Red Light cameras

[scott1120]

Does anyone know how they work? No, I am not trying to beat them nor have I been caught by one. I would assume they something like a "lighting trigger" attached or are they along the lines of the tolltag cameras?

[kenw]

object sensors (photoelectric or similar, detecting a quick chance in reflected light values) detect a vehicle in the intersection. If both conditions are true (red+detected), smile! It is why actual police officeers review each pic to see if mitigating circumstances exist, like right on red, which would trigger the camera in most situations.

the tolltag sensors use a radio signal from your tolltag combined with a similar object sensor (no radio signal+sensed vehicle=pic).

that's the quickie answer......

[Night Owl]

They're pretty sensitive, too. If your front bumper goes a couple of feet past the line, you may trigger it. I watched a delivery truck do that at Chimney Rock/SW Fwy and that thing was flickering away.

OTOH, if anyone needs to do some hobo photography, the strobes are there for your convenience...

[Rox74]

I can tell you from experience that they definitely work! My front bumper was past the line when the light was yellow but it turned red before my rear bumper went through. Yes, I'm reformed now (because I'm scared of getting another ticket). The tickets don't go on your driving record nor are they reported to your insurance which is the only good thing and they are $75. Either way, it sucks! On the back of the ticket it has a website with your citation number and you can watch the video even. You can't argue with a video!

[mobilezen]

If anyone in Dallas wants to see a crazy setup, go to Marsh and Valley View LN in Farmer's Branch. They have this totem pole looking camera light that is catty corner from the police station...It is a crazy setup!

[scott1120]

Originally Posted by mobilezen

If anyone in Dallas wants to see a crazy setup, go to Marsh and Valley View LN in Farmer's Branch. They have this totem pole looking camera light that is catty corner from the police station...It is a crazy setup!

That's the one that made me think of the question.

[kenw]

fwiw, they are considered a CIVIL violation, not criminal (because a cop didn't witness the crime firsthand), so it can't affect your insurance.

[Night Owl]

One of the best stories out of Houston was a prolific traffic court defense attorney who announced he was going to challenge the constitutionality of the cams by deliberately running a red light at an intersection near his office. He did, the camera snapped a pic and the cop waiting for him popped him right away. Instead of taking a $75 civil citation to the USSC, HPD's ~$275 red light citation trumped it.

[Patti Edens]

Originally Posted by Rox74

I can tell you from experience that they definitely work! My front bumper was past the line when the light was yellow but it turned red before my rear bumper went through. Yes, I'm reformed now (because I'm scared of getting another ticket). The tickets don't go on your driving record nor are they reported to your insurance which is the only good thing and they are $75. Either way, it sucks! On the back of the ticket it has a website with your citation number and you can watch the video even. You can't argue with a video!

I guess I need remedial driving school. I thought as long as you were in the intersection while it was still yellow, it didn't matter if it turned red before you got out.

Dang.

Patti

[Stephen H]

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that they only ticketed you if the light was red when you ENTERED the intersection.

The city of Fort Collins, CO, got some speed-trap cameras when we lived there. They also were supposed to be checked by person, etc., etc. Well, I got a ticket in the mail from one of those. It was my wife's license plate number, at a time when I was at work, so I knew she was the one driving. If you'll note my beard at left, you'll see that I don't resemble very many women. So they sure weren't paying much attention to the output from those things.

The final result on that system was that they couldn't enforce the tickets. That is, they could mail you a ticket, but had no way of showing that you ever actually got it- and they didn't want to pay the money to send a cop around as process server, either. So it was ticketing on the honor system. If you didn't pay it, nothing happened. That's what I did with mine.

[Night Owl]

Originally Posted by Stephen H

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that they only ticketed you if the light was red when you ENTERED the intersection.

Yep. The rear bumper must have cleared the stop line before the light turns red. If the vehicle is past the line when it changes, then you're good to go.

[PhotoByMark]

I am amused by these products.
Maybe some of them actually work???
http://www.buyradardetectors.com/Pro...t-Cameras.aspx

[Stephen H]

Sounds like a job for Mythbusters. A while back they tested some radar-avoidance devices (with miserable results!)

[Dobick]

I don't have a clue of the details of how the redlight cameras work, but if they use some sort of flash I wonder if you could rig up something to a couple of metz and a flash sensor that would sense when the cameras were firing and flood them with flash so that the details of your car wouldn't be visible?

Just a random and not very well executed thought, from someone who lives in a town without any traffic lights at all.

[Night Owl]

Originally Posted by Dobick

I don't have a clue of the details of how the redlight cameras work, but if they use some sort of flash I wonder if you could rig up something to a couple of metz and a flash sensor that would sense when the cameras were firing and flood them with flash so that the details of your car wouldn't be visible?

But how would you get around the non-reverse white light facing rear statute?