NEW SPY CAMS TO STOP TRAFFICBy TOM NAMAKO, NY Post
Hit the brakes!
Fifty new red-light traffic-signal spy cams are en route toward a major intersection near you, state officials said yesterday.
The cameras, which snap the license plates of vehicles that run lights, are expected to generate $6 million a year for the city through $50 fines, but officials stress they'll increase safety.
The new cameras will bring the city's total to 150.
Photo from Bay Ridge Blog
16 comments:
I got blitzed by one of these cameras on Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills about 3 years ago. I can still see the flash in my rearview mirror.
I'm still waiting for the summons.
I saw a moron actually drive onto the median at yellowstone& woodhaven.Blew out his wheel and tire over a $50 fine. The only downside is when you stop for the light and the dolt driving behind you is using his cellphone or navigation and rear ends you!
Not to mention the moron could have plowed over someone on the median. I gave up my car years ago because it was torture to have one. Now, if I really need wheels there's always Avis, Hertz or Zipcar.
I'm still waiting for the summons.
Maybe they rescinded it because you're such a good citizen and call in on the emergency number to report "illegal" people standing on sidewalks.
Or maybe you didn't get "blitzed."
Dirty license plate = no ticket.
but you'll get pulled over for driving around with a covered license plate.
When I get the summons, I'll pay it.
Asshole.
It's a sad commentary that we've automated law enforcement.
Think of the original purpose of the traffic light. It was to replace a cop directing traffic. The purpose of the cop was to maintain good traffic flow and to promote traffic safety.
These machines are not about traffic safety. If you stop at a red light at 5AM and there is no traffic around and you proceed with caution you will get a tiocket just as iff you ran the same red light at full speed at 5 PM.
These things are about revenue.
Gone are concerns about safety and good traffic flow and now we have laws enforced to raise revenue.
Not sure if anyone is old enough to remember when there was a statute against raising revenue via polce enforcement. Someone, perhaps it was Beam, tried to do that a long time ago and there was a huge public outcry.
Now it is just de rigeur.
Not to mention the red light camera will not be available to pull anyone out of the wreck, for that we need police or fire department and basic services are being cut.
I know of at least two accidents that are partly attributed to red light cameras, most notably the one where a child was killed by Ricottas campaign bus when the driver sped up to try and "Make the light" the other got no press at all when a woman was rear ended when she stopped abruptly for the light. These things are a menace. Not to mention that they remove a cops discretion and take away the "Presumption of innocence" guaranteed by the Constitution.
hey george your one of the lucky ones..... and i'm going to try to keep my plate dirty,lmao...
i think he meant stolen when he said "dirty"
1. There is a Federal Dept. of Transportation law that ALL yellow lights must have a minimum 3 second duration. This duration INCREASES with higher speed limits posted on the street where a red light and a camera is located, and also increases depending on the grade of the road. A traffic light on a steep hill road SHOULD have a longer yellow light than one on a level road given the same posted speed limit.
2. In New York City the city speed limit is 30 MPH and ALL yellow lights on level roads should have a MINIMUM 3 second duration.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN ALL RED LIGHT CAMERA LOCATIONS.
Perhaps this is due to a faulty timing mechanism, BUT MOST LIKELY the yellow lights have been rigged to a less than 3 sec. duration to cause more drivers to run thru a red light, and get their photo taken by the camera. The city makes A LOT of money that way along with the private contractor who installs and operates the camera.
3. Next time you get a red light camera fine in the mail, go to the intersection, use your cell phone’s stopwatch function and TIME THE YELLOW LIGHT. Do that about 5-10 times and average the results. ALL the timings, as well as their average, should be MORE than 3.0 seconds.
IF NOT, that’s an illegal yellow light and NYC is essentially ROBBING YOU.
4. There is a 100% chance that even if you document this and go in for a hearing YOU WILL STILL BE FOUND GUILTY AND HAVE TO PAY because the city will CLAIM that AT THE TIME the photo was taken the light was operating properly.
5. NOW if you REALLY want to defend yourself against an illegal yellow light, OR YOU SIMPLY WANT TO THROW A MONKEY WRENCH into the system: FILE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW REQUEST – FOIL -with the New York City Dept. of Transportation requesting ALL maintenance records and light timing adjustments and benchmark tests and any other defect corrections done to that light for the period of time that you are interested in. The longer your request the more NYC DOT will have to dig and chances are you’ll get some data to help in your defense (an unusually high # of repairs in the X number of months before you got your photo taken, for instance). Now, IF there is a record that the light timings were adjusted soon after your photo was taken, you have a very good case of a defective light and possibly avoiding the fine.
NOW, IF EVERYONE WHO GOT A PHOTO AND A FINE DID THIS it would cost the city much more than the fine. Complying with LOTS OF FOIL requests is time consuming and requires a lot of manpower.
File your FOIL request with the:
Litigation Support
New York City Dept. of Transportation
55 Water Street
New York, NY 10041
6. This is really the only way to defend yourself against being robbed by the city and its red light camera contractors.
7. TRAFFIC ENGINEER studies have shown that increasing the yellow light duration by just half a second above its minimum causes a DRAMATIC DECREASE IN RED LIGHT RUNNING to the point in many cases of making the installation, maintenance, and operation of these cameras uneconomic.
A simple google search will provide a wealth of information on yellow light duration and its ILLEGAL manipulation by cities and contractors across the USA to entrap motorists and raise revenue.
RED LIGHT CAMERAS ARE REALLY A REVENUE SCAM CONSIDERING THAT IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT LENGTHENING THE YELLOW LIGHT DURATION DRAMATICALLY REDUCES RED LIGHT RUNNING AND IS THEREFORE MUCH SAFER FOR ALL INVOLVED.
WRITE TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATOR AND DEMAND A LAW INCREASING YELLOW LIGHT TIME DURATION. REVENUE SCAMS BY NEW YORK CITY AND OTHER CITIES WILL STOP THEN.
whats the big deal...if you get ticketed, that's only $50...remember this though...the Nikon camera inside that box is well above that price...getting ticketed should motivate somebody to start taking up photography as a hobby! :)
I totally agree with your comments about the amount of time that the yellow light is on before it turns red at a red light camera intersection.
The four lights that really drive me crazy are:the one on the corner of
Francis Lewis Blvd. and Union Turnpike-It's like a real tease, you can see the do not walk sign blinking as your going south on Francis Lewis Blvd. for quite awhile, and I'm not sure when the light is going to suddenly change to red.
2) the second is the light on the corner of Northern Blvd. and Marathon Parkway.
3) the third is on the corner of Northern Blvd. and Douglaston Parkway.
4) the fourth is on the corner of the service road of the L.I.E at Francis Lewis Blvd going east.
At most of these red light intersections, I often hope that the light will turn red just before I get there so I don't have any problems. It makes me so nervous when I have a snail of a driver in front of me as the do not walk sign is flashing and I know the light is going to change to red any second and I don't want to get caught with a 50 or 60 dollar ticket . I don't want to have to stop short and take a chance that someone behind me g-d forbid isn't paying attention and can't stop in time.
I think it is extremely dangerous, as you are right, the yellow turns
yellow for a split second and then your caught!!!
These definenitely need to be changed legally, it's just totally
messed up
Posted 12/9/11
a long time resident of Bayside,NY
you can be very sure that with nyc
control by liberals such as the mayor, gov. and the two lefty senators, our private property will
become less and less.tyranical
regulations such as these cameras,(excessive), do not do a thing
except extinguish your money
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