Have you been caught by.......
 

.................................A RED LIGHT CAMERA!

We had several good threads about traffic tickets, and letting folks off with warnings, LEO's with warnings, etc, etc....

But how about the impartial Red Light Camera? :shrug01:

I know that in Brevard County, LEO's I talk with hate writing tickets with our economy in the crapper. A moving violation has a $169.00 fine, and higher for speeders. That is really tough to handle for a lot of folks these days. Even the "fix it tickets" went from $10.00 to $99.00! Many more warnings are being written nowadays than were a few years ago.

Most people think that tickets are big money makers for agencies, but that isn't really accurate. Out of a $169.00 fine, an agency will probably receive about $10.00, more or less.

Enter the impartial Red Light Camera.

No one in my agency or any of our municipal employees is exempt. Discretion is out the window. The only good aspect of this for a violator is that he or she won't receive any points against their driver record.

Out of the $150.00 fine, about 1/2 goes to the municipality or county. These are controversial $$$ makers and are catching on all around the state.

The cameras will, and are, being contested in courts and time will tell if they will be around awhile or not.

I thought of this tread because I received a couple of photos in the mail of my vette going past two unmanned .25 cent toll booths a few weeks ago in the Orlando area, and I didn't have any change. I had to mail back $3.75 for each one. :nonod:

I haven't been nailed by the Red Light Camera Monster yet! :)

How about you or someone you know?

Kenneth city installed a few just recently and i got nailed for making a right turn on a red light w/o making a complete stop. Luckily for me, it was during the initial start up time and it was only a warning notice i received in the mail.

Needless to say, i make sure i come to complete stops now when i go see my folks!:thumbsup:

Maybe Florida is going to go the route of Camden, NJ and lay off some of the police force? Certainly having automated cameras doing the job of a bunch of warm bodies is being looked at from a bottom line perspective. If it is all about money, then it becomes ALL ABOUT money....

Time will tell.
At the moment, I'm not a fan of them, but I'm waiting for the crash stats before making a final determination.

"If" they really do reduce crashes, then I can live with them.
Turn the traffic LEO's loose on some pro-active criminal actuvity suppression:thumbsup:

If not, or worse yet, "other" crashes take thier place, then they go away.

I am not at all happy with the fact that we give 1/2 of the $$ or more to a private agency:thumbsdown: yet still have to have a sworn LEO review them:shrug01:

ATS technicians and police review footage, but police decide whether a ticket is warranted.

Again, if they don't do what they say they do, then they're nothing more than a revenue generator for the agencies.:NoNo:

If you really want to know what your local government is really thinking when they install camera systems, take a look at this:
(*hint-it has nothing to do with your safety;) *)

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...ssue-citations

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar...ac/news-metro/

Where does the money go:
http://www.hardeeclerk.com/index.cfm?LS=38

I used to have the breakdown for ticket fines around somewhere.
When I get back from dinner, I'll try to find them.

Hydrolic license plate
 

Wouldn't it be funny to have a license plate the retracts down when going through a light?...Example, your approaching a light that just turned yellow, you start going faster to beat it, when you hit a little button the lays the license plate flat so you can't read it?...:hehehe:

Believe me, the thought of that or a drop down cover, have crossed my mind. Especially in areas where they talk about "speed cameras.".

Damn, I'm getting cranky in my old age:lmao::rofl1:

I'm pretty sure that "007" had revolving license plates on one of his rides. :dancer01:

My vehicles are registered to my wife and myself. Maybe a friend is driving it. How can they write me a ticket? Gordon, say whatever you want to about safety, but this is bullshlt. Same for the speeding cameras.

My blood just boils when I read this crap. How long before 'big brother' is in our house?

Probably just a baseless rumor, but I heard a while back that phones and even your cable TV are actually bidirectional with audio. Heck, I remember seeing devices sold that you could hook up to your home phone that would allow you to silently call in and be able to monitor the inside of your house remotely. With computers being in just about everything, do you REALLY know all of the circuitry in them and the coding being processed? Do you really think NSA would TELL us about this little "perk" of the current day "connected" society?

This is one of the reasons I don't use a cell phone. I have one for emergencies, but it is NEVER turned on unless I have to make an immediate call out. I just don't care to broadcast my whereabouts to anyone.

But for the most part, if you don't believe that "Big Brother" is already here, you are being pretty naive.

Now I am getting really pissed. Just thinking about what you just said. Cookies, you know what they are. The other stuff I can't remember right now that enables these companies to track your every movement on the computer. How about the computer in your car that will record your every movement and speed.

Are you ready? I think we need to form an army and revolt. :mad:

1) The company will issue the citation the the primary owner, or first on the title (IIRC).

2) I never said it was about safety (read the links).
I said "IF" it proves worthwhile, then I can support it.
If not it needs to go!

But you'll use a computer and drive a new car?:shrug01::lmao:
BTW- There is technology out there that can track your phone with it off...or so I'm told by a friend of mine that doesn't exist:lmao:

1) Use a proxy server.
2) Use the "in private" browsing function of windows.
There are a few other things you can do to lessen the way companies track computer usage.

The auto computer is a bit inaccutate.

The CDR only records a segment of time prior at or around the incident it's set off.
There's some other chit in cars that give the dealerships an idea what you've been doing with your car, but IIRC, you can disable most of those.
You'll void your warranty, but WTF, at least they won't know what you're doing;)

Hold on, let me grab the tinfoil......

Sorry Gordon, guess I hit a nerve concerning cell phones. :rolleyes:

I don't care if someone knows my location but getting my personal info is another matter. You just got me cranked up. :D

So how could a cell phone be beaconing without any power applied to it? I'm not talking about it just being idle waiting for a call, I'm talking about OFF. As in no power being applied. But I guess many folks with cell phones don't even know you CAN turn it off..... :lmao:

WTF is :rolleyes: all about:shrug01:
No nerves with me.
I use it, feel free to track it.
If you want to know where I'm at, or where I'm going, get in the f**king car!:lmao:

Nothing's really "personal" these days. It's just a matter of how far you want to dig, how much you want to spend, and what you're willing to risk to gain the information;)

Time for a little edumacation I reckon?
Here ya' go:

http://www.brighthub.com/electronics...les/51103.aspx


NSA ring a bell?

And of coures, when a better mousetrap is designed, we just design a better f**king mouse:D

Defeating the bug:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029-6140191.html

Bob, We had these back in Ohio where I came from.
The red light camera citations are civil, not criminal. Since it is your car, they feel that you are responsible. ("Don't lend your car to an irresponsible driver, or get the fine money from them.") That's why these don't put "points" on your license. I don't know if they share the information with your insurance company.
Some cameras also take a picture of the driver through the windshield. (Get a Rick Scott mask.) ;)

John,
Just FYI Bob K and Shadow are no longer members here so dont expect a response.

X2 here. made a right onto 58 street form 54th ave and got a warning.:thumbsdown:

nice pic of my car though:thumbsup:

My wife received one of these in the mail a few months ago so I called my Defense Attorney buddy and boy did I learn a lot.

What you receive in the mail is NOT a Citation. Only a LEO can write a citation. You receive a notice that your vehicle was witnessed by a camera crossing an intersection under a red light condition.

If you pay the amount on the notice then the camera company won't forward your wrong doing to the local law enforcement agency who would then generate a ticket which would have points and require you to pay a higher fine and go to court.

So, the bottom line is, it's extortion. Pay us and we won't tell the police what you did. That's why if you pay the notice amount there isn't any points because you never got a ticket. A cop can't write your car a ticket. He has to stop the vehicle and verify the driver by way of a driver's license. Camera can't do that so you can't put points on the vehicle owner since you don't know if the registered owner was driving the car, hell it could have been stolen, spouse driving, kid, who knows.

It's my understanding the the money paid to the camera company is split between the camera company for their expenses to maintain and monitor the cameras and the local city that hired them to install the cameras.

Needless to say we paid and avoided getting a real ticket and having to deal with the hassle of paying the fine and court costs, etc. since she would have lost more in wages than the cost of the ticket. They win!!

My attorney friend said he and many other lawyers in his area (Daytona Beach) have been fighting these and winning 95% of them.

Kind of interesting that this sets a precedent whereby local officials can hire mercenaries to enforce the law. The mercenaries have a financial incentive to engage within a profitable venture. It's your word against theirs and they hold the stick claiming failure to pay their fee will result in harsher penalties.

I have heard accounts that claim that the yellow light timing has been shortened. That seems like a reasonable method for the mercenaries to increase their profit margin. Want to know how they could REALLY clean up? Intermittently freeze ALL lights at red. How many people do you think would just sit there until the light gets fixed? Cha-ching for every driver that goes through.... Faulty red light? Prove it. It's working now, isn't it?

Absolute bullsh*t - I agree. :banghead: The only saving grace is that if you plead guilty and pay the fine you aren't getting points on your license and your insurance rates don't get affected. :ack2:

As far as "big bro"? Have you ever tried telling a cop he can't enter your house? ... or search your car? Good luck with that. :thumbsdown:

Having just come down for my winter stay, all this talk of cameras
makes me nervous. Has anyone compiled a list of the towns/cities
that already have these money makers up running??

I don't have a list but Palm Coast is one I am sure. They're thinking of adding more!