California red light tickets - need GPS unit info

[John Cummings]

A couple of years ago while driving in southern Florida I stopped for a yellow light and was struck from behind and pushed through the intersection by a truck which led to a hospital visit. My new policy is to look in my rear view mirror and if someone is on my tail I'm going through the yellow.

That is perfectly fine and legal because it would be unsafe for you to stop,

 

["Roger"]

... I wish they would get a lot tougher on people using their cell phones while driving. It is illegal in California but many people ignore the law.

I agree. Inattentive driving causes umteen more times accidents that Toyota does, but people want to lynch Toyota while they Twitter on their cell phones.

You might be interested in this article from the NYT. In Weymouth England they have decided to get tough with all forms of inattentive driving with a "no excuse" campaign. Inattentive driving -- you get a ticket -- no excuse.

 

[John Cummings]

I think the easy way to put this arguement into perspective is to say just stop at all red lights and you don't have to worry about expensive tickets. It's not a matter of right or wrong or European ways vs American ways is it? I think stopping at a red light stands the test of common sense, safty and international laws.

What I find disturbing is the thought that someone would want a device to determine which lights they can run based on risk of getting a ticket. Lights with camera's are higher risk so you don't run those. Lights without camera's are lower risk for getting a ticket and are O.K. to run. I know that's not what the OP wrote but, that seems to be the idea behind getting a device to tell you which intersection have camera's and which ones don't.

Have I ever run a red light? Yes I have. One in particular that I remember from when I was 16. It was a small town and I was on a highway. I just didn't see it. Thank goodness the other drivers saw me coming and new I wasn't stopping. Otherwise it would have been a very ugly accident. Call it a wake up call for me.

Along the lines of that being a wake up call, that incident also probably saved both mine and my wife's life. Since then I've been very aware that people run red lights. Sometimes on purpose trying to beat the light and sometimes by accident. We were coming home from Branson and there is a light at an interesection in Carthage, MO we go through. It's at a point where traffic is coming off an interstate where the speed limit is 70 MPH going into town. A semi missed this light, much like I did as a kid so many years ago. If I had just looked at the light rather than looking for traffic, we would have been nailed broadside by a semi doing 70 mph. We'd have been dead or permanetly disabled at the least.

To intentionally try to beat a red light carries the same risk as trying to beat a train. The only difference is you risk another families life when you're trying to beat a red light. Chances are, when you're trying to beat a train, the only people who will be seriously injured are those in the car.

Just treat all intersections as if they have camera's and don't worry about spending money on some electronic gismo to tell warn you about robo-cops. Any light you run you run the risk of serious injury. It's just not worth it.

Doug,

That is an excellent post. I can't improve on it.

 

[John Cummings]

I find this conversation interesting.

Yes, obeying the law without a doubt is the right thing to do. Yet there are circumstances here in LA that do make that almost impossible from time-to-time. Thankfully, not always, nor all the time. But occasionally in order to be safe "skirting" the code is sometimes necessary. I am not saying that is the right thing to do, but with the traffic conditions we face, it is unfortunately the practical thing to do.

BTW Scoop, the reason you have so many drivers in LV driving like the way they do is because lots and lots of Californian's moved to Vegas and took our excellent driving skills with them.

The same thing happened in California with so many people moving here. Up to 30 or 40 years ago, California drivers were the best and most courteous drivers with the exception maybe of Washington state. I lived in Southern California and Northern California then. Drivers did not change lanes unless it was necessary, they stopped when they were supposed to, etc. There were a few rules you needed to know on the freeways. For example, if a car had their turn lights on, they were changing lanes so you made room for them. When I lived in Los Angeles in 1959-60 I had to walk across a very busy 6 lane street everyday at an intersection with no light nor stop sign. As soon as I was ready to cross, all the cars came to a stop. I traveled a lot for business and drove in many other states. I was always happy to return back to the California drivers.

 

[nicklinneh]

but for 2 seconds? -ken

 

[JanT]

Well, I personally wish Henderson, Nevada would institute the cameras at red lights and stop signs here. I cannot believe the number of people I see running red lights and stop signs. Absolutely amazing. I know the Henderson Police actually took a pay cut last year because of budget shortages. I can certainly tell them how to fix that little problem. If they ticketed the people who were running lights and failing to stop at stop signs, they'd have enough money in their budget coffers to hire a few more officers. It is terrible here - people don't even PRETEND to stop many times - just keep on blowing through.

 

[hvacrsteve]

There are two sides to this, the GPS is a possible help, at least to alert you, I think mounting a cover over the license plate so a camera can't read it would be the simpliest thing. This should also be less expensive in the long run. I didn't realize the tickets were so high out there.
We have them in DC and they are $50.00 a hit.
I would go broke pretty quickly at $450.0 a hit!
Again, I would have to take a big chunk of someones pay at that rate!

The DC ones are poorly operated and many times they are just wrong, for $50.00 we just generally pay them anyway, every now and then if they try and rape us we take it downtown and get it removed.

 

[PigsDad]

I think mounting a cover over the license plate so a camera can't read it would be the simpliest thing.

Did you happen to see the Myth Busters episode on this? Short answer: those covers don't work.

Kurt

 

[hvacrsteve]

I guess I must of missed that show of Myth busters, if I did one it would work.
I can't vouch for anyone elses ability to make it work.
I will keep you posted, but I know it makes them hard to read from an angle.
The other option is to install a deep box around the tag, that way straight on it can be read, but at an angle, at least one number or letter would be cut off.

 

[hvacrsteve]

At the end of the day, driving properly and obeying all laws, whether you agree with or not is the correct action of choice! If you look at the debt clock, you can see CA needs you to speed, run red lights and make illegal turns.
They need the money!
http://www.usdebtclock.org/

 

[Stressy]

Hello,




get this $446!!!
To add further insult, for an additional $70 I could sign up for traffic school, pay $275 tuition and not have the ticket appear on my record!

Traffic School is NOT 275.00....you shouldn't pay more than 35.00. You can do it online for goodness sakes! Yeah-the 446.00 is hard to swallow-but TS is well worth it my opinion to save the hit on your insurance-which could end up costing you 1500 or more over the 3 years.

 

[Fern Modena]

Jan,
Sounds like my neighborhood. Do you live in Anthem? I live in Pinnacle Village.

Fern

Well, I personally wish Henderson, Nevada would institute the cameras at red lights and stop signs here. I cannot believe the number of people I see running red lights and stop signs. Absolutely amazing. I know the Henderson Police actually took a pay cut last year because of budget shortages. I can certainly tell them how to fix that little problem. If they ticketed the people who were running lights and failing to stop at stop signs, they'd have enough money in their budget coffers to hire a few more officers. It is terrible here - people don't even PRETEND to stop many times - just keep on blowing through.