Presentations

That Word…. Progressive

Presentations

http://epautos.com/2011/12/29/that-word-progressive/

That Word…. Progressive
December 29, 2011

By eric

Progressive insurance is a lot like public education. Both are euphemisms that sound happy enough but mask a number of not so-smiley-faced realities.
 

In the case of Progressive Insurance – the company – the smiley-faced ad girl you see on TV is quite unlike the cold, impersonal entity that will be riding shotgun with you in reality. An entity that wants to monitor, record and transmit deliciously detailed information about the driving habits of its “customers” (a despicable term, given that people are forced to buy insurance) in order that said “customers’ ” premiums may be “adjusted” accordingly.

Progressive’s calls it Snapshot- another False Flag euphemism ginned up by a clever copywriter to mask its ugly reality.


Because in fact, in reality, a  “snapshot” is taken (and recorded) every time you get behind the wheel. A given “snapshot” is merely the data sample the system sends back to Progressive HQ at any given moment. But the fact is the system keeps constant track of your speed, how rapidly you accelerate and decelerate, when you drive – and how often you drive. Just for openers.

Read more: That Word…. Progressive

 

N.C. Supreme Court says 90% of RLC revenue must go to schools, Cary gives $2.50 out of $50 to school

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North Carolina Supreme Court says 90% of RLC revenue must go to schools, Cary gives $2.50 out of $50.00 to schools!

Ban the Cams note:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/11/1132.asp  Quote:  A ruling today by the North Carolina Court of Appeals threatens red light camera programs in the state. The decision upheld two lower court rulings that had required the city of High Point to direct 90 percent of photo ticket fines to the public school system. Today's ruling expands the precedent statewide, turning money-making programs into a money-losers for the cities involved.

(Article on the North Carolina Supreme Court:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/18/1834.asp).


So what do you all think, is CARY BREAKING THE LAW????

See this quote from the article below:

By contract, the Town of Cary pays Redflex $49.50 of every $50. That leaves 50 cents to the schools. The contract contains a tiered compensation clause. When the Town of Cary can force more drivers to run red lights, Cary only has to pay Redflex 60%, not the normal 99%. In the end, once Cary takes out its own administrative costs, about $2.50 goes to the schools.


http://redlightrobber.com/red/index.html


Red Light Robber

The story is true.

 

 
 
This is an exact account of the red light camera program in the Town of Cary, North Carolina. Dr. Moley represents the real-life person Brad Hudson. Hudson is a civilian, who against the Town of Cary/Redflex contract, evaluates tickets though he is not a sworn police officer. As the video says, Hudson comes to work once a month and without looking at the videos, accuses and convicts everyone. Baby Cookieflex plays the part of Maria, an employee of Redflex. She works at the "Safelight" office in Cary. If you have a problem with the ticket, the Cary police send you to Maria. Maria does indeed say, "Aren't you happy that your $50 goes to public schools? Don't you care about children?" The Town of Cary spreads Redflex's lie to the local TV stations and the newspapers. But Cary never says what percentage goes to schools. By contract, the Town of Cary pays Redflex $49.50 of every $50. That leaves 50 cents to the schools. The contract contains a tiered compensation clause. When the Town of Cary can force more drivers to run red lights, Cary only has to pay Redflex 60%, not the normal 99%. In the end, once Cary takes out its own administrative costs, about $2.50 goes to the schools.

As for the bad physics, this is the problem. While other problems such as Constitution and legal precedent violations are also serious, it is the misapplied physics that fuels the red light camera industry. Traffic engineers all over the world habitually misapply the ITE Yellow Light Interval Formula, the international standard which sets the length of a yellow light. The misapplication countermands Newton's Second Law of Motion and demands that the driver do so too. But neither driver nor any object in this universe can violate a law of motion. And so the error creates a dilemma zone, a section of road along the approach to the intersection, where if you are in it when the light turns yellow, you will have no choice but to run a red light. The dilemma zone is present at every intersection. Eventually everyone will arrive at the wrong time and be in the wrong place when the light turns yellow . . . and will be guilty. The Town of Cary has so far issued 130,000 tickets--more than the population of the Town of Cary. The red light camera companies, in cooperation with the cities, exploit and profit from the error. Worse than the profitting is the forcing of drivers to crash. Even the pro-camera organization IIHS admits that all cities see a 15% increase in rear-end crashes and several cities, including Raleigh, North Carolina (Cary's neighbor city), see an increase in fatalities.
 
At this website you will find the scientific proof that will get rid of red light cameras once and for all. The legal ground is universal, absolute and irrefutable. The argument is that red light camera laws depend on a standard that violates Natural Law. Any legislation depending on such a standard is null and void itself. The argument applies to any jurisidiction in the world. You can use this argument in the United States as well as the Netherlands. This is called the Canute Legal Precedent. The precedent is named after King Canute who demonstrated in 1020 AD, that not even a king could enforce a law that halts the ocean tides.
 
The goal of the lawyers, physicists and artists behind this website, is to increase the yellow light lengths at all intersections such that they allow drivers to abide by Newton's Second Law of Motion. We estimate that this will prevent over 99% of all crashes and deaths at signalized intersections. If a city wants to keep red light cameras after that, they certainly can. But there will be no profit in it anymore.
 

   

Dubious Traffic Engineering and Politics Predominate Over Public Safety on Arizona Roadways

Presentations

Ban the Cams note:  Though this article doesn't mention speed scameras, AZ still "allows" them.  It is a good insight into how speed limits are manipluated by cities for finanical (not safety) purposes.

http://photoradarscam.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/dubious-traffic-engineering-and-politics-predominate-over-public-safety-on-arizona-roadways/

Dubious Traffic Engineering and Politics Predominate Over Public Safety on Arizona Roadways
December 19, 2011 – 6:17 am

People place blind trust that the governments responsible for determining speed limits are qualified and have conducted a proper analysis to arrive at the correct number. Many firmly believe that driving even just a little above the posted limit can be indeed be extremely dangerous. But this new video on Youtube shows that posted speed limits we see are sometimes nothing more than the result of a political whim, as in the city of Peoria, AZ the limits are established by ordinances that are established by the city council. Although difficult to see, the video shows a roadway in North Peoria, the stretch of Pinnacle Peak between 83rd Ave & 91st Ave where speed limits are set for 30mph going Westbound, but 45 going eastbound. There is no discernible difference in each side of the road (low density residential with no schools or school crossing), and the road is one lane in each direction. What could the engineering justification possibly be to call for a 15mph difference in speed limits based only on what direction you’re going? The only reasonable answer is that the city wants to create a speed trap.

The video also shows another location just south of Happy Valley Road on 91st Ave. As you approach the 3-way intersection, the last 1/8 of a mile drops from 40mph to 30mph. When you turn from Happy Valley onto 91st Ave southbound, you can go 45mph for the 1st 1/8th mile, then the limit drops to 30mph for about 3/8 of a mile, then raises up to a standard 40mph limit. Again, there are no schools and no discernible changes in road design or neighborhoods over these distances. These limits are nothing more than a speed trap, and nothing more than city officials screwing with drivers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LrKzamq_6MQ

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LrKzamq_6MQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Read more: Dubious Traffic Engineering and Politics Predominate Over Public Safety on Arizona Roadways

   

Anti National Coalition for Safer Roads

Presentations

New link to facebook site fighting ATS front group NCSR!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anti-National-Coalition-for-Safer-Roads/205032206181287

Anti National Coalition for Safer Roads

Non-Profit Organization.

Anti National Coalition for Safer Roads
 

Founded 2011
 

Company Overview In a study of six jurisdictions over a seven-year period, the Virginia Transportation Research Council concluded that camera installations were associated with an increase in rear-end collisions. In 2001, the Virginia Department of Transportation increased by 1.5 seconds the length of the yellow-light cycle at an intersection with cameras. The increase in the yellow-light time resulted in a 94... percent drop in citations at the intersection.


Last year, Norcross, Georgia officials abandoned the use of red-light cameras in the wake of mandatory increases in yellow-light intervals statewide, because violations dropped to the point where the privately operated camera systems were costing the city revenue.

Mission To stop the red-light running cameras that are put there in the interest of generating revenue rather than saving lives. Did you know the yellow light time was cut in 1/2 when they started these? Collisions have increased, and it saves no one from someone who isn't paying attention or can't see the light, which is the REAL red-light problem. 

 

   

THE REJECTION RATE SCAM

Presentations

THE REJECTION RATE SCAM! 

The Rejection Rate Scam is where a scamera Vendor (or City) INTENTIONALLY MANIPULATES the number of VIOLATIONS by use of the REJECTION RATE.

This came out into the news last year in Baytown, TX where ATS and the City INCREASED the REJECTION RATE to make it seem like RLV were going "down".  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/31/3173.asp

The REJECTION RATE SCAM can be played one of two ways:

A.   Either increase the number of violations you reject (like Baytown)

B.   Or you STOP REJECTING ANY RLV Triggers of any kind. 

In fact I strongly suspect that is what vendors do in their SURVEYS to pump up the violation numbers.   Then if they get a contract, those "violation" numbers can be adjusted down by police "review" of tickets (or themselves).

A GREAT Example of this was in Mukilteo, WA when they calimed to have a "massive" RLV problem which turned out to be right turns on reds!

ATS VP (former now) Kroske WAS SO UPSET when the city enginneer mentioned the fact that most of the "violations" were REALLY NON DANGEROUS RIGHT TURNS, KROSKE CALLED THE MAN A "IDIOT".  http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110807/NEWS01/708079938

KROSKE:  "I cannot believe this idiot sent this to WSDOT. (It) may have torpedoed the project,"

In fact you can see the ATS survey here in the PDF format:  http://www.banthecams.org/attachments/1553_ATS%20Mukilteo%20survey.pdf

Also see:  http://www.banthecams.org/Studies-Show/ats-mukilteo-survey-proves-most-of-the-qviolationsq-were-right-turns.html
 

   

Fined after parking for exactly 17 seconds: Spy cameras hit innocent drivers as tickets soar 5 fold!

Presentations

Parking Scamera fining people for exactly 17 seconds: Spy cameras hit innocent drivers as tickets soar fivefold


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026385/Fined-parking-exactly-17-seconds-Spy-cameras-hit-innocent-drivers-tickets-soar-fivefold.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Fined after parking for exactly 17 seconds: Spy cameras hit innocent drivers as tickets soar fivefold

 

  • Four million tickets were issued in the UK last year
  • Number successfully challenging up 20 per cent

By Ray Massey

Last updated at 8:49 AM on 16th August 2011

Persecuted motorists are being handed five times as many parking tickets as they were a decade ago, figures show.


New mobile CCTV cameras are being used to catch drivers who may only have stopped momentarily. One case was based on just 17 seconds of film.


There have even been instances of automated fines being generated for moving vehicles.

More than four million tickets with penalties of up to £105 a time were dished out by wardens and councils across the country last year.

Numbers have leapt more than ten per cent in the past two years, fuelled by the introduction of controversial CCTV-equipped camera cars.

 

Instead of tickets being slapped on the windscreen, drivers discover a fine only when the automatically generated ticket drops through their letterbox.


But misuse of the cameras has led to a stinging rebuke from the official appeals watchdog, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.


 No warning: The report said that many councils failed to put up signs saying that CCTV was in operation


The number of people successfully challenging their tickets has risen by an astonishing 20 per cent in the past two years.


In one case that was thrown out on appeal, a council issued a ticket using CCTV footage of ‘some 17 seconds’.

In another rejected case, a fine was issued when a car stopped for 46 seconds to allow driver and passenger to swap places.


The report also highlights cases of camera cars parking on double yellow lines to catch errant drivers and councils that fail to put up signs warning drivers that CCTV is in operation.

Motoring groups said cash-strapped councils were increasingly using parking charges and fines to fill ‘black holes in their coffers’.

 

Read more: Fined after parking for exactly 17 seconds: Spy cameras hit innocent drivers as tickets soar 5 fold!

   

Randall D Kubosh AN OPEN LETTER

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http://www.facebook.com/randall.kubosh

Randall D Kubosh AN OPEN LETTER

We have always contended that the Red light Intersection Cameras actually increase accidents and were never about safety, but only about revenue for the city. The cameras are nothing more than a tax on the people who drive th...rough the city. An analysis of the tickets written early on showed that the cameras were not producing enough revenue so the City shortened the timing of the yellow caution light by a fraction of a second at selected intersections and the City started issuing citations for right on red violation. In fact, the Houston Chronicle reported last May 2011, that 5 months after the light were turned off, accidents were down over 13%. This validated our belief that any true unbiased report will confirm that the red light intersection cameras increase accidents.

The Mayor told my brother Mike in City Council Chambers prior to the election, whenever we meet with her in the City of Houston Council Chambers, when the City Council voted to put the matter on the ballot in November, that she planned to beat us, fair and square. She was confident the citizens would stand with her and her support of the Red Light Intersection Cameras.

 

(Ban the CAMS NOTE:  I think we know the MAYOR HAD NO INTENTION OF EVER HONORING THE VOTERS BANNING RLC!  So much for the public "support" claims!)

After the November 2nd 2010 Election was held, the voters Against Prop # 3 won by 5% margin, 181, 082 voters in Houston made it clear. The Citizens of Houston decided they wanted the Red Light Cameras to GO. On November 15th, 2010 the City of Houston Canvassed the vote, making the election official and ordering the Red Light Camera Company, ATS, American Traffic Solutions to turn off the cameras.

In November, after the vote was canvassed, Mayor Parker instructed David Feldman, City Attorney, to file what we call “a friendly lawsuit” against the RLC company ATS in Federal Court to get a favorable venue. This lawsuit should have been filed in State District Court. I cannot imagine a State District Judge throwing out an election by the people and expect to be voted back into office the next election. Mayor Parker and David Feldman knew this, reason why they filed the case in Federal Court. The City and the RLC company, ATS are all wanting the same thing, the cameras to be turned back on. Another possible explanation why the City Houston initiated the suit, rather than the ATS, was to shield ATS from negative press. Consider this, the RLC company, ATS' Chief Legal Counsel is George Hittner, son of Federal Judge Hittner in the Federal Courthouse two blocks from City Hall, downtown. This is another explanation for why the City of Houston filed their lawsuit in Federal Court.

 

Read more: Randall D Kubosh AN OPEN LETTER

   

Ticket Camera Humor! (Just in Time for Harry Potter!)

Presentations

Ticket Camera Humor!  (Just in Time for Harry Potter!)

http://www.myneworleans.com/My-New-Orleans/June-2011/In-Which-I-Contest-a-Traffic-Camera-Ticket/

In Which I Contest a Traffic Camera Ticket
Jay Forman
 
Photo Courtesy of NOPDJust got one of those camera tickets in the mail and decided to contest it. I’ve tried before, to no avail. This time (and in the spirit of the upcoming Harry Potter movie) I’ve opted for a different approach. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Notice # 0801100923607

 

Dear Officer Hartman,

I assume you are familiar with the wizarding world of Harry Potter. I also assume you are familiar with local mental healthcare facilities. Finally I assume that you are aware of the existence of temporary wormholes, or “rips” in the very fabric of space/time. Given these assumptions, along with the evidence below, I feel confident that you will agree that I am not at fault for Moving Violation #0801100923607.

On May 12 I was traveling south on Henry Clay Avenue. It was a balmy spring evening. Little did I know what was about to transpire. As I passed the intersection at Coliseum Street I was temporarily blinded by a flash of light. At first I naively assumed it was just from the recently installed speeding camera, a device of which I am a big fan. Imagine my shock to see a cluster of four hovering dementors blocking the road ahead of me:

 


Exhibit A-1

I quickly assessed the situation. To slow down or – worse – stop the vehicle would be madness. Nor could I swerve into the other lane for fear of oncoming traffic. Clearly, I only had but one choice. I floored it.

 

As I drove through the flock of dementors, the momentum carried me into the ball of light just beyond them. This was in fact a temporary, but stable, wormhole! Therein, I found myself bathed in a weird, unearthly glow, not unlike the Pink Floyd Laser shows they used to have out at the Planetarium. I was only in there for seven and a half seconds in “real-time”, but inside it felt like a good three hours. During that time I was able to ascertain the situation.

 

This was my conclusion:

 

As you know, this traffic camera is installed just outside of what we once referred to as an “Insane Asylum.” That term is no longer in vogue. They prefer to call them “treatment centers” now, but we all know what the score is.

 

The presence of dementors outside its walls was no coincidence. I submit to you that DePauls is Azkaban, the famous wizarding prison, concealed by multiple layers of Confundus charms, whose true location has never been fully disclosed by the Ministry of Magic. True, the prevailing school of thought is that Azkaban is on a rocky island. But the prevailing school of thought also had Osama bin Laden hiding in a remote cave, not next to the Applebee’s in downtown Abbottabad.

 

Placing Azkaban in the United States makes sense. Our cordial relations with the United Kingdom would facilitate extradition, while keeping wizarding threats far from British soil. And the wormhole? The Patronus charm is a wormhole, which explains its ability to summon the souls of dead protectors to watch over the living and defend them against dementor attacks. QED.

 

Of course, something extraordinary must have happened to cause those dementors to leave the grounds and make their presence known. Most likely, a high-profile practitioner of the Dark Arts has escaped and is at large Uptown. This could also explain what has happened to all the ducks in Audubon Park. Do you have Aurors on staff now? I would hope that was part of Ronnie Serpas’s new crime initiative.

 

But back to the matter at hand. Compare the time stamps on Exhibit 1-A to Exhibit 1-B, below:

 


Exhibit 1-B

 


As you can see, transport through the wormhole caused me to actually travel forward at a negative rate of speed, as I appeared thirty feet in front of myself seven and a half seconds before I left -- a pretty neat trick!

 

Now comes the uncomfortable part: I feel that the City of New Orleans actually owes me money, not the other way around. I understand that your camera is not capable of processing this kind of situation. The back of my notice accounts for datum such as “1-9 mph over limit = $75 Civil Penalty”. It does not account for “Speed, while initially 6 mph over posted limit, when aggregated with stable wormhole travel due to dementor menace results in net negative forward speed = $75.00 Civil Credit.”

 

I accept either personal check or money orders. Be advised that should you pay with credit card, I will assign a small “convenience fee.”

 

Sincerely,

 

Jay Forman

 

PS – should my Azkaban tip result in the arrest of a Death Eater, I expect to be eligible for the Crimestoppers reward.

 

Ed. Note: Renaissance Publishing and myNewOrleans.com do not acknowledge the existence of dementors, wormholes or wizards in general, no matter how much we really, really wish they were real.

 

   

Will St. Peters' Red-Light Camera System Go Dark? Would You Care?

Presentations

Thanks to www.wrongonred.com for the link.

http://stpeters.patch.com/blog_posts/will-st-peters-red-light-camera-system-go-dark-would-you-care

Will St. Peters' Red-Light Camera System Go Dark? Would You Care?
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:00am 

By: Michael E.Carter
 

As a municipal judge, I presided over many red-light camera cases and decided outcomes in accord with the applicable city ordinance in place—i.e. driver identity, proper stop, color of signal light, etc.

I can tell you that no one likes making a traffic court appearance. This includes policemen, defendants and attorneys. However, without exception, there was one type of ticket that suffered the most disdain and was the least popular—the red-light camera ticket.  No speeding, stop-sign, or seat-belt ticket could possibly compare with the heated passions evoked by the "big brother" (typical defendant's words) camera ticket.

Ask most experienced municipal traffic court judges and they, if candid, can likely paint a quick picture of the average speeding-ticket defendant that actually comes to court—at a minimum they skew young and are typically hoping to eventually get the money together for an attorney's fee or fine.

But, such stereotyping just doesn't work for the red-light camera ticket defendant that actually comes to court.  These defendants are often professional men & women; fathers & mothers; grandmothers & grandfathers; and business owners (lots of these).

Keep in mind that red-light camera tickets arrive, unsuspectingly, in the mail with the look and feel of something akin to a utility bill, as opposed to a ticket that an officer hands the defendant through the driver-side window.

These affluent, civic-minded, defendants typically have the money for the fine, but often take issue with the ticket-issuing methodology, camera technology, perceived purpose of the camera system, road conditions at the time of the red-light camera's picture, or insist that they were not driving the car. So, they head to court to voice their concerns.

It is often quite troubling when mothers and fathers point out that they are not the driver in the red-light camera picture, only to find out they must choose between facing another trip to court for a trial or agreeing to swear and affirm that the person in the red-light camera picture was their son or daughter.

 

Read more: Will St. Peters' Red-Light Camera System Go Dark? Would You Care?

   

NMA: Traffic Tickets: Everyone Gets A Piece

Presentations

http://blog.motorists.org/traffic-tickets-everyone-gets-a-piece/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=traffic-tickets-everyone-gets-a-piece

Traffic Tickets: Everyone Gets A Piece
Posted on June 7th, 2011

The Daily Breeze put out a story http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_18211219 earlier this week that demonstrates how a $100 traffic ticket can turn into $480 burden.

When motorists in Los Angeles County get a ticket with a base fine of $100, they’re hit with 15 additional penalties and assessments that add an addtional $380 to their bill. Unfortunately, there’s not much hope that these penalties are going away or that the government won’t add even more penalties on top:

To help ease the state’s budget troubles, legislators have added several new assessments to traffic fines since 2009, including a $35 “state conviction fee” and penalties that raise money for new courthouse construction.

Among other increases, state security fees doubled to $40 in recent years, and legislators tacked on a $4 penalty to traffic tickets to fund emergency air transport services due to increased Medi-Cal funding of that service. [...]

Other traffic violation fine penalties have been proposed in the Legislature. They include a $3 fee to go to spinal cord injury research, and an increase to the existing DNA identification fines on all criminal offenses including traffic violations.

It has finally gotten to the point that motorists are fed up:

Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said the organization has had an increase in calls from people frustrated by costly traffic tickets, even though they are not considered a tax.

“They’re definitely becoming abusive,” Vosburgh said. “Rather than a deterrent, government has come to look at this as an opportunity to expand revenue. Revenue is the first priority, and public safety is a far second.” [...]


 Existing traffic fee penalties are up significantly from 10 years ago, as Ken Breding of Gardena noticed when he was ticketed recently for rolling through a stop sign.

 

“I’m a self-employed, single father and, right now with the economy, I’m living paycheck to paycheck. So that (ticket) was a hard chunk to swallow,” said Breding, 48. “It’s like sticker shock when you see (the ticket cost). That’s two months of groceries for me.”

“I broke the law but it seems these days that the traffic ticket is not about enforcing the law,” he said. “It’s more about increasing revenue. It’s become more of a business than law enforcement.”

Politicians are careful to leave the base ticket fines alone because it’s easier politically to hide ticket increases in a group of tacked on fees that are generally only noticed by the ticket recipients themselves.

It’s hard to work up much outrage when they’re adding $5 fees one at a time, but as we’ve found out, those small fines add up quickly. That means it’s important for motorists to keep on top of their local government and speak up against adding additonal fees, no matter how insignificant they may seem at the time.

If we don’t break their addiction to tacked-on fees, we may look back years from now and think that adding 15 additional penalties to a minor traffic ticket seems reasonable.

   

Have a Ticket With an Unclear Photo of You?

Presentations

http://blog.photoenforced.com/2011/06/have-ticket-with-unclear-photo-of-you.html

Have a Ticket With an Unclear Photo of You?
by DeadZones.com | Thursday, June 02, 2011 | evidence, Fighting Tickets, How To, Laws, Snitch Tickets, Validation

 

What to do When a Camera Ticket has an Unclear Photo of You

Those red light cameras tickets you receive in the mail can be tricky to deal with. Many find themselves stuck with a ticket that says they were the driver but doesn’t actually have clear photo of the driver’s face.

If you receive a ticket in the mail that says you were the driver but it doesn’t have a clear picture of your face it can be frustrating because without a clear picture how can you even tell yourself if it was you driving? There is a way you can send in a form saying that someone else was the driver, but with a blurry picture how can you tell who it is.

You could of course go into court and let a judge see for himself that there is no possible way you could be identified as the driver based on the picture on the ticket. You could also explain to a judge that you can’t identify anyone else as the driver because of the poor picture quality. But going into court can be a hassle and scary for some, so it’s much easier to handle situations like this without going into court, with a Trial by Written Declaration. Using a Trial by Written Declaration you can explain the situation and even include a recent photograph of yourself for the judge to use as a comparison to the picture of the driver on the ticket. In situations like this there is a good chance your ticket will be dismissed.

Blog contributed by TicketBust.com, helping drivers contest and dismiss their traffic tickets.
If you get cited for a red light photo ticket, contact us at www.TicketBust.com or call us at (800) 850-8038. For Spanish, please visit www.Combatesuticket.com or call (818) 584-3689. For more information on how TicketBust can help to beat your cell phone ticket, visit www.fightcellphonetickets.com or call (800) 850-8038.
 

   

Red Light Cameras Promote Unsafe Driving

Presentations

http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?option=com_wordpress&p=10813&Itemid=482
 

Red Light Cameras Promote Unsafe Driving
by Jeff Prince

A recent article in The New York Times warned readers about speeding, saying police citations can increase your insurance payments by double digits.

The story included the following nonsense: “So you might want to slow down or even stop when the traffic light turns yellow, instead of accelerating and trying to get through before it turns red.”

Red light cameras encourage motorists to accelerate through yellow lights.

Before the advent of red light cameras, I used to slow down when traffic lights turned yellow. If I were able to bring my full-sized pickup to a stop, I did. If I couldn’t, then I rolled through the tail end of the yellow light or maybe even the beginning of the red light.

 

I considered that the safe way to drive.

Now, when I see a yellow light, I punch my accelerator. Why? Because it’s impossible to force a pickup or any other heavy vehicle to slow down from 40 or 50 mph to a dead stop in just a few seconds, without having to stand on the brakes and come to a screeching halt.

Some cities, such as Dallas and Lubbock, have even relied on shorter yellow lights to make sure they catch more motorists and increase profits.

I’m not going to ruin my brakes by sliding to a three-second stop at every intersection just to please some money-grubbers who want to exploit its citizenry and pad our city coffers. So I punch the accelerator with everything I’ve got to get through an intersection before the camera snaps a picture.

Is this safe driving? Uh, no.  I liked my old way of driving better.

But myself and other drivers are doing this now in reaction to arbitrary cameras that allow no room for grace — just a $75 fine, no exceptions, no human being to listen, no nothing except a payment demand.
 

   

An End to Red Light Cameras in Saint Louis?

Presentations

http://www.showmeinstitute.org/publications/video/red-tape/559-an-end-to-red-light-cameras-in-saint-louis.html

 
 
An End to Red Light Cameras in Saint Louis?     

By David Stokes    

Thursday, June 02, 2011 

Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst David Stokes weighs in on red light cameras in Saint Louis — the recent ruling that found such cameras illegal in Saint Louis, and the implications of the ruling for the city payroll tax.

You can read the entire ruling here.  http://www.scribd.com/doc/56102842/St-Louis-Red-Light-Lawsuit



 

   

Red Light Cameras; Former City Manager R.J. Intindola on RLC SCAM!

Presentations

http://web.me.com/mike.butler/Change_Hallandale/Updates/Entries/2011/5/26_Former_City_Manager_on_Red_Light_Cameras.html

Red Light Cameras
2011
 Former City Manager R.J. Intindola on red light cameras...see below.


And in case you missed it, see the article “Bad Safety”: http://savehallandale.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/bad-safety/


As City Manager of Hallandale Beach Florida, I rejected the concept of the installation of red light cameras for several reasons. Although there were limited studies at the time of my retirement in November of 2002, considerable research and documentation indicating the danger and ineffectiveness of the cameras has surfaced over the past several years.


Similar to other local government officials, the Mayor of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Joy Cooper, credits the installation of red light cameras as a method for saving lives. She also states that the strain on law enforcement necessitates the installation of red light cameras. In a recent Miami Herald guest editorial, she wrote: "Not being able to pay as many police officers is a challenge, but instead of putting cities and towns at risk with less officers on the streets, red-light traffic cameras can still effectively enforce the law, and allow officers to do their job — protect citizens."


However, in the case in Hallandale beach Florida, her statement is not factual. A review of the 2009 budget indicates there are an equal number of police personnel today as there were when I retired in November of 2002.


Having worked with Joy Cooper for several years, I know she shoots from the hip using a shotgun approach, and then tries to justify her false statements. Typically, her justifications are generic and without supporting documentation. In the same article noted above, she wrote "According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in the United States, 200,000 people are injured and 900 people are killed each year in motor vehicle collisions resulting from a motor vehicle driver violating a red light-traffic signal…The violation of red light traffic signals is the number one cause of urban motor vehicle collisions. The installation and use of red light cameras have proven to reduce intersection collisions by 40 percent." Joy Coopers cries http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/apr/04/joy-cooper-florida-lives-depend-on-red-light/ for the community to support red light cameras


Joy Cooper has a fondness for the dramatic, and for the misuse of facts. So I undertook my own investigation to validate her statements and determine the truth regarding the use of red light cameras.


For example, I located many of the same Insurance Institute for Highway Safety statistics used by Mayor Cooper. But I could not locate any other website or study that illustrated the positive aspects of red light cameras. Instead, a considerable amount of research concludes that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is providing self-serving statistics, provided exclusively by consultants they hired.


One major study conducted by the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health concluded red light cameras were ineffective and not living up to their intended purpose. Lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of Health Policy and Management noted: “The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work." You can read and learn more at the University of South Florida website for the Department of Health Policy and Management.


The study also notes a 2001 report by the majority leader for the United States House of Representatives. That study reported that red-light cameras are "a hidden tax levied on motorists." As of this date, six U.S. cities have been found guilty of shortening the yellow light cycle below uniform standard traffic engineering principles, and even in some cases State law. These cities include Lubbock Texas; Nashville and Chattanooga Tennessee; Union City California; Dallas Texas; and Springfield Missouri.


In Union City California, officials were found to trap motorists with a yellow signal time 1.3 seconds below the minimum established by State law. The city was ordered to refund more than $1 million in fines previously issued to motorists.


In California, the State auditor concluded that 77% of all citations were issued when the light was red for less than one second. Due to the reduced yellow signal time, these motorists were faced with either running the red light or slamming on the brakes. Those that chose to brake often stopped past the double line, therefore were technically in violation. In many cases the vehicles ended in the middle of the intersection or in the pathway of crossing traffic.


In Lubbock Texas, the statistics regarding an increase in traffic accidents at red light camera intersections is horrifying. Rear end collisions nearly doubled at 12 intersections where red light cameras were installed. The total number of accidents increased by 50%. One local television station, KCBD in Lubbock, documented short yellow cycle times below the minimum required by law, most likely causing the increased accident rate.


In Nashville Tennessee, many question the motive for initially installing the red light cameras. Justin Owen, president for the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, wrote "…on the whole, they create a lot of problems." Owen continued that there are other methods to reduce the accident rate at intersections including increasing the yellow light cycle "…by one or one and one half seconds." The increased yellow cycle provides additional time for the driver to make a more informed decision. This comment is supported on numerous occasions in my review of the literature where traffic experts have stated that reconfiguration of the intersection and enhanced yellow cycle times decrease accident rates more than the installation of red light cameras. 


A 2008 University of South Florida report found "Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them.... public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety."   Study Summary  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/22/2267.asp


                 The complete
 

   

Criminal Conspiracy: Redflex, ATS, and Anytown USA

Presentations

http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/criminal-conspiracy-redflex-americantrafficsolution/

Criminal Conspiracy: Redflex, ATS, and Anytown USA
 

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington

OPINION  – You own a car. One evening, while enjoying your private property, a series of sensors and cameras detect your movement and computationally decide that you are exceeding the speed limit. A for-profit corporation receives high-resolution images of the alleged “violation,” which then forwards the allegations to another series of for-profit corporations.

Municipal corporations have a budget and, lets face it, payroll is a bitch for any corporation. Instead of a co-op where residents are viewed as equal shareholders in their community, they are instead viewed as revenue machines ready for milking. The true shareholders in these muni corporations are the usual suspects: investment banks like Goldman Sachs (which also owns American Traffic Solutions and Geico) and Macquarie which just gobbled up Redflex.

Yes, big banks, the photo firms, and Anytown U.S.A. have a lot of things in common: They care about money, power, and control.

Lets not forget that a “traffic ticket” in any form goes well beyond the scope of a tax. It is a lawsuit directed at you on behalf of a carefully-vested collective of public and private entities that survive only on their ability to take by force the property of others. This collective includes the very elected officials that are supposed to represent the people and protect their private property: city and town judges, the town prosecutor, police officers etc.

In grade school, this is called stealing. In muni law, it’s considered “revenue enhancement” and your immediate, unquestioning compliance is not requested but demanded. The endgame to this bastardization of law is obvious: corpgov sanctioned theft http://www.infowars.com/unpaid-tickets-from-traffic-cameras-could-cost-drivers-their-ride/:

If you’ve got one of the 15,000 traffic camera tickets the city says remain unpaid, you might want to keep an eye on your car. Police will begin seizing or putting boots on vehicles whose owners have unpaid tickets from the five Redflex Traffic Systems cameras around town, the Las Cruces Police Department announced Tuesday. LCPD Police Chief Richard Williams wasn’t available to comment on the new enforcement action, but LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo pointed out that nothing about the ordinance itself was new.

“Fighting” photo enforcement by trying to change out the politicians who allowed it to happen is like voting for a new board of directors at McDonalds because of a lousy drive-thru cheeseburger. A better solution is to immediately stop patronizing the corporations (City of Scottsdale, City of Mesa, City of Phoenix) and their hired thugs (corrupt police officers, judges, prosecutors).

In Arizona, the advice used to be “careful driving down to Mexico, the corrupt police there will seize your car on a whim.”

In 2011, we can revise the sentiment: “careful driving across town, the corrupt police will seize your car at the command of a private corporation.

—–

Editor’s Note: Received via email, 5/4/2011.
 

   

Public Announcement: Murrieta, CA and South Euclid, OH BAN TRAFFIC CAMERA PETITION locations.

Presentations

Public Announcement:  Murrieta, CA and South Euclid, OH BAN TRAFFIC CAMERA PETITION locations.

If you are residents in those towns and WANT TO DECIDE YOURSELF ON THE SCAMERAS!  GO OUT AND SIGN THE PETITION!!!!!!!!

(IF you already have, THANKS FOR DOING YOUR CIVIC DUTY!)

Information for Murrieta, CA:

No More Red Light Cameras In Murrieta, CA.
We will be at Stater Brothers on Las Alamos and Hancock on Wed, Thurs and Sat This week!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-More-Red-Light-Cameras-In-Murrieta/193200770692432


Information for South Euclid, OH: 

http://www.sebanthecams.com/

The next signature gathering event will be Sunday May 1st, 2011 from noon to 5pm in the city parking lot behind McDonald's off of Rushton Rd. Go here for details and a map.  http://www.sebanthecams.com/events.html


BAN THE CAMS NOTE:  If you are planning a petition drive or protest in your town, please let us know and we will be happy to spread the news!
 

   

NMA: Learning To Wear A Paper Bag

Presentations

http://blog.motorists.org/learning-to-wear-a-paper-bag/

Learning To Wear A Paper Bag
Posted on April 12th, 2011 in James Baxter, Real ID

By James Baxter, NMA Presiden

Apparently, wearing a paper bag, or some other disguise, is the only way drivers and passengers will be able to maintain their anonymity, and a little privacy, as they cruise the roadways of America. At least that’s what is in store for us as “Real ID” reaches full bloom, and the states move forward on implementation.

Florida, one of the early adopters of Real ID requirements, is on the cusp of implementing a full blown 24-7 universal government operated surveillance system that will monitor and track any person who ventures beyond the confines of their residence. I hasten to add that there are no public initiatives, at this time, to place surveillance devices in private homes. Before that would be attempted it will be necessary for the public to become accustomed to cameras on most roadways and intersections, unfortunately, a process that is well underway.

The heart of the Florida program, the key building block, is the digital image of faces currently applied to drivers licenses and state I.D. cards. Cameras, stationary and mobile, capture the faces of drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and any other target of interest and those images are immediately passed to a central database that identifies the person, and gathers all recorded information on that person (e.g. Social Security number, criminal record, civil court activity, licenses, permits, registrations, and any other information accumulated by public agencies). This entire task can be completed and the information relayed back to curious public servants, and private contractors, in a claimed 0.04 seconds.

It’s hard to believe that this can be done so quickly, when it can take weeks or months for the same public agencies to respond to a citizen request for public information?

Right now, it appears the only defenses against this kind surveillance and monitoring, are the foregoing of licenses and I.D. cards, extremely impractical, always wearing a paper bag or mask when in public, again not very practical, or perhaps, just perhaps, telling our elected representatives that we don’t want to live under this kind of Orwellian regime.

   

Hay: Arnold's Red-Light Cameras Violate State Law

Presentations

http://arnold.patch.com/articles/hay-arnolds-red-light-cameras-violate-state-law

Hay: Arnold's Red-Light Cameras Violate State Law
   
Former councilman and founder of an anti-red-light camera system website says Arnold ordinance does not report violators to Department of Revenue.
By Frank Johnson | Email the author | March 21, 2011

Matt Hay, founder of an anti-red-light-camera website and former Arnold councilman, said the city overstated the safety impact of its red-light system, and the system violates Missouri law.


Members of the Constitution Party in Arnold invited Hay to speak at the group’s March 16 meeting at the Jefferson Public Library’s Arnold Branch. Hay served as a councilman from 2007 to 2009 and manages wrongonred.com.


March 8, at a separate City Hall forum, city officials and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) spokesmen said the cameras have made intersections safer and provided Arnold Police Department data showing a decline in severe accidents at intersections with the camera systems.


ATS is the Arizona-based company that installed and manages the camera systems in Arnold.


At the party meeting, Hay said severe accidents are rare at those intersections and statistical changes were insignificant. The number of wrecks, a larger set of figures, increased, he said.
Hay and the City of Arnold used different data sets for analysis. The city used data collected by its police department. Hay used data from a Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) study that evaluated information at 55 Missouri intersections with red-light cameras. A MoDOT press release said the study measured three types of car wreck data--total crashes, severe crashes and right-angle severe crashes.


The city’s data showed a decline—to 4.8, from 2006 to 2010, from 12.3 in 2002-2004—in the yearly average of injury wrecks inside Arnold intersections with the camera systems, according to a St. Louis Suburban Journals article. MoDOT data showed an increase to nine wrecks in 2009 from six incidents in 2006.
The state agency reported that severe crashes decreased by 45 percent, while total accidents increased 14 percent.


Arnold Police Chief Robert Shockey said the numbers for Arnold were wrong because MoDOT counted wrecks 133 feet from the intersections. Arnold police counted wrecks within 50 feet of the intersection.


Hay said he obtained the MoDOT study and it showed that the decrease represented a net change of three accidents.
It is difficult to know whether the cameras had an impact statewide, Hay said.


Lillian Knibb, a 20-year resident of Arnold , agreed with Hay and said the cameras were more about raising revenues than improving safety.
“I was just totally appalled by this. It is just all about the almighty dollar,” Knibb said.


Read more: Hay: Arnold's Red-Light Cameras Violate State Law

   

Publisher: Who Cares What the Law Says? Government Can Do as It Pleases!

Presentations

http://bigjournalism.com/jburns/2011/03/08/publisher-who-cares-what-the-law-says-government-can-do-as-it-pleases/

 Publisher: Who Cares What the Law Says? Government Can Do as It Pleases!

Posted by Jonathon Burns Mar 8th 2011 at 4:58 am in Featured Story, Justice/Legal

Missouri Publisher of the Columbia Tribune Henry J. Waters the Third is incensed and frustrated .http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/mar/02/red-light-cameras/ Missouri legislators like Senator Jim Lembke and Representative Paul Wieland, and tea parties throughout the state are opposing red light cameras because they deprive citizens of their due process rights and circumvent state statute as well.

For example, one of the main problem with red light camera ordinances is that they illegally re-classify running a red light as a NON-moving violation, so they can treat the issue like a parking ticket. This allows an assumption that the driver and owner are the same, thereby switching the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant. In many municipalities, running a red light is designated as “parking in the middle of an intersection,” in order to avoid the fairness of a criminal trial and more easily extract funds from defendants. There are a host of other issues, too, such as the manner in which the violations are served. Short story is the municipalities are committing mail fraud and extortion.

Henry J. Waters the Third’s response? Who cares what the law says! Trashing due process rights is a more expedient means of law enforcement.

“Sen. Jim Lembke leads a fight in the Missouri Senate over the constitutionality of red-light cameras, alleging everything from mail fraud to racketeering to lack of due process to violation of the state Hancock Amendment…

Why make this so hard? … Levying fines against vehicle owners instead of struggling with driver ID would probably constitute even better enforcement because violations could be more quickly, accurately and universally charged.

Red-light cameras work. Identifying drivers is not necessary. The General Assembly could rationalize the use and enforcement of red-light cameras by making violations something other than “moving.” If “non-moving” offends their sense of semantic tidiness, let lawmakers make up a new word. Semantics is not the issue. Easy, proper use of the cameras is.”

In other words, to hell with the Constitution, cameras are efficient. What me worry?

El Comandante Che Guevara

Well, for Comandante Henry J. Waters the Third, and the rest of the military juntas out there, the law is simply a toy of the ruling class – corrupt entities, politicians and agents.

That’s all fine and good for hell-holes like Venezuela, but in America, we have laws for a reason. Corrupt local governments enjoy no legitimate ability to contravene the Constitution and state law, or to extort money from the public. Every last one of them that does, however,  should be made to feel the full wrath of the law, along with their camera company co-conspirators, such as American Traffic Solutions.

If the red light camera racket was strictly a private one, the FBI and a dozen arms of the federal government would crush the wrongdoers like a wormy apple. But, because the gangers tactics are given the legitimacy of a municipal seal of approval, various departments are willing to look the other way. Well, friends, we can call BS on that. What’s good enough for Gotti is good enough for Government. That’s one sacred cow that’s ready for the slaughterhouse.

Well, it won’t be long before a barrage of civil suits hits the offending municipalities and businesses. As they sow, so shall they reap. I highly encourage enterprising attorneys to investigate – not just in Missouri, but nationwide. Remember, firms like American Traffic Solutions have a very large national presence.

But, I digress.

The real question is, why are so many Establishment Media outlets so willing to dismantle the law to accomplish agendas? There is a clear pattern, and breaking the rules is always acceptable if it means getting what they want. This episode merely captures the zeitgeist of the industry.

Thus concludes the article.

(SPECIAL BONUS for Big Journalism Fans! A poem related to this article, written by the author, below.)

Intro: Petty tyrants and uppity publishers like Comandante Henry J. Waters the Third ask, “Who cares about the law?” In response, I have composed a poem entitled, “No One Cares About the Punta of the Junta,” or alternately, “The Punta is Lost Upon the Junta.”

“Comandante Henry J. Waters the Third

Loudly shouted but wasn’t heard

‘The law doesn’t matter! Who cares how it’s read!?!’

And he pouted and shouted; veins popped in his head.

For the laws in Missouri were not on his side

So he basked in his ignorance and the lobbyist’s lies.

He devoured every talking-point, munched every word

And they sank in the belly ‘O Comandante Waters the Third.

He had misjudged the public, he mistook them for fools

After all, who but a peasant, plays by the rules?

Camera companies sure didn’t, nor did municipal boards

Delighting Comandante Henry Waters the Third.

But the people were wise, their money’d been took’d!

By corrupt public thieves. The rascals! The crooks!

Camera companies were bad too, yet their wrong was ‘sherd’ (shared)

By the likes of Comandante Henry Waters the Third.

So he pouted and shouted, and veins popped in his head.

But the people knew he was wrong. No one cared what he said.

The cameras would end, the public’s welfare, bett-er’d

Poor chagrined Comandante, Henry J. Waters the Third.”

 

   

How to Fight the Red Light Camera Tickets in Florida

Presentations

Below is an email exchange beween a visiter, BanTheCams, The Ticket Doctor and the National Motorists Association.

I am writing to you to ask if you have some samples of affidavit for defense in
the Right-turn-on-red situation and not clear picture of the license plate.


I live in Sunny Isles Beach, FL. I just received a Notice of Violation
for making a right turn on the red light. I want to fight this myself,
by going to the court. The basis for my defense:

1) The picture of the license plate shows that the number is smudged: of
the 6 digits, the fourth is not legible and the last 2 are smudged.

Read more: How to Fight the Red Light Camera Tickets in Florida

   

Red Light Cameras: About Saving Lives or Increasing Revenue?

Presentations

http://commack.patch.com/articles/red-light-cameras-about-saving-lives-or-increasing-revenue

Confessions of A Commack Twentysomething

By Amanda Walsh

Red Light Cameras: About Saving Lives or Increasing Revenue?

Red light cameras are now a staple to the Commack area. Find out where these cameras are located in Suffolk County so you can avoid them and their fee.
 

 Many of you may have noticed that red light cameras have popped up all over Commack and the rest of Long Island.  Several of you may have even received your very own complimentary photograph in the mail of you driving through said red light… accompanied by a not-so-welcome ticket for $50.


Both Nassau and Suffolk counties got the approval from the state in 2009 to install red light cameras at their 50 most dangerous intersections after a real battle over the bills in the NYS Legislature.  But the placement of some of these cameras, and their knack for catching drivers who do not come to a full-and-complete stop before making a legal right on red make me wonder: are these red light cameras really about saving innocent lives or increasing revenue at the cost of taxpayers? 

 

Read more: Red Light Cameras: About Saving Lives or Increasing Revenue?

   

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