California motorists could get nabbed for speeding on local intersections even if there are no cops in sight under an "automated speed enforcement" program buried in the details of the governor's budget proposal.I don't know how these things have even been considered constitutional. You have the right to confront your accuser in court, but you can't confront, let alone cross-examine, a machine that is stuck up on a light pole in some intersection. This is not about safety but about grabbing more of your money to support a bloated government and I'll vote against anybody that supports such a thing.The new program would allow cities and counties to upgrade existing red light camera devices to capture photos of speeding vehicles, resulting in speeding tickets sent in the mail. Driving up to 15 miles an hour faster than the speed limit will cost $225, and $325 for going faster than that.
The government estimates 500 devices can be installed in California to catch 2.4 million speeders a year.
Cities in Orange County that are equipped with red-light cameras include: Garden Grove, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, and Santa Ana, according to the Department of Finance.
In Santa Ana alone, there are 20 red-light camera installations. The city's network of red-light cameras generates an average of around 1,500 tickets every month. A red-light ticket runs around $450, including penalties, assessments and court fees.
"We definitely don't need more "Big Brother Tactics" in order to monitor our public streets," said Rafael Solorzano, a Santa Ana resident. "The governor cannot expect to improve street safety by implementing deceptive ways that increase government revenue."
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The Governator Needs You to Speed
I hate red light cameras and adding speed sensors to them is a very bad idea:
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Cameras to nab people who run yellow lights are in force here in Athens Georgia. One consequence has been more fender bender accidents as motorists slam on the brakes to avoid being nabbed going through a yellow light. Good for the government's budget, good for the body shops, not so good for the driver. This sounds bad, however, without the cameras there were more T-Bone accidents as vehicles ran the red lights just as traffic started to cross on green.
I am quite content with automated monitoring/ticketing drivers who are in violation of the law. I was in Germany and saw my colleague speed through an autobahn trap only to discover that this went to the auto rental agency and on to his bill...readable by the bean counters back in the office.
As for speeding violations...if it is safe to drive at higher speeds, then increase the speed limits. I do not believe for an instant that this is true, and I am certain that legislators would not be inclined to vote for it and face their constituents.
Since the governor's speed cameras are gonna expand the volume of camera tickets five-fold, with one ticket for each sixth driver, motorists everywhere in California will need to build their coping skills. One thing they need to know about right now is Snitch Tickets, which are fake/phishing red light camera tickets currently sent out by the police in an effort to fool the registered owner into identifying the actual driver of the car. (He doesn't have to!) Snitch tickets have not been filed with the court, so they don't say "Notice to Appear," don't have the court's address and phone # on them, and usually say, on the back (in small letters), "Do not contact the court about this notice." Since they have not been filed with the court, they have no legal weight whatsoever. You can ignore a Snitch Ticket. If in doubt, Google the term.
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