FLORIDA REDLIGHT CAMERA'S, and the joke continues

H/T to Z
O.K. we can not count the number of posts that point to the number of studies that point to the number of statistics that point the fact that Red Light Camera's are the stupidest waste of money and death causing pieces of legislation perpetrated across the country.  But this is on the fly, so if you want to know more about the redlight madness, and legislative incompetence just google red light cameras on our page search box.  And yes it will mean you may have to read. Were working on a coloring book for Florida legislators. 

ever wonder whats inside a redflex camera?

From  WCTV

Tallahassee, FL -- October 17, 2011 --
Efforts are once again underway in Tallahassee to ban red light cameras. No bill has been filed yet,
(US:  Which means the check from the redlight camera companies and Goldman-Sachs bounced)
but state lawmakers who oppose the ticket issuing devices say a ban is in the works. (US: In other words red light companies, get the cash here pronto or we pass the ban) There’s also legislation to set stricter standards on the length of yellow lights.(US: studies show 8 seconds is safe. So we suggest you don't use 8 seconds. Oh sorry, we see further down that 8 seconds is not under consideration. We should have known)!

Jacquelyn Faison doesn’t mind cameras set up to catch people running red lights.
“They don’t bother me because if I see the light turning yellow I slow down and I stop,” said Jacquelyn.
(US: O.k. so who the hell is Jacquelyn Faison?  Is she a Road Traffic Engineer?  Is she a safety Expert?  Does she work at Wal-Mart?)

But what does bother her are unpredictable yellow lights.
“Places where It’s yellow, then it’s red,” she added.
(US: OH, O.K. now we Know who Jacuelyn Faison is, somebody who hasn't come down from an acid trip. Hmmmm it;s yellow, then it's red,  oh look it does it again, I think I will sit here and watch it go from yellow to red over and over again.  Don't worry Jacuelyn, we had the same problem.  After a few years and some thorazine were much better now.  We don't  even see the Yellow any more).

At this intersection a few blocks away from the state capitol the speed limits is 35 miles and hour. The yellow light last about 3.2 second. One block over the speed limit is the same but the yellow light is a tad longer.(US: O.K. All at once now, pull out your stop watches and on the mark, measure a tad!)

One big difference in these two intersections is this, the one with the shorter light also has a red light camera. (US again: O.K. so that surprises anybody???  Helloooooo??  Are there any people out there who still think?  Did anybody think it was going to be different????  Yo Mayor, were going out to put the Camera's up now.  Where do you want them?  Ummmmm, Any place you can make the yellow light shorter will do. But Mayor is that fair?  Don't you live in Tallahassee Boy?  Oh, yeah, now I understand.)

Some state lawmakers accuse cities of shortening yellow lights to catch more red light runners. Representative Brad Drake wants yellow light lengths to be uniform around the state.
“You make it uniform throughout the State of Florida and you will have an appropriate amount of time to make a good decision,” said Drake. (US:  Senor Drake you be correct. Which is why we are looking for bets that state won't do it.)

Representative Richard Corcoran who sponsored a bill to repeal red-light camera last session says the whole system needs to be tossed out and reworked. (US: Mr. Corcoran,  Co-co-co   co-co-coran oh cocoran...an an.  Tossed-yes, reworked- oh no God, please do not let the legislators try to rework something.  We can't afford it!)

“The foundation is so broken and so cracked, there’s no way to get where we want to get under the existing set of circumstances of which we have,” said Corcoran.

Lawmakers began reviewing data from red light cameras Monday. More bills regulating the devices are expected to be filed before next year’s legislative session.

o.k. whose got the marshmellows

If the legislation passes, yellow light lengths would look like this; three seconds at intersections 25 miles per or slower. Four seconds where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour. Five seconds in a 45 and yellow light lengths would top out at six seconds where the speed limit is 55 miles per hour or higher.
Proposed Yellow Light Changes
25 MPH or slower 3 sec
35 MPH 4 sec
45 MPH 5 sec
55 MPH or faster 6 sec

(US: 3 seconds???  Damn, ain't given much margin over the two second rule are ya? Hope I ain't on my motorcycle in the rain when I come up on a 3 second deal.  Besides, what the hell makes you think I can stop in 6 seconds when I come up on a light 95mph?)Add to Technorati Favorites

Redlight camera post sent to WTVC (again)

news, triston.sanders, candace.sweat, lanetra.bennett, Erin, bcc: lenticels

show details 3:39 PM (2 minutes ago)

First I want to commend you for staying on top of the Red light camera issue.

I became intrigued when I heard reference to "Tallahassee Administrators say this 6 month period is not enough to make an assessment......"

My concern is that somebody is being fooled. In this post
Tallahassee red light cameras are not working-local news responsibility?

Tallahassee red light cameras are not working-local news responsibility?

Watch the video above and ask yourself, "does this really educate anybody about the redlight camera issue?"

What we really love about this in depth reporting is how they interview people on the street to get the "public's assessment" on a certain issue. Because on many occasions the public has no idea in hell what they are talking about! They go by what makes sense to them.  Unfortunately years ago the consensus of opinion that the earth was flat also made sense.

We wouldn't have a problem with this type of reporting were equal time given to airing "fact/evidence based" reporting. And by that we do not mean an offhand comparison with one other city.  We would have less of a problem were it not for the fact that the failure to educate or become educated regarding the Red Light camera issue results in more carnage on the "Killing fields" known as Tallahassee's road ways.

We believe that "News" organizations have a responsibility. In fact many of our founding fathers felt the same:

Thomas Jefferson wrote: 

"The press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and improving him as a rational, moral and social being” (NOTE the words "enlightening" and rational).

The importance of the news is also recognized by the one of the worlds richest men, Warren Buffet:

“The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. [For] to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body.”

"News" provides us with the information by which we make decisions regarding our daily lives AND safety.  Those living in Florida will not listen long to a station that provides false information about Hurricanes.

More Redlight Camera updates and how the news will affect Florida

News continues to accumulate that many cities are abandoning the use of red light camera's because they cost to much and are ineffective not withstanding their constitutionality not withstand some erroneous court decisions.

However it would seem clear that across the country cities that have adopted redlight camera's are abandoning them. So how will that affect Florida which has a state law that says they can not be used that many municipalities are violating? It's Florida silly, so you can pretty much count on the state changing the law to allow municipalities to continue their misguided attempts to gouge the ones who pay their salaries!


Maryland Students Use Speed Cameras for Revenge

"God bless the lill chilluns"

Students in Montgomery County, Maryland use fake license plates to send speed camera tickets to enemies.

Maryland plate, photo by Amy the Nurse/FlickrHigh school students in Maryland are using speed cameras as a tool to fine innocent drivers in a game, according to the Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper. Because photo enforcement devices will automatically mail out a ticket to any registered vehicle owner based solely on a photograph of a license plate, any driver could receive a ticket if someone else creates a duplicate of his license plate and drives quickly past a speed camera. The private companies that mail out the tickets often do not bother to verify whether vehicle registration information for the accused vehicle matches the photographed vehicle.

In the UK, this is known as number plate cloning, where thieves will find the license information of a vehicle similar in appearance to the one they wish to drive. They will use that information to purchase a real license plate from a private vendor using the other vehicle's numbers. This allows the "cloned" vehicle to avoid all automated punishment systems. According to the Sentinel, two Rockville, Maryland high schools call their version of cloning the "speed camera pimping game."

A speed camera is located out in front of Wootton High School, providing a convenient location for generating the false tickets. Instead of purchasing license plates, students have ready access to laser printers that can create duplicate license plates using glossy paper using readily available fonts. For example, the state name of "Maryland" appears on plates in a font similar to Garamond Number 5 Swash Italic. Once the camera flashes, the driver can quickly pull over and remove the fake paper plate. The victim will receive a $40 ticket in the mail weeks later. According to the Sentinel, students at Richard Montgomery High School have also participated, although Montgomery County officials deny having seen any evidence of faked speed camera tickets.

Source: Montgomery County Sentinel (MD), 12/11/2008

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2632.asp
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3/6/2009

California: City May Dump Cameras Over Insufficient Revenue
Revenue trouble may end red light cameras in Upland, California. officials prepare for possible refund of illegally issued tickets.

The Upland, California City Council is expected to vote Monday to stop using red light cameras because the program has not only failed to improve safety, it has also failed to generate sufficient revenue. In a memorandum to the city council, Upland Police Chief Steve Adams recommended canceling the city's contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that has been issuing tickets on Upland's behalf since November 2003.

"The monthly revenue from the service has not covered the salary and benefits of those who review and issue potential violations," Adams wrote. "Redflex also desires to eliminate an $8,900 credit per month, which has allowed the system to remain financially neutral at best."

Upland's problem began in 2001 when the company that is now doing business as ACS was caught manipulating pavement sensors in a way that boosted the number of tickets issued in San Diego. At the time, the vendor was being given a monetary award for each red light citation the company generated. The state legislature responded to the scandal with a law banning compensation of the private company operating red light camera programs "based on the number of citations generated, or as a percentage of the revenue generated." To avoid upsetting local governments, contracts signed prior to January 2004, like Upland's, were grandfathered. The law only applied to new contracts.

As a result, Upland continues to reward Redflex with an $89 payment for every $426 ticket that the Australian company issues. This was perfectly legal until December 1, 2005 when the city quietly negotiated a change to the contract that gave Upland the first 100 tickets -- or $8900 -- free. This unofficial contract amendment created a new per-ticket compensation arrangement not permitted under the law.

"The contract issue is currently under court scrutiny, and, pending the outcome, has the potential to invalidate citations previously issued," Adams explained.

As with Norcross, Georgia which this week ended photo ticketing over revenue concerns, the red light cameras in Upland produced no safety benefit.

"The system appears to have little influence on the number of red light related collisions at monitored intersections," Adams wrote. "At times rear end collisions have actually increased."

Redflex did propose to resolve the legal difficulty by entering into a "pay per approach" deal that eliminates the monetary incentive for Redflex to issue more tickets. Adams did not like the plan.

"(It) would likely place the city in a position from which it would never attain a positive revenue flow," Adams wrote.

A copy of the contract amendment and the police chief's memo are available in a 450k PDF file at the source link below.Add to Technorati Favorites

Source: Redflex-Upland Documents (City of Upland, California and Redflex, 3/5/2009)