Red Light cameras

[zoe10850]

I hope that I am not the only person outraged by the proposed use of cameras. I have read numerous studies on these things, and they are sold to cities as a money making device, not a safety feature. In Washington DC, rear end collissions doubled. And when people got "trained" to stop at yellow lights, and the number of tickets went down, they SHORTENED the yellow light time so that ticket volume would increase.

That being said, I hate the B------s who blast through lights, or roll through on a red turn light just because they think their time is more important than mine. I feel that if we devoted the effort placed in "100 days of summer" or stopping DWI's (how much was spent on all those commercials and do you think that really stops anyone from drinking and driving ?) that the red light abuse will be curbed. Is that not one of the reasons we spend $18,000,000 on a police force. I witnessed such an effort in Metairie a few years ago; the Sheriff placed a watcher who radioed down the street to motorcycle deputies who grabbed the offenders going in both directions. That way, no one was slamming on the brakes in intersections. Result? A lot less people blasting lights, one of the more dangerous driving violations, probably much worse than driving under the influence.

Really, is not the purpose of a police force "to protect and serve" rather than to generate revenue for government ? Nothing should be funded through traffic tickets. That is why a speeding ticket in Houston is so much cheaper than one in Lafayette - court cost does not pay for crime labs, indigent defenders, clerk of court, judges expense funds, DA expense funds, crimestoppers, etc.

[Taureau]

Everyday you see people running red lights and speeding through on yellow. I don't know what is the answer but posting police is only good while the police are there. Once they leave, the speeding and running of red lights resumes.

People are just so disrespectful of others. If I get rear ended at a red light, I will be shouting really loud, "oh my check! I mean my neck".
Another problem is uninsured motorist. Why are they allowed to continue driving even if they don't have insurance? They should be made to unass that car right then and there. Period. Another thread.

I too agree that, the running of red lights are far more dangerous than seat belts, baby car seats, dogs driving and some of the other laws currently on the books. Maybe really increase the cost of fines by 5 or 10 folds. Make it worth your while to stop.

Meanwhile, I will be smiling when I STOP at any and all red lights; just in case.

[RonS]

Cameras are not the answer. People run lights because they are frustrated by the traffic and waiting thru multiple light cycles. I am sitting at a light today behind a big p/u truck. I see the light is green, but am not moving. When I can go around truck, there are about 30 car lengths between him and the car that was in front of him. That means he waited too long before moving and limited the number of cars that could make the light. That causes frustration. I think safety is important, but one can be too defensive, to the point of causing others to be reckless.

I agree that putting officers on an intelligent red light enforcement , especially with Christmas coming, would make people more conscious. Plus, while waiting to receive a ticket, you lose more time. A ticket in the mail is annoying, kinda like beating your dog for a mistake a week later. Does not have the intended effect. Increasing fines just gives the court system more money to waste and hurts the working man

[Annoyed]

BTW, in case you do not realize, generally the company that sells and maintains the cameras gets a percentage of the tickets generated. Imagine if you will, the State Police getting commissions on every ticket issued. The interest clearly is not on promoting safety or compliance, but volume of tickets issued.

That is the same as DWI citations. When the limit was .1 everywhere and people started complying, what happened ? Oops, was dropped to .08. Next will be .05. Too much money is made off the system, lawyers, courts, safety courses, MADD, SADD etc. No one argues that somebody w/5 DUI's should be arrested, but after 1 beer ? It has been proven that people on cell phones are less attentive than those who drink and drive (Discovery channel did a test). That means every second driver is more likely to be involved in a wreck than a drunk.

[coolboy]

I saw a special on tv with a Sheriff's department posting an undercover deputy dressed as a homeless man standing on the median holding a sign saying, "Don't Run Red Lights!" People still ran the red lights right in front of him! He radioed to his fellow deputies and the violators were ticketed.

Our sheriff should broadcast on every news source that Lafayette law enforcement will create the same type of program. Just by citizens knowing that police will crack down on red light runners should alleviate some of the violations. Post 'em at the corner of Ambassador and Johnston St.

[TBEAR]

red light cameras, lol, what a joke, fix the roads like they are supposed to be and you won't have as many people running red lights, like RonS said its a simple matter of frustration sitting in a line of traffic for ten minutes to get through one intersection.

IE: on verot at pinhook. The light last for four or five cars then you sit there for another 8 minutes before it turns green again, then four or five cars go, on and on and on. If you are 25 cars back, which is not unusual at 5:00 pm on a weekday, thats about 4 light cycles if you dont have a dummy thats accelerates like its a Sunday in front of a church, (slow), making it even more light cycles before you can cross. Then its your turn and the light just so happens to turn from yellow to red in a matter of 2 seconds, once they set the lights to do that, to catch more red light violaters and generate more revenue for their personal use.

Only one good thing can come out of it, fight the ticket, tell them your mother-in-law borrowed your car and she was driving

[zoe10850]

T-Bear, you will have to get the ACLU to fight the fight. Since there is a photo of your vehicle, the burden of proof is now on you, pretty much like the IRS. You cannot argue w/photo of your car. Better bet, remove plate and place in back window. Camera will miss it.

I like the dog analogy. I think that is what Harson did to Williams !

[zoe10850]

BTW coolboy, our sheriff is devoting his resources to gaining the right to put another "accreditation" sticker on his units for $50,000. Why bother with public safety issues ?

[Maisy]

I will concede that there could be some improvement by Lafayette drivers, however, I agree that a lot of the fault lies in the planning, or lack of in this community. As the wife of a serviceman, I have lived in many places, some foreign, and I would say Lafayette planning is not as good as most. I do not understand the granting of building permits for apartments, subdivisions, shopping centers and so forth without advance consideration and allowance made for the changes required due to traffic pattern, volume of cars, and how people will access or leave certain intersections. The more affluent subdivisions hire a police officer to direct them in and out of their subdivision so they do not have to risk getting killed like the rest of us, and that is swell that they can afford that, but ?

Who decided to end the 4-lane on K Saloom road at Albertsons ? Why did no one consider an overpass at K Saloom and Ambassador C Pkwy, or Johnston @ ambassador ? Who ever is responsible should not be paid by the government any longer. Is that the same person suggesting cameras at lights ?

Don't you people realize that this is nothing more than a money making grab, and not an issue of safety. One of the writers pointed out that the D.W.I. rules have been changed, with lower alcohol limits being mandated. It is obvious that if we were concerned about safety, we would have Zero tolerance for driving and drinking, zero tolerance for running lights. That is how European countries do it, but then they are a bunch of socialists. Germany has cameras on autobahn and will cite you for going too slow, tailgating, driving in left lane, no turn signal, but rarely for speeding, and it is on film - no dispute. What is the difference in .1 or .08 or .05 on a relative scale ? But run a red light - someone will likely be "T-boned".

[str8up50]

I know I may offend some of you all, but I think that the cameras are a good idea. Lets face it, LPD isnt going to put an officer at certain high traffic intersections every hour on the hour. This is sort of like having one there.

While watching the last LCG meeting, Benjamin really p*ssed me off when Tramel gave him the statistics in relation to number of right angle crashes/frequency. Benjamin was offended that the majority of those intersection were in his and Williams district. And the nerve of him to say that Tramel was profiling, how in the heck do you profile the data on crashes.

Furthermore, there is no arguement in relation to privacy issues. People you are in the public, on a public road. Everyone sees you, if they choose to. If your afraid that your wife may open the mail to see you running a red light with your hoochie in the car, then dont run the red light.

[Cajunguy]

str8up50 said:

If your afraid that your wife may open the mail to see you running a red light with your hoochie in the car, then dont run the red light.

So it's OK then if I have my hoochie in the car if I don't run any red lights?

(Oh, never mind, doesn't matter what my ex thinks anyway.)

Here hoochie, hoochie.

Have a great week everybody.

.

[Taureau]

Str8up, Benjamin and Chris Williams think everything is black and white. Tremal was the messenger but Benjamin didn't like the message. The numbers don't lie. It is a fact.
Benjamin make want a re count, except this time he and Chris Williams will do the counting.

[zoe10850]

My most major objection to the cameras has nothing to do with the possibility of being caught by said camera, fact is, with our traffic, speeding is almost impossible. The problem I have, and the taxpaying citizens do not seem to comprehend, is this has NOTHING to do with public safety, but is a money making scheme.

A PRIVATE FIRM owns and operates the cameras. They get a cut of EACH and EVERY ticket issued, just like the parking meter people in New Orleans. This is sold to cities across the country as a money generating device.

Ask any officer who has worked these special traffic details like LACE, or the "100 days of Summer"; what happens is the officer works a special detail, and must issue, say 12 tickets. If he issues tickets in 1 hour, he still gets paid for 12 hours. What do you think happens ? 12 tickets are issued in hour, officer goes home to his family. Where is the officers presence now ? Point is, if we used a "bounty" system where officer got a commission, you would see the number of tickets increase dramatically, whether questionable or not. The same is true for cameras; issue is not public safety, but how much money can be fleeced from us sheep.

If you believe otherwise, your head is in the sand. The driving force behind the cameras is how much can that company make, not whether people stop at lights. This has been true everywhere the cameras have been used.

Even Trammel said speed limits "should" be set by the 85% rule, that being what the average driver will do if road speed is not posted. If 85% of people on interstate drive 80mph (per Champagne, haed of safety council) what does that mean ? It means that 80% of the people feel safe at that speed. Limit should be raised.

Example: we lowered speed limit on Basin to 60 mph. Everyone knows most drivers do 75-80 mph on basin. However, no major wrecks occur, so Champagne says his lowered limits have saved lives, even though virtually no one obeys those limits and fact is lowered limits are not key factor; trucks in right hand lane has made a difference (they too speed).

Big Brother is watching, and thinks we are stupid. We probably are.

[abbd]

Ya know, I think we got this camera situation all wrong. Look around at how much our local government spies on us. Neighbors spying on and "turning neighbors in" if they catch each other littering. Spy cameras in downtown lafayette watching our every move. Redlight cameras waiting to catch a motorist supposedly "running a red light" or supposedly speeding. Government "spying on" taxpayers??? That ain't right. What we taxpayers need are cameras and recorders watching and listening to local government at work! I propose a camera and a recorder permently affixed to each and every person who has the ability to spend our tax dollars or the ability to make policy. I want to know who they meet with, what kind of "deals" are being made etc. using MY money. Now in my opinion that would make for good tv and even better government.

[Dorothy]

Well abbd, I think you have that right. I do not like to look at litter, but when a citizen can "turn" in someone and allege that littering was witnessed and a fine levied without evidence, that can be abused badly. I am amazed that our parish, which tries hard to hold republican values, is in fact a socialist mentality government. Tax and spend. Spy on your fellow citizens. Cameras on street corners. red light cameras.

The interesting dilemma occurs when a citizen tries to bring a camera into the city court or parish courthouse, or even federal courthouse. What are they hiding ? I can understand no weapons. I cannot understand telephones or cameras including the news people. We are quickly becoming a herd of sheep as someone pointed out already.

[jaguar]

abbd ... I love the way you think! ;D

I'm afraid however some of the film footage would not be, uh, "family friendly."

[ronnief]

Good old Charlie Buckels Jr was in Baton Rouge defending his traffic cameras and the pictures taken (is a bill to stop photos). How much is the Buckels family making off these devices ? How much do they contribute to pres Durel ?

Looking back, abbd had it right. I would love to have a camera in the courthouse and city court to watch how our officials operate.

[SeleR]

There goes our elected officials and the traffic people again. The speed cameras do not deter. I watch for the vans. So does everyone I know. I am not a chronic speeder, but I am sure on occasion I do speed, but I do watch for the cameras and the red light ones as well,simply to avoid a ticket. Otherwise, I do not worry about speed. How can one speed other than in little spurts here and there ? The traffic is bad, and drivers worse. People drive slower than posted speed limit, talking on their phones like they are home, not driving.

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