4 ms·

I am absolutely not a fan of fixed or hidden speed cameras, but red light cameras are legitimately good because you have zero reason or excuse to go through a r

I am absolutely not a fan of fixed or hidden speed cameras, but red light cameras are legitimately good because you have zero reason or excuse to go through a red or speed through an intersection.

KennyBlanken 3y ago
You have zero reason or excuse to be speeding, other than personal selfishness.
- anonymousiam 3y ago
  What about speed limits that were created for the purpose of revenue generation and not safety? One example: https://www.speedtrap.org/california/lone-pine/ https://www.speedtrap.org/california/lone-pine/
  - arp242 3y ago
    Complaining about "going 90mph on a 65mph speed limit" is not a "speed trap"; a speed trap is a situation set up in such a way that many well-intentioned people make an honest mistake. Things like confusing signage, sudden and/or unusual change in the speed limit, and so forth. This is just someone sour because they got caught speeding. For reference 90 mph is 145 km/h, it's pretty fast, and the limit in CA seems to be 70 mph at the most. Driving at 90mph is always wrong unless you are rushing someone to the hospital or similar emergencies.
x3n0ph3n3 3y ago
One issue has been jurisdictions shortening the length of yellow lights in order to catch people running the red light as a means of revenue generation.
- prawn 3y ago
  Should that be a federal standard? Is it in most modern countries?
WalterBright 3y ago
Avoiding an accident is always a valid reason for breaking a traffic law. For example, on a two lane road I'll move into the left lane if there's a cyclist on the right shoulder, if the left lane is clear. As for a red light, my pedal will be to the metal if my buddy is bleeding out in the passenger seat. Is that far-fetched? It happened to a friend of mine at Boeing. He didn't get his friend to the hospital in time.
- curiousg 3y ago
  Does this happen often?
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    Police and emergency vehicles do it all the time. And sometimes, you get the terrible job of being an emergency driver.
    - matrixdata 3y ago
      More often, cars at a red light need to clear a path ASAP for emergency vehicles approaching from behind. The cars at the front of the line have nowhere to go except past the intersection, running the light.
      - WalterBright 3y ago
        Yup. As always, use your best judgement rather than blindly following rules. This is also why cops, prosecutors, judges, and juries have discretion about applying the law, because the law simply cannot be blindly applied. (Which is why I object to mandatory sentencing laws.)
- schmookeeg 3y ago
  I suppose the camera would have a great shot to prove this heroism, and if you couldn't get dismissal for the ticket under these extraordinary circumstances, you'd be one gofundme away from turning a profit from the outrage/sympathy legions. sorry about your friend's friend.
dpiers 3y ago
Except some municipalities with large red light camera revenue streams use bad math to justify unsafely short yellow light times in order to increase ticket revenues. More details here: https://redlightrobber.com https://redlightrobber.com
- PopePompus 3y ago
  The revenue from traffic tickets and other fines should not go to any level of government. It should go to NGOs. Then law enforcement would cease to be a for-profit operation.
eyelidlessness 3y ago
I’ve avoided several collisions by making the snap decision to go ahead and run a stale yellow (knowing I technically was running a red). Some maybe warranted a moving violation if I’d been pulled over, and I’d (erm) cop to that if it were the case, but these cases have all been distraction by trying to avoid other driving dangers. Others were straight up design failures I couldn’t avoid if I’d tried, usually lights timed to make stopping impossible. In every case, I’d rather run a light than smash vehicles together to follow the rules.
marssaxman 3y ago
It's complicated: the presence of a red-light camera decreases the rate of right-angle crashes, but increases the rate of rear-end crashes - people about to miss the light will stomp on their brakes instead of scooting on through. It's not clear there is any benefit, other than to the profits of the private companies typically contracted to operate the cameras. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-red-light-camera-safety-met-20141219-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/...

I am absolutely not a fan of fixed or hidden speed cameras, but red light cameras are legitimately good because you have zero reason or excuse to go through a red or speed through an intersection.

KennyBlanken 3y ago

You have zero reason or excuse to be speeding, other than personal selfishness.

anonymousiam 3y ago
What about speed limits that were created for the purpose of revenue generation and not safety? One example: https://www.speedtrap.org/california/lone-pine/ https://www.speedtrap.org/california/lone-pine/
- arp242 3y ago
  Complaining about "going 90mph on a 65mph speed limit" is not a "speed trap"; a speed trap is a situation set up in such a way that many well-intentioned people make an honest mistake. Things like confusing signage, sudden and/or unusual change in the speed limit, and so forth. This is just someone sour because they got caught speeding. For reference 90 mph is 145 km/h, it's pretty fast, and the limit in CA seems to be 70 mph at the most. Driving at 90mph is always wrong unless you are rushing someone to the hospital or similar emergencies.

x3n0ph3n3 3y ago

One issue has been jurisdictions shortening the length of yellow lights in order to catch people running the red light as a means of revenue generation.

prawn 3y ago
Should that be a federal standard? Is it in most modern countries?

WalterBright 3y ago

Avoiding an accident is always a valid reason for breaking a traffic law. For example, on a two lane road I'll move into the left lane if there's a cyclist on the right shoulder, if the left lane is clear. As for a red light, my pedal will be to the metal if my buddy is bleeding out in the passenger seat. Is that far-fetched? It happened to a friend of mine at Boeing. He didn't get his friend to the hospital in time.

curiousg 3y ago
Does this happen often?
- WalterBright 3y ago
  Police and emergency vehicles do it all the time. And sometimes, you get the terrible job of being an emergency driver.
  - matrixdata 3y ago
    More often, cars at a red light need to clear a path ASAP for emergency vehicles approaching from behind. The cars at the front of the line have nowhere to go except past the intersection, running the light.
    - WalterBright 3y ago
      Yup. As always, use your best judgement rather than blindly following rules. This is also why cops, prosecutors, judges, and juries have discretion about applying the law, because the law simply cannot be blindly applied. (Which is why I object to mandatory sentencing laws.)
schmookeeg 3y ago
I suppose the camera would have a great shot to prove this heroism, and if you couldn't get dismissal for the ticket under these extraordinary circumstances, you'd be one gofundme away from turning a profit from the outrage/sympathy legions. sorry about your friend's friend.

dpiers 3y ago

Except some municipalities with large red light camera revenue streams use bad math to justify unsafely short yellow light times in order to increase ticket revenues. More details here: https://redlightrobber.com https://redlightrobber.com

PopePompus 3y ago
The revenue from traffic tickets and other fines should not go to any level of government. It should go to NGOs. Then law enforcement would cease to be a for-profit operation.

eyelidlessness 3y ago

I’ve avoided several collisions by making the snap decision to go ahead and run a stale yellow (knowing I technically was running a red). Some maybe warranted a moving violation if I’d been pulled over, and I’d (erm) cop to that if it were the case, but these cases have all been distraction by trying to avoid other driving dangers. Others were straight up design failures I couldn’t avoid if I’d tried, usually lights timed to make stopping impossible. In every case, I’d rather run a light than smash vehicles together to follow the rules.

marssaxman 3y ago

It's complicated: the presence of a red-light camera decreases the rate of right-angle crashes, but increases the rate of rear-end crashes - people about to miss the light will stomp on their brakes instead of scooting on through. It's not clear there is any benefit, other than to the profits of the private companies typically contracted to operate the cameras. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-red-light-camera-safety-met-20141219-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/...