Stoplight cameras and your wallet...

With warmer weather (and dryer I hope) fast approaching all you Rocket Captains might take note of this:
Quit e few municipalities are installing stoplight cameras. How they work is if you run a red light, a camera takes a picture of your license plate and then the law enforcement branch sends you a ticket. In Toledo, Ohio, that ticket is $100.00. There are no points on your license, just pay the ticket.

That's all well and good and running a red light should be punished by a ticket but there is a rub. These municipalities are shortening the duration of the yellow (caution) light to increase revenues.

Dwindling revenues for cities across the country has them looking for new and creative ways to get in the publics pocket. The stoplight camera is unmanned so no extra wages are incurred. It's a robot doing it's intended job.

All of us, at one time or another been caught with our "pants down" with a yellow light and gotten under or almost under the stoplight and it turned red. Now, you get a ticket with a stoplight camera. Sucks to be you. A week or two later, after you have forgotten you cut the light, you get an envelope in the mail with the rear picture of your vehicle and plate number and a bill from johnny law. Nice way to do business. Very impersonal and very effective.

Interestingly, the cameras are leased. The owner of the cameras gets a fee based on each ticket issued so the more tickets, the more money for the camera owner and the more money for the community.

There is a deterrent, if you will. There are a number of companies that market a prismatic plastic plate the fits over the license plate (bikes included) that renders the image of the numbers unreadable at any angle but straight on. Most all cameras are either curb mounted or overhead so the plastic cover obscures the numbers to the camera. Do a Goggle search for them.

I'm in no way condoning cutting lights. That is a safety issue, but we have all, at one time or another did it. I like the deterrent as the cure.

Britian is famous for these... Play a little game:

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/game.htm

I would end up in the high risk pool, thats why I have sloooowed down.

Wow Tomo that is spooksville.Hats off the guys over there that have to put up with that.Move over George Orwell 1984 is here.I'm very fortunate so far and we don't have but a couple of those picture taking lights and someone told me that they are not in use yet but that was last year.

Sidecar Flip said:

There is a deterrent, if you will. There are a number of companies that market a prismatic plastic plate the fits over the license plate (bikes included) that renders the image of the numbers unreadable at any angle but straight on. Most all cameras are either curb mounted or overhead so the plastic cover obscures the numbers to the camera..

Click to expand...

" I fought the law and the law won" , as Eric Clapton used to sing.

Here in Switzerland, they (WE?) have a law that says that WHATEVER impedes, complicates or otherwise delays the license plate # reading, be it by a cop or a radar trap (pardon the redundancy) is unlawful. That goes from simple road dust or grime, whether just gathered or artistically spread out to (US-originating and increasingly popular-) prismatic plate covers . The difference being that, plate opacity for plate opacity, a bit of "am sorry Officer" mud is a lot easier to plead than a bolt-on venitian blind Jamie

We got us a convoy good buddy.........

Jamie:

It hasn't come to that here YET. I understand that there is a court challenge concerning tha validity of the ticket with no points attached, just a fine. Sounds to me like the ruling will probably points and a fine.

It's interesting that the prismatic plate covers have found their way into Swiss hands too. Obviously, you have stoplight cameras too. I believe there are laws on the books here that consider a dirty plate or an obscured plate an equipment violation. I know it is on a commercial truck

Tomo:

I like the game. Scored 12 out of 19 from the get-go. That's just instinct from 35 years of truck driving and keeping on the lookout for "full grown bears and local yocols"...10-4 good buddy, roger wilco, over and out....

Keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up, especially on the super slab you chicken hauler. (Maybe that's Hondax!!!)

Those are purely for revenue. There have been studies done that show rear end accidents actually increase in intersections with the camera installed. They can't give you points either because they can't prove who was driving.

Thanks for that info Pig9r,thought there was some hangup with them and you brought it up.I have not washed my plate in a while and may get a custom one.I try to stay away from ways to identify my machine from others but know I can't stay anonymous forever.

Pig9r:

From what I understand, the point deal is being discussed in court right now. I wasn't really wanting to discuss the subject, but rather inform the guys (and gals) here about the chance of encountering one and the consequences (financially and otherwise) from being captured by one and not aware of them and that there are ways to deter the cameras from recording your license plate. I, for one do not relish paying a hundred bucks for a quick second of indecision