Nail in the friggin coffin for Crist

[jillian]

Get ahold of a shyster atty and do a class action. That is what class action is for.

If, as you say, they are deliberately changing traffic patterns in a way that is unsafe, the atty can probably retire on the settlement before the case even goes to discovery.

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Get ahold of a shyster atty and do a class action. That is what class action is for.

If, as you say, they are deliberately changing traffic patterns in a way that is unsafe, the atty can probably retire on the settlement before the case even goes to discovery.

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

I'm opposed to all three.

Where does that put me?

 

[RadiomanATL]

Do Red-Light Cameras Make Intersections More Dangerous - cbs2.com

At Manchester Avenue and Figueroa Street, accidents more than tripled from five before the cameras were installed to 16 afterwards. Westwood Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard tripled from three to nine. At Rodeo Road and La Brea Avenue, collisions nearly tripled from seven in the six months before the cameras were installed to 20 in the same period afterwards.

The reason?

"People see the light flash and they slam on their brakes," Ellison said. "That's just human nature. As a result, more accidents, more rear end accidents."

That's what happened to Dale Stephens, who knew the yellow light up ahead had a camera.

"Because I had that in the back of my mind I knew I had to stop. And it's so expensive to get a ticket I knew I had to stop. Well they had no inclination to stop," Stephens said.

"They" are the two cars that hit him from behind.

"The use of red light cameras actually put the public at a greater risk," said University of South Florida professor, Dr. John Large.

Dr. Large looked at all the studies and came to one conclusion.

"Our opinion is that there is quite a lot of money to be made with the use of these cameras," Dr. John Large said.

Los Angeles made over $4 million in 2008 on violators caught on red light cameras.

But the LAPD says it is safety, not money. They say accidents are down. They showed me statistics putting the drop at nearly 34 percent.

But they only count collisions caused by someone going through the red light, not by rear end accidents or any others at an intersection.

"It would be improper to draw a correlation between all accidents going up and the red light cameras," a spokesperson from the LAPD said.

"We need the overall picture," Los Angeles Councilman Dennis Zine said.

Councilman Zine says all accidents should be evaluated. He had been told accidents were down due to the cameras and didn't know the LAPD was excluding many collisions until I told him.

"If that's the case, we need to re-evaluate this program if in fact we are having more collisions," Councilman Zine said.

6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit

1) Chattanooga, Tennessee

2) Dallas, Texas

3) Springfield, Missouri

4) Lubbock, Texas

5)Nashville, Tennessee

6) Union City, California.

 

[Sherry]

Get ahold of a shyster atty and do a class action. That is what class action is for.

If, as you say, they are deliberately changing traffic patterns in a way that is unsafe, the atty can probably retire on the settlement before the case even goes to discovery.

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

I'm opposed to all three.

Where does that put me?

Well it puts us in a quandary, because how are we supposed to know which side you're on unless you swing solidly to the left or right on ALL issues.

 

[RadiomanATL]

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

I'm opposed to all three.

Where does that put me?

Well it puts us in a quandary, because how are we supposed to know which side you're on unless you swing solidly to the left or right on ALL issues.

I'm just a round peg in a square world.....

 

[Sherry]

I'm opposed to all three.

Where does that put me?

Well it puts us in a quandary, because how are we supposed to know which side you're on unless you swing solidly to the left or right on ALL issues.

I'm just a round peg in a square world.....

Wow, you're clearly a Communist.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Well it puts us in a quandary, because how are we supposed to know which side you're on unless you swing solidly to the left or right on ALL issues.

I'm just a round peg in a square world.....

Wow, you're clearly a Communist.

Back to work, comrade, for the good of the Rodina!

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Get ahold of a shyster atty and do a class action. That is what class action is for.

If, as you say, they are deliberately changing traffic patterns in a way that is unsafe, the atty can probably retire on the settlement before the case even goes to discovery.

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

Why would it be a looser? You have someone deliberately creating dangerous conditions that imperil folks lives for nickle and dime profits. I thought that was the whole rationale behind class actions. No one member of the class suffers directly as much as the whole class. And if they are setting up dangerous conditions for the sake of a $100 ticket they need to be called on it.

Every person who uses that intersection is at risk, not just the ones who are in a hurry are put at risk by it.

 

[George Costanza]

How about the standard, conservative answer to a problem such as this: Hey! If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[bucs90]

Crist signs Fla. bill legalizing red light cameras TCPalm.com

TALLAHASSEE — Red light cameras will be fully legal in Florida as of July 1.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday signed a new law that authorizes the cameras as enforcement devices.

Fuck you Crist. Fuck you very much.

...and no. I've never gotten a ticket from one of those things. I just think that all they actually can make an intersection less safe, and open up all kinds of possibilities for the government to fleece their citizens.

As a former cop of 8 yrs, I've got mixed feelings on this. I actually got a red light ticket from one 3 months ago in Clayton County GA (Atlanta suburb). Funny thing happened. I was in the left turn lane. A fire truck was coming up with lights and sirens and couldn't get through (gotta love Atlanta area traffic at 530 pm). Myself and the other 4-6 cars in the turn lane pulled forward into the intersection and out of the way, rolling over the white strip. Got us all I assume, as I got my $70 ticket 2 weeks later in the mail. I live 6 hours from ATL. Called the court. They said the other driver's also complained, and were all given a court date to come in and all tickets would be dismissed. BUT, it would cost me over $70 in gas to make the round trip to be at court. Dang it.

However, those are civil fines only, as my current home state running a red light is a $250 / 4 point violation, so it is cheaper. And it frees up cops to patrol bad neighborhoods rather than watch a traffic light all day. But it also takes out descretion. Most cops will give a warning if it was a close call, or not even pull you over, unless you run it really really bad. Those cameras don't. Run it by .001 seconds, or 5 seconds, = both get the ticket.

Oh well. Drive safe.

 

[bucs90]

How about the standard, conservative answer to a problem such as this: Hey! If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

Well, whats wrong with that answer? Those cameras don't issue tickets until you pass over the white line AFTER the yellow has turned to red. They mail you a camera photo, X3, one with photos of you before the white line with a red light, one of you having passed the white line with a red light, and a close up of your license tag.

So, would you also be against cameras in the 7-11 or Wal-Mart used to catch a shoplifter? Same concept, right?

 

[bucs90]

Get ahold of a shyster atty and do a class action. That is what class action is for.

If, as you say, they are deliberately changing traffic patterns in a way that is unsafe, the atty can probably retire on the settlement before the case even goes to discovery.

no reputable lawyer would take that case.

it's a loser from the gitgo.

i wonder how many of the people opposed to things like this and requiring manufacturers to use reasonable amounts of salt in prepared food are okay with stopping anyone who looks hispanic to demand papers.

Ah, another person who hasn't read the immigration bill. Just like AG Eric Holder.

What you said would be illegal. If a cop stopped someone just for looking hispanic to check papers, he could be fired, sued and maybe even prosecuted.

The law states a seperate and unrelated violation of any already existing law must occur first, and be the primary reason for the stop. For example: Murder, rape, robbery, shoplifting, speeding, run a stop sign, assault, drunk in public, kidnapping, fraud, forgery, illegal dumping, vandalism, auto theft, breach of trust, weapons laws, drug possession, drug sales, drug manufacturing, drug paraphernalia, littering, stealing electric current, pissing in public, yelling fire in a theater, jaywalking, having no light on a bicycle.

In other words, it must be a stop for another law 1st. Then, if resonable suspicion exists, they can ask for immigration status. How does one prove citizenship? Well, passport, greencard, having a valid US social security number, speaking fluent English, student visa, driver's license, or simply being present in the government's online DMV system should you have forgotten your DL.

So, if the cops asks if you are a citizen, and you offer up a Serbian driver's license, speak Russian, and are nowhere to be found in the online system, well, thats what the FBI calls a clue. If you hand over a Honduras license, speak nothing but Spanish, and are packed with 20 others in speeding van coming from the Mexican border, well, again, a small clue.

But you and Holder should read the bill before assuming what it does. After all, you guys assumed the healthcare bill was utopian pages of wonder without reading it. Bad idea.

 

[Foxfyre]

Albuquerque might be the red light running capital of the world. Most of us learn to wait that extra second before entering the intersection so that the red light runners pass on through, but the carnage at intersections was real and brutal and too often deadly.

So the red light cameras were sort of welcomed by a lot of us. At least we didn't object at first. . . . UNTIL they worked. Yes there were more rear end collisions, but these were not excessive. But because they worked so well, they were failing to generate the income the city had anticipated. So, some folks observed city workers mysteriously 'messing with' the control boxes for the lights, and a local radio station did some in depth research testing the lights.

What they had done was shorten the caution light so that if you were the second car entering the intersection when the caution light came on, you were going to run a red light. Ticket
revenues skyrocketed.

This caused considerable bruhaha and resentment. I'm not sure it's over yet.

 

[my2¢]

Here in Arizona these cameras are common. The governor earlier this month signed into law a rule that communities using them must set their traffic signals' yellow lights to a duration which allows enough time for motorists to get through these intersections. That's a mimum of 3 seconds but could go up to 4 or 5 or more, depending on factors that will be entered into a formula.

So far I haven't heard about any calls for boycotts of the state in regards to this piece of legislation.

 

[Ravi]

Crist signs Fla. bill legalizing red light cameras TCPalm.com

TALLAHASSEE — Red light cameras will be fully legal in Florida as of July 1.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday signed a new law that authorizes the cameras as enforcement devices.

Fuck you Crist. Fuck you very much.





...and no. I've never gotten a ticket from one of those things. I just think that all they actually can make an intersection less safe, and open up all kinds of possibilities for the government to fleece their citizens.

I am against this. However, why is this a nail in Crist's coffin? It sound more to me like he is pandering to "conservatives".

 

[Gatekeeper]

And all this chatter about red light cameras can be solved by doing a few things,
Slowing down
Stop tailgating
Get off the cell phones and reading maps, newspapers etc.
Stop eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the wheel
Stop shaving,plucking eyebrows,pasting lipstick etc get the hell ready B4 you leave.
Control the emotions, someone passing doesn't mean it's a racing challenge
Oh, and drive the speed limit

And here is whats really funny,to me anyway:

Because some feel they cannot break the law freely without getting caught, by either speeding or running red lights, they are all getting pissed off screaming big brother?
Round the clock monitoring is here folks, some areas more than others, our privacy, once you step out your door, is all history.

We think the Red Light Cameras are bad........

Wait till GPS tracking, for purposes of taxing miles driven,already in service in the UK I believe and being tested in Oregon, or monitoring your speed and issuing violations from the GPS unit becomes reality. Transponders and readers for vehicles are already in the works for achieving these goals.
Oh, there is a lot more concerning "Our Privacy", does anyone really want to know?

 

[RadiomanATL]

Crist signs Fla. bill legalizing red light cameras TCPalm.com

TALLAHASSEE — Red light cameras will be fully legal in Florida as of July 1.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday signed a new law that authorizes the cameras as enforcement devices.

Fuck you Crist. Fuck you very much.





...and no. I've never gotten a ticket from one of those things. I just think that all they actually can make an intersection less safe, and open up all kinds of possibilities for the government to fleece their citizens.

I am against this. However, why is this a nail in Crist's coffin? It sound more to me like he is pandering to "conservatives".

Because nearly eveyone that I know is against this crap at this point. Conservatives and liberals alike.

 

[RadiomanATL]

And all this chatter about red light cameras can be solved by doing a few things,
Slowing down
Stop tailgating
Get off the cell phones and reading maps, newspapers etc.
Stop eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the wheel
Stop shaving,plucking eyebrows,pasting lipstick etc get the hell ready B4 you leave.
Control the emotions, someone passing doesn't mean it's a racing challenge
Oh, and drive the speed limit

And here is whats really funny,to me anyway:

Because some feel they cannot break the law freely without getting caught, by either speeding or running red lights, they are all getting pissed off screaming big brother?
Round the clock monitoring is here folks, some areas more than others, our privacy, once you step out your door, is all history.

We think the Red Light Cameras are bad........

Wait till GPS tracking, for purposes of taxing miles driven,already in service in the UK I believe and being tested in Oregon, or monitoring your speed and issuing violations from the GPS unit becomes reality. Transponders and readers for vehicles are already in the works for achieving these goals.
Oh, there is a lot more concerning "Our Privacy", does anyone really want to know?

Yeah, um no.

The problem is with the decreased safety AND the manipulation of the traffic in order to increase offenders.

I don't care if people watch me drive. Watch away.

 

[hyakku]

And all this chatter about red light cameras can be solved by doing a few things,
Slowing down
Stop tailgating
Get off the cell phones and reading maps, newspapers etc.
Stop eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the wheel
Stop shaving,plucking eyebrows,pasting lipstick etc get the hell ready B4 you leave.
Control the emotions, someone passing doesn't mean it's a racing challenge
Oh, and drive the speed limit

And here is whats really funny,to me anyway:

Because some feel they cannot break the law freely without getting caught, by either speeding or running red lights, they are all getting pissed off screaming big brother?
Round the clock monitoring is here folks, some areas more than others, our privacy, once you step out your door, is all history.

We think the Red Light Cameras are bad........

Wait till GPS tracking, for purposes of taxing miles driven,already in service in the UK I believe and being tested in Oregon, or monitoring your speed and issuing violations from the GPS unit becomes reality. Transponders and readers for vehicles are already in the works for achieving these goals.
Oh, there is a lot more concerning "Our Privacy", does anyone really want to know?

Yeah, um no.

The problem is with the decreased safety AND the manipulation of the traffic in order to increase offenders.

I don't care if people watch me drive. Watch away.

No, it's not. For example, that video you posted in LA, i know where that is and most lights there are like that ON PURPOSE. The reason is because when the green arrow sign comes, pedestrians are allowed to start walking, and you are SUPPOSED to stop and let them go, even if it was just yellow and turned to a green arrow. It's in california's law book.

I'm tired of people bitching about not being able to break the law. Stop fucking speeding, and stop running red lights,or stop complaining about it. I've seen so many accidents in LA from people dashing through yellow lights, and I've seen multiple pedestrians hit because of that EXACT scenario you posted (light turns red with green arrow and the car pulling up doesn't even stop).

This shit needed to be done, people fucking suck at driving outside of NJ and NY, and we have those shits period. Yes this is ignorant bias, but this is also true. outside of the NE I've never experienced such piss poor driving, especially in the south and the West. They break so many driving rules all of us at university not from southern california wonder if they are actually doing it on purpose.

 

[RadiomanATL]

No, it's not. For example, that video you posted in LA, i know where that is and most lights there are like that ON PURPOSE. The reason is because when the green arrow sign comes, pedestrians are allowed to start walking, and you are SUPPOSED to stop and let them go, even if it was just yellow and turned to a green arrow.

Let me know when a pedestrian can cross a street in 4/10ths of a second.

Epic fail on your part.