I don't know if it's statewide or just in Dallas, but red light cameras are gone after it was discovered that:jfv wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 8:36 am Red light cameras, while not the subject of this post, suck. They seem geared most towards catching folks failing to make a full and complete stop (which by my estimate needs to be at least a five-count) prior to the line (not at the line, and certainly not past the line) before attempting to make a right-turn-on-red. They have been the subject of and have lost numerous lawsuits, due to apparent corruption of authorities.
I’d also like to see statistics citing whether or not red light cameras actually make things safer. I know they have more or less contributed to rear-end accidents from people slamming on their brakes.
I guess the one good thing is that they do not discriminate. Well, unless you put one in a poor area of the city.
1. For whatever reason the program was fucked from jump, the camera tickets were like tolls. If you didn't pay, no one showed up at your door to haul you off or anything (which is good), but they'd report it to the credit bureaus (this is bad for people who can't afford to pay the fine.) It was a monetary punishment only, so the rich just pay someone to make it go away, and those who can't afford it are now poorer with a worse credit score. (I shouldn't have to explain that credit scores are not correlated with red light behaviors.) (also also, the way it was explained to me by a city council member is that this shit is farmed out so the city pays nothing, the contractor collects until their debt on equipment and install is satisfied, then they split the proceeds, including collections, which were run by the same company. It's a fucking grift like they all are.
2. It did not deter bad behaviors. No statistical changes in the like 10 or more years they were in effect.
3. Enough people sued that they just got rid of the program.
4. Now, people run reds here at a worse clip than before (anecdotal, but I'd wager $100 I'm right about it overall)
My opinion is that we should have road policing as a complete and separate entity from the rest of law enforcement. I don't want to add agencies, I just want to patrol the streets with human safety as the goal, and let real police - if we have to have them at all - take care of big shit like violent human crimes To date, no camera or policing programs seem to have done that.
It'd be a simple point system on your license, and the street police would be capable only of enforcing traffic laws with a video representation of the violation, then the points, and after so many points, you get to sit out 6 months from the driving public, then a year, etc.
Right now, you can have like 5 DWI's and still just get a blowstick installed on your ignition. We're not serious about safety here at all.