Red light cameras banned in Texas
Fox News,
by
Travis Fedschun
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
6/3/2019 4:30:10 AM
Drivers in the Lone Star State are about to be seeing less red.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday evening he signed legislation that bans red light cameras across the state.
House Bill 1361, authored by Republican state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, would prohibit the use of "photographic traffic signal enforcement systems." The Republican governor took to Twitter to give people a personal view of him signing House Bill 1631.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
chumley 6/3/2019 6:25:15 AM (No. 89572)
That's great news. Maybe it will start a trend.
7 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
john56 6/3/2019 7:21:52 AM (No. 89594)
Problem is that if your city had a contract with the red light vendors, you can finish the.contract term. Some towns have as much as 18 years remaining on a 20 year contract.
5 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 6/3/2019 8:23:15 AM (No. 89625)
I never had a problem with the red light cameras until I found out that the companies
had gotten control and were doing the tickets on a commission basis. And then they
SHORTENED the yellow light period, to create more "business" for themselves.
This sounds like a good idea. But I wish the local cops would spend say 10 minutes
at a light giving tickets for running the reds, out of every morning and every afternoon
shift. Getting pretty ridiculous. And I am not talking about going thru on red. I am
talking about clearly having zero chance of making the light, flooring it, and entering
the intersection after the light is red. I would like to see tickets on THAT sort of
behavior.
6 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Rivetjoint 6/3/2019 9:03:54 AM (No. 89662)
Here in NJ many of us were pleasantly surprised when the state did not choose to renew the red light cam program after the five year trial period. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from mayors who were planning their budgets around the expected revenue but beside the shady shortening of yellow light timing, but what probably really sunk them was when it was discovered that there was a loophole in the right turn on red laws which did not precisely specify how long a driver had to wait before proceeding. Some towns took advantage of that to specify their own (unposted) interval and that was where they were raking in most of the public loot from the "scameras".
3 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
F16 guy 6/3/2019 9:08:35 AM (No. 89665)
One point that everyone seems to miss is this:
1. If you are stopped by a police officer for running a red light, it is a CRIMINAL offense and you have the right to legal procedures such as facing your accuser and a trial if necessary.
2. If you get a red light ticket by camera one block away from the red light camera location, the offense is a CIVIL offense and all your constitutional rights are ignored.
Same crime, different legal procedures. Completely unconstitutional.
1 person likes this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
mc squared 6/3/2019 9:40:49 AM (No. 89689)
Red light cameras are another scam perpetrated to raise revenue without due process. The camera systems aren't even owned and operated by the cities, but by contractors who keep the 'vig' for themselves.
If that isn't inducement to put their thumbs on the scale then what is?
2 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
GO3 6/3/2019 10:08:07 AM (No. 89706)
Good idea. Now, Texas, fix your effin roads.
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
joew9 6/3/2019 10:37:27 AM (No. 89730)
The cameras in Florida and Georgia point at us nearly everywhere. I think that citizens should be allowed to install their own cameras. Mostly at the entrances and exits of government workplaces. We know that government employees violate their required work hours all the time. They come in late and leave early to make up for it. The citizens need to monitor the comings and goings of government employees so we can have just a little information that they are not cheating us any worse than we already know.
The major tell about red light cameras is the number of communities that had put them in for the excuse of "safety" and later they inform us that they are taking them out because they didn't raise enough revenue. Are they putting a price on safety or was the "safety" excuse a lie in the first place?
5 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/3/2019 11:42:44 AM (No. 89792)
I received one of those in Texas for rolling through a right turn on red when the perpendicular traffic already had a protected left-turn underway! I watched the video, and rather than pay the $75 fine, I went to court at 5pm and fought it. In the town court room there was one police officer, but no judge or attorneys, only two men from the red-light camera company. I went to the mat immediately and argued how other communities offer "protected" green-arrow right turns under the exact SAME condition as what I was being fined for doing. Again, I'd almost come to a complete stop. After 20 minutes of unrelenting argument the guy said he would waive the fine, and let me go. He then said I should have just said I did come to a complete stop, and I could have gone. When I asked him about the 3-second rule, he shot back that he had no idea where people get 3-second thing, since there is no time (second) aspect in the law to a "complete" stop! It could have been a thousandth of a second.
The next "Standard Post" letter I got from another Texas community, I opened then promptly threw in the trash. Since the letter wasn't delivered with "signature required" they had no proof I'd ever received it. Since I wasn't an idiot (like my first time) who followed the instructions in the letter, went to their website then logged-in to watch my private video, they still have no idea I received their letter. I discovered that they never follow-up, since that costs more money. And since they're not legally affiliated with local courts of law, they can't put out a notice for me to appear in said court. It's all a corporate sham inflicted on law-abiding members of society only.
With that said, in Texas I witness PLENTY of examples of total morons and idiots who BLATANTLY run through red-lights for no reason apart from their own arrogant attitude about how important THEY and their schedule are. Every day people are hurt and killed as the result or these morons. There are too many drivers and not enough police on the roads, so the only way drivers will regain the proper attitude toward social standards is the fear of being caught, or for the penalties if caught to be multiplied to the point of personal bankruptcy. Technology can solve the problem, but it must start with the most egregious first, and not go after minor offenses that inflame the public. They should be open and honest about the cases they resolve and let the public rejoice in their getting bad drivers off our roads.
2 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 6/3/2019 2:19:37 PM (No. 89947)
RE #8:
I HAVE installed my own camera. It's called a dashcam and it shows clearly what color the light is when I go through it. This information is recorded onto a memory card and is available to me immediately through the wifi connection on my phone. Given the loonyness of drivers these days, I recommend a dashcam to everyone I know just for added protection.
1 person likes this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
F16 guy 6/3/2019 2:52:35 PM (No. 89975)
Corrected my post:
One point that everyone seems to miss is this:
1. If you are stopped by a police officer for running a red light, it is a CRIMINAL offense and you have the right to legal procedures such as facing your accuser and a trial if necessary.
2. If you get a red light ticket by camera one block away from the police officers ticket location, the offense is a CIVIL offense and all your constitutional rights are ignored.
Same crime, different legal procedures. Completely unconstitutional.
0 people like this.
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