> least 50 (estimating). The light is red for at least a full second
> as he
>> blasts through. If I had proceeded without looking I might not even
> be here
>> to write this. I still give him a long earful of horn.
>>
>> Of course, doing 50 in a residential district meant he caught up with
> the
>> car ahead of him in short order. He hit his brakes (ALB kept him
> from
>> skidding) and he started weaving back and forth trying to get around
> the
>> front car, which didn't pull over to let him pass although it could
> have
>> (sorry Jim!). The approaching lanes had traffic and they wouldn't
> yield to
>> this idiot either. As I approached, we had all stopped at a stop
> sign and I
>> could see through his rear window.
>>
>> Like I'm surprised? Yakking on a cell phone.
>>
>> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him. I'd'a
> loved
>> to have been a witness had he wanted to contest the ticket.
>
> There's no way for a RLC to differentiate between someone running a red
> for a legitimate reason (like the logging truck behind them that's
> cooked its brakes and desperately trying, but failing to stop) and a
> friggin' idiot like this. There's also no way for it to stop potential
> witnesses and get their contact info. This is why the RLC is a ****
> poor substitute for a real live police officer.

I know, all this is true. But a guy can dream...

> If it makes you feel any better, it's only a matter of time before this
> jackass does do something like this in front of a cop. (Of course, the
> cop has to actually stop and ticket the guy, but that's another
> matter.)

I hope he's caught before he kills someone.

"Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
ink.net:

> Yesterday I'm sitting at the head of the line at a red light in a
> neighborhood, waiting to turn right. One lane for each direction. I
> see the light turn yellow and as always I right and left to see if
> anyone will try and run the light. Sure enough!
>
> A black Jeep Cherokee comes roaring down the street from the left,
> doing at least 50 (estimating). The light is red for at least a full
> second as he blasts through. If I had proceeded without looking I
> might not even be here to write this. I still give him a long earful
> of horn.

I do this too,check for RL runners and blast 'em.
>
> Of course, doing 50 in a residential district meant he caught up with
> the car ahead of him in short order. He hit his brakes (ALB kept him
> from skidding) and he started weaving back and forth trying to get
> around the front car, which didn't pull over to let him pass although
> it could have (sorry Jim!).

STKR does not apply on city streets,especially one lane each way.
There's no "passing lane" to speak of.
STKR is for multi-lane limited access highways.(where cars are not stopping
for RLs,making left turns,common-sense things like that)


> The approaching lanes had traffic and
> they wouldn't yield to this idiot either. As I approached, we had all
> stopped at a stop sign and I could see through his rear window.
>
> Like I'm surprised? Yakking on a cell phone.
>
> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him.

But all it would do is fine him.Like a tax for running red lights,no threat
of losing their license.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:53:44 GMT, Skip Elliott Bowman , one of an
infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of typewriters said the
following in rec.autos.driving...



> > If it makes you feel any better, it's only a
> > matter of time before this jackass does do
> > something like this in front of a cop. (Of course,
> > the cop has to actually stop and ticket the guy,
> > but that's another matter.)
>
> I hope he's caught before he kills someone.

Hopefully, he will kill himself before he kills anyone else.

"Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
.. .
> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
> ink.net:
>
>> Yesterday I'm sitting at the head of the line at a red light in a
>> neighborhood, waiting to turn right. One lane for each direction. I
>> see the light turn yellow and as always I right and left to see if
>> anyone will try and run the light. Sure enough!
>>
>> A black Jeep Cherokee comes roaring down the street from the left,
>> doing at least 50 (estimating). The light is red for at least a full
>> second as he blasts through. If I had proceeded without looking I
>> might not even be here to write this. I still give him a long earful
>> of horn.
>
> I do this too,check for RL runners and blast 'em.
>>
>> Of course, doing 50 in a residential district meant he caught up with
>> the car ahead of him in short order. He hit his brakes (ALB kept him
>> from skidding) and he started weaving back and forth trying to get
>> around the front car, which didn't pull over to let him pass although
>> it could have (sorry Jim!).
>
> STKR does not apply on city streets,especially one lane each way.
> There's no "passing lane" to speak of.
> STKR is for multi-lane limited access highways.(where cars are not
> stopping
> for RLs,making left turns,common-sense things like that)

I know this; I was just thinking of you

>> The approaching lanes had traffic and
>> they wouldn't yield to this idiot either. As I approached, we had all
>> stopped at a stop sign and I could see through his rear window.
>>
>> Like I'm surprised? Yakking on a cell phone.
>>
>> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him.
>
> But all it would do is fine him.Like a tax for running red lights,no
> threat
> of losing their license.

I know. Damn. Although a series of them would carry some weight if he got
pulled over for something else. The court could make him out to be a
habitual offender.

Well, at least no one was hurt. I think RLC are functional in certain
places but not all. It really depends on the traffic pattern and area
in which they are placed.

"Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
ink.net:

> "Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
> .. .
>> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
>> ink.net:


>>>
>>> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him.
>>
>> But all it would do is fine him.Like a tax for running red lights,no
>> threat
>> of losing their license.
>
> I know. Damn. Although a series of them would carry some weight if
> he got pulled over for something else. The court could make him out
> to be a habitual offender.
>
>

It does not seem to work that way;they are more like parking tickets.
All they want is your money.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

"Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
.. .
> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
> ink.net:
>
>> "Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
>> .. .
>>> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
>>> ink.net:
>
>
>>>>
>>>> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him.
>>>
>>> But all it would do is fine him.Like a tax for running red lights,no
>>> threat
>>> of losing their license.
>>
>> I know. Damn. Although a series of them would carry some weight if
>> he got pulled over for something else. The court could make him out
>> to be a habitual offender.
>
> It does not seem to work that way;they are more like parking tickets.
> All they want is your money.
>
I don't know what it's like in your town, Jim. Here in Portland, the RLCs
are put at the most dangerous intersections to discourage red light runners
from causing collisions. They do seem to be working.

"Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
nk.net:

> "Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
> .. .
>> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
>> ink.net:
>>
>>> "Jim Yanik" .> wrote in message
>>> .. .
>>>> "Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in
>>>> ink.net:
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>> A RLC wouldn't have stopped him, but it would have caught him.
>>>>
>>>> But all it would do is fine him.Like a tax for running red
>>>> lights,no threat
>>>> of losing their license.
>>>
>>> I know. Damn. Although a series of them would carry some weight if
>>> he got pulled over for something else. The court could make him out
>>> to be a habitual offender.
>>
>> It does not seem to work that way;they are more like parking tickets.
>> All they want is your money.
>>
> I don't know what it's like in your town, Jim. Here in Portland, the
> RLCs are put at the most dangerous intersections to discourage red
> light runners from causing collisions. They do seem to be working.
>

Maybe in generating revenue.

How long after you run the first RL do you get notification of the
violation? A person can run several RLs in one day,before getting notice
for the first violation.Then again,how many RLCs are running at any
particular time? How many intersections are covered?

The folks running RLs while on the phone usually don't even know they ran
the RL.(unless people blast their horns when it happens,or there's a
collision)
So,it's just a fee for running RLs.
Run several and do they revoke your driver's license?
I do not believe so.Why not?

Most RLC setups do not assign points to the driver,because they don't ID
the driver.Then some states revert to making people accept the violation or
turn in the person who they claim did run the RL.Some states just assign
the ticket to the vehicle,like a parking ticket.

Here in Orlando,traffic is so heavy that people run RLs intentionally
because they don't want to stop and wait.Several cars go thru on one
RL,happens all over the Orlando area,every day.Maybe three times a year
they have a big "enforcement" drive,the rest of the time,it's rare to see
anyone pulled over for running a RL.
I stop for RLs,and been rear-ended twice,avoided others by a last minute
decision to not stop.I have also seen 6 six incidents where a police car
was present when a car blantantly ran a RL,and the cop did nothing.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net