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Posted in: Taking on the Government  | Add a Comment(0)

Speed Scamera Humor:  Rémi strikes again. This time it’s as a gatso speed camera.

(Thanks to www.warondriving.com for sharing this!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uvYxXBMqEOM

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uvYxXBMqEOM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://crossroadstoday.com/Port-Lavaca-Red-Light-Cameras/12097293

Posted: Wednesday, 25 January 2012 3:45PM

Port Lavaca Red Light Cameras

http://crossroadstoday.com/pages/12097293.php?collectionId=919&videoEpisodeId=36467

    
    

 
    The Port Lavaca Citizens Against Red Light Cameras group has spent the last four to five months collecting signatures on a new petition, and then presented it to City Secretary Mandy Grant Wednesday morning.  
    The issue is making headlines in Houston and tonight the Port Lavaca citizens against red light cameras are one step closer to hitting their goal. A Petitioners Committee has collected hundred of signatures for a second time and this morning the group handed the paperwork over to the city.
    I am at the intersection of 35 and the Port Lavaca Highway. As you can see, this is one of the intersections in Port Lavaca where the cameras are up and working. But tonight, petitioners are hoping they will not be operational for much longer.
    After months of collecting signatures, Carl Baugh walked into City Hall Wednesday morning and placed 32 pages full of John Hancock’s on the City Secretary’s desk; all from citizens who want one thing, the removal of red light cameras in Port Lavaca.

    "A lot of people are angry about the red light cameras. It affects a lot of people…People who drive through our county every day and it affects businesses…A lot of people don't even want to come through our town," commented Carl Baugh.
   

Read more: Port Lavaca Red Light Cameras (Petition Submitted)

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http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=42780

No action on red light camera settlement yet
Jan 26th, 2012 by Charles Kuffner.

Going, going...
Houston City Council voted to wait two weeks http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Council-delays-red-light-camera-suit-settlement-2704258.php before deciding whether or not to accept the settlement agreement http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=42692 with camera vendor ATS.

The City Council on Wednesday delayed approval of a $4.8 million settlement with its red-light camera vendor amid questions about the effect of an appeals court ruling that lets two Houston lawyers intervene in the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that brothers Michael and Randy Kubosh should be allowed to join in the lawsuit.

Though the city and American Traffic Solutions plan to ask for the case to be dismissed if the settlement is approved by City Council, the Kuboshes said they want to keep the case alive to overturn a judge’s ruling that invalidated the November 2010 charter referendum they organized to ban the use of cameras in Houston. Their attorney also argued in a hearing after Wednesday’s council meeting that the Kuboshes should have standing in the contract dispute. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes granted them a hearing on Feb. 6 to make their case.

Should the judge allow the Kuboshes to intervene in the contract dispute, City Attorney David Feldman said, he will not bring the settlement back to the council on Feb. 8 as planned.

“I’m not walking into quicksand,” Feldman said. The Kuboshes’ intervention could undermine any deal the city reaches with ATS, he said.

Feldman says that dismissing the suit would wipe away the ruling that invalidated the election; the Kuboshes disagree. They want it enshrined in the charter that cameras can’t be put up again without a popular vote. The city and ATS say that’s already the case, and besides, changes to state law http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=548 enacted after the city installed its cameras would make re-installing them more onerous and expensive to do. I’m not a lawyer, I’ll let the courts sort all this out, but I do want to comment on this http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2012/01/kubosh-plans-to-continue-fight/:

David Furlow, an attorney for the Kuboshes, said in an interview following Tuesday’s Council meeting, “The real issue is vindication of the people’s constitutionally protected right to vote.” In Furlow’s view, Hughes has ruled that a local ordinance trumps state constitutional rights. The people’s right to challenge an ordinance should last more than a month, Furlow said.

I don’t necessarily disagree with that. Seems to me the way to address the issue is with a charter amendment. Surely that’s preferable to taking your chances with a judge. Houston Politics http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2012/01/red-light-camera-settlement-delayed/ has more.

Anyway. We’ll see what happens with the hearing in Judge Hughes’ court. In the meantime, since I brought up the question of how much money the city currently has in the escrow account that holds previously collected fines, I heard back on my inquiry to the Mayor’s office. According to them there is now about $3 million in that escrow account, meaning that the up front payment and most of the first year’s payment after that are covered. The city – presumably, an agent on their behalf – would take over collection duties from ATS. We’ll see how that goes.

Finally, in red light camera news elsewhere, League City residents will vote on whether or not to extend http://galvestondailynews.com/story/288130 that city’s contract with a red light camera company. The contract runs through 2014, and a proposition about it will be “in the next special municipal election”, whenever that is. Red light opponents have a pretty good track record in these elections, and I’m sure they will be gunning for this one as well.

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/stickney/features/x690035918/Editorial-Red-light-cameras-not-about-public-safety

Editorial: Red-light cameras not about public safety.  

Berwyn Life

Posted Jan 26, 2012 @ 09:28 AM

Berwyn, IL — Berwyn police said that a whopping one traffic accident has occurred within the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road since June 2008.

Three years later, city official believed this single incident was so dire that they needed to install a red-light camera there. Between July 7 and Dec. 28 last year, the Berwyn Police Department issued more than $227,000 worth of tickets for red-light camera violations at this intersection.

Most of these tickets were for drivers not coming to a complete stop before making a right-hand turn at a red light. Never mind that this act is among the least hazardous traffic “violations.” When you have one accident at an intersection in a three-year period, action must be taken.

But, hey, it’s not about the money. It’s about doing whatever is necessary to ensure another accident doesn’t occur at this spot.

Police report that 23 accidents have occurred near the intersection between July 7 and Dec. 28, but not in it. Could any of these accidents have resulted from an increase in traffic at locations surrounding the intersection? Perhaps, as drivers have admitted to cutting through other nearby sections to avoid the camera.

But that’s merely speculation. We can’t rely on such statistics to suggest driving is becoming more problematic in the areas encircling the protected intersection, however persuasive this evidence may be. As long as the city keeps that one accident from happening within the intersection, what else matters?

Fining drivers for engaging in minimally hazardous behavior is definitely a sound public safety plan. And by that, we don’t necessarily mean effective.

We mean the noise that a cash register makes when money comes in: Cha-ching, cha-ching. That kind of sound. To pretend otherwise is silly.

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://heraldnet.com/article/20120125/NEWS01/701259735

Monroe mayor says it’s unlikely traffic cameras will continue after contract expires
The city is stuck in a contract for the traffic cameras, but it is unlikely to be extended, the mayor says.

By Rikki King, Herald Writer
 

MONROE -- Monroe's mayor now says there is "zero" likelihood that the city will continue to use traffic-enforcement cameras after 2013.

Meanwhile, officials already have quietly scaled back the program, which new numbers show has been losing money for months.

Critics have been calling for Monroe to dump the cameras now, but Mayor Robert Zimmerman on Wednesday said that moving too quickly could make the city vulnerable to more expensive litigation.

City officials are waiting to meet with legal counsel before responding to a judge's ruling last week http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120124/NEWS01/701249894 that the city mishandled an initiative aimed at eliminating the camera program. That discussion now is expected to take place in early February.

"Because this is a matter of potential litigation, council was not able to have any discussion (Tuesday) night, because we're required to have our lawyer present," he said.

He expects there to be some confusion over how the ruling relates to recent traffic-enforcement camera rulings in other cities.

The city must move slowly because the contract with Redflex Traffic Systems is legally binding, Zimmerman said. If the city arbitrarily breaks the agreement, the cost of that decision "has the potential of being millions," he said.

That doesn't mean the city is wed to cameras.

In late November, city and police officials agreed they should back off on plans to install more.

Monroe uses enforcement-cameras to catch red-light runners at one city intersection and speeders in two school zones.

The city's original 2007 agreement http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110628/BLOG48/706289861 with the vendor also included posting red-light cameras at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Chain Lake Road.

The cameras weren't installed at the same time as the others because the intersection was under construction.

In the meantime, Mukilteo activist Tim Eyman and the Monroe-area group Seeds of Liberty submitted an initiative calling for all the cameras to be removed until approved by voters. They also wanted ticket amounts reduced and advisory votes on cameras to be held each year as long as cameras were in Monroe.

The city challenged the initiative in court, claiming it wasn't legally sound. At the same time, the city put its own measure on the ballot, asking voters if the camera program should end when the contract expires in 2013.

After voters made clear they don't want the camera contract extended, Zimmerman said he asked Police Chief Tim Quenzer to see if Redflex would agree to "delay or permanently postpone" the Chain Lake cameras until legal and political uncertainty about the devices is resolved around the state.

Read more: Monroe mayor says it’s unlikely traffic cameras will continue after contract expires