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Photo radar pisses me off!
How aggravating!
Photo radars are all over Scottsdale and Phoenix. Seems like they are on every other intersection.
The news just reported that they have implemented them on the freeway. If you are going 75 (10 miles an hour over the limit), it will snap your picture and send you a ticket. The fine is $160.
I understand that police are better utilized going after real criminals, but come on...a frickin photo radar on the freeway??? What about increasing your speed to pass one of the many white-haired snowbirds out here? Ugh, it just pisses me off...
Kat
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Damn, now thats just not playing fair. Do yourself a favor and get one of these... www.escortradar.com. I've also heard of some places where you can buy this spray which is clear but chemically coats your license plate so all the photoradar gets is a blurry pic of your plate.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
My hubby has had 2 red light photo-radar tickets. At least in AZ they offer a full day course you can take to remove one infraction. His instructor told him that all of those sprays/plate covers/etc don't do a thing except HELP the camera see your license. I'm sure it's BS, if I wasn't moving I'd be running out to get one!
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
And now Shaq is a maricopa county sherriffs deputy...
looks like its gonna be an interestin year for us out here
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
No shit Blade, what is this world coming to...
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No fucking way, really Blade? Shit, I think they'll run out of paper to print the tickets on then.Tucson is already horrible, but the amount of speeders is worse in Phoenix/Scottsdale...
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Fresno CA has these cameras too- the posted signs say "PHOTO ENFORCED". So some smartass changed the black block lettering to "PROFIT ENFORCED".
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
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Originally Posted by madmaxine
Fresno CA has these cameras too- the posted signs say "PHOTO ENFORCED". So some smartass changed the black block lettering to "PROFIT ENFORCED".
And I would happily shake that smartass' hand.
(OT, but this reminds me.... when I was growing up, the neighborhood my friend lived in was called "Winter Park Pines", and the sign at the front of the community was big block letters, and was really really easily manipulated to "Winter Park Penis". I never did it personally, but it always made me laugh. I WAS 14 at at the time, but still.)
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Quote:
Originally Posted by madmaxine
Fresno CA has these cameras too- the posted signs say "PHOTO ENFORCED". So some smartass changed the black block lettering to "PROFIT ENFORCED".
That is EXACTLY what it is though!
It is like those idiots who brought parking meters to the downtown. Why did malls take off? Cuz of the free parking! Now everyone is like "Gee why are most downtowns so bad for business these days?" (Unless it is like New York or Chicago! Heck even downtown Beverly Hills has free parking available!)
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I agree with above, it is totally about the money, local goverments have been getting squeezed for cash for years now and anything that will make them money they are for.
Little "speed trap" towns in the 50's before the interstates sometimes made almost their entire budgets off of speeding tickets, this is just the modern version.
I don't know what a radar cam installation cost but I would be surprised if it is much over 100K if that much, especially if you "bought them in bulk" at 160 bucks per 50 speeding tickets a day (some days could be a lot more) gets you 8K a day, so in less than a month the radar cam has paid for itself and from then on it's pure profit. 8K a day for even just 300 days is 2.4 million and that is from just one radar cam.
The local governments "defense" would be that "they are just enforcing the law,you were speeding" so it is unlike parking meters in that rspect, until the meters parking was free but 80 in a 65 has always been speeding..
If the spray and license plate covers or whatever don't work I guess there is always "modifying" your license plate, making 5's into 6's, 4's and 6's into 8's with the right color Sharpie, would work OK, until you get pulled over by an actual cop that is.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I may be on the unpopular side of the debate with this one... What's the problem with having respect for traffic laws? It's not like this is a moral issue. It's safety.
I live in an area where very few traffic laws are followed or even enforced and the roads are just plain dangerous to be on. Stop signs, turn signals for anything, not blocking intersections or stopping on the train tracks, not changing lanes in intersections, not speeding, not weaving, etc. are all ignored and considered an annoyance here. And when I say speeding, I mean well over 5 over the posted legal limit. Road rage runs rampant because everyone thinks the laws are for everyone else besides themselves. Accident near-misses are commonplace now. And get this: Unmarked police cars/trucks here can't even persue someone that tries to outrun them when they attempt to pull them over.
Personally, I think there should be more enforcement on the road. People should follow the safety standards all the time, not just when there's a marked police car around. We just might see alot fewer "accidents."
As far as the argument that it's all about the money... Would jail time instead of a fine be better?
Besides, speeding only pays off on multi-hour trips. Do people really think the extra seconds saved getting to that next traffic light will help?
Just my $.02
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Don't have those yet here but there a while ago there was a problem with the ticketing officer NOT being the one who clocked the radar so they made a "rule" that the officer running radar had to be the officer to issue the citation.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I think it really IS about the money these cams will generate for the local government, but as mentioned above, speeding is law-breaking and the only people who really are upset about the traffic cams are those who constantly break the law. If you can't drive the speed limit, I reckon you deserve a ticket.
I see alot of accidents in my neighborhood, and judging from the severity of the vehicle damage, I'd say most involved speeding vehicles. One I remember in particular, at least one of the cars HAD to be going waaaaay over the posted limit of 45 - the car was up on one end and looked like it'd been through a crusher machine. IMO, 45 is very reasonable and plenty fast enough in this heavy-traffic residential / commercial neighborhood. There is a makeshift memorial on a nearby streetcorner where someone obviously died in an accident. And let's not forget the streetracing problem in the Phoenix area. I see entirely too many cars obviously racing each other on both highways and city streets - weaving crazily in and out of traffic, cutting people off, going waaaaay over the speed limit. It's dangerous and they need to be stopped.
People need to slow the fuck down, watch what they're doing, obey the traffic laws and realize other people are on the roads and need to get where they're going too. I swear the way some people drive it's like they think the roads are all for them ::)
All that said, may I just add that I think minivan drivers are overall the fucken WORST!!! Latest example was some dipshit with a vanload of kids who, at a redlight, decided he needed to turn right when he was in the left-turn lane, and proceeded to cut across 3 other lanes to get into the right-turn lane and make his turn. ugh
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
^Well said, B.
I hate idiotic people who drive like their ass is on fire or something. I have absolutely no problem with the cameras. They had just started putting them in back when I still lived in AZ, and that was ages ago. I hope they put them in every state, personally.
(PS.. Rectum? Damn near killed 'em! <~It's been a while since I messed with ya about that.. Heh)
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I don't have a problem with speed (+5 miles).
I do have a problem with getting cut off, not allowed to merge in, and idiots who refuse to admit they missed their turn and do the multi-lane change as mentioned above.
I don't see how speed cameras can help with these things.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Traffic tickets are both about safety and about money-raising, depending on the issue. Cash-raising is more and more the issue though.
We have an old law in NYS stating you cannot obscure your license plates with anything. So, berfore you are experienced, you go to Pep Boys and buy a clear polysty cover for about $3.00 to make it easier to keep the plates clean and help brush the snow off (nearly everyday). Next thing is the parking ticket lady sees your plate and issues you a $50 dollar ticket. The law used to be mostly ignored.
When I complained to an officer that the plate covers were not illegal to purchase and they had no other conceiveable usage, he said head shops still sell crackpipes too. I reminded him that it was Pep Boys, a mainstream store. He said, "Complain to Pep Boys; here's your ticket." The judge dismissed it. :)
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
According to this article, in Colorado, accidents went up 83% at intersections where they installed automated cameras to send tickets to people who run red lights:
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/D...762005cp.shtml
(Ignore the shameless plug for that "photoblocker" spray.)
I think Gallagher (that comedian who smashes watermelons) had a good idea. He said everyone should have dart guns with little signs on the darts that say "stupid." Then you can shoot the darts at people who are bad drivers and the police can pull them over and give them a ticket for being stupid!
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
Wow do these tickets stick? How do they know who is driving the car???????
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I imagine the ticket is mailed to the person that the car is registered to. The address on file.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
I don't think it's right. What if my brother is driving my car, or my best friend? Why can't you fight it in court?
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
You can usually take these tickets to court. Same as any other ticket. The photos are usually pretty clear. If they can't see the person at all, it should be able to be thrown out b/c they can't prove who was driving. This would work best if you have multiple drivers on your insurance polisy, to better prove that it could have been someone else. I know in IL, when they started enforcing the camera-tickets at RR crossings, they were thrown out in cases like that. (It happened to me and my friends and was thrown out, but that was about 5 years ago)
BTW, which freeway were you originally referring to when this thread started? I-17??
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
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Originally Posted by EroticAngel
According to this article, in Colorado, accidents went up 83% at intersections where they installed automated cameras to send tickets to people who run red lights
Here's another one from the Virginia DOT:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/news.asp?ID=117
And another from Washington DC:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100301844.html
and San Diego:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...30cameras.html
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
A friend of mine lived in Germany for a few years and they do that there.Instead of installing the camera in a fixed position like they do here,they have those old school VW station wagons that are outfitted with the cameras that go off and they are parked on the corners of the intersections.He told me when someone runs a light,you can see a strobe of camera flashes go off and the people slam on their brakes when they see this.He and a friend of his bought one of those VW station wagons and purchased some strobe lights and would park on the corner of the intersections and committ practial jokes on people,just to see them slam on their brakes.He said it was fuuny.
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
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Originally Posted by doc-catfish
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=EroticAngle] According to this article, in Colorado, accidents went up 83% at intersections where they installed automated cameras to send tickets to people who run red lights
Here's another one from the Virginia DOT:
And another from Washington DC:
and San Diego:
I'm thinking if there's an increase in accidents after the redlight cams were installed, it's because too many assholes are still speeding and coming to excessively abrupt stops at redlights to avoid the tickets - and assholes behind them probably riding too much ass to stop in time to avoid a collision.
If people are driving responsibly, the existance of traffic cams won't cause accidents. Can we say OPERATOR ERROR?
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Re: Photo radar pisses me off!
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Originally Posted by Bridgette
I'm thinking if there's an increase in accidents after the redlight cams were installed, it's because too many assholes are still speeding and coming to excessively abrupt stops at redlights to avoid the tickets - and assholes behind them probably riding too much ass to stop in time to avoid a collision.
Well, that small consolation to those whose cars get hit. Why go to the effort of installing redlight cameras when adding a little yellow time to the lights will achieve the same effect. I guess its because there's no profit in that solution.
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If people are driving responsibly, the existance of traffic cams won't cause accidents. Can we say OPERATOR ERROR?
Problem is that some people are never going to drive responsibly, and the government has too much profit incentive to keep those idiots on the road. In my mind, redlight cameras are kind of like child proof-caps on medicine bottles, a well intentioned idea that has resulted in exasperating the very problem it was intended to solve.