Red light camera, a good tool? or profit machine?

[shilala]

I'd situated firmly in the "I'd like to see them stick their cameras up their ass" corner.
Only because I'd like to retain the right whether I choose to be videotaped or not, public or private.
I don't even really care whether I'm videotaped or not. Doesn't matter.
Sit a cop on the corner and create a job, for crying out loud. He can sit there all day and raise his kids off the fines. That I can live with.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by shilala

I'd situated firmly in the "I'd like to see them stick their cameras up their ass" corner.
Only because I'd like to retain the right whether I choose to be videotaped or not, public or private.
I don't even really care whether I'm videotaped or not. Doesn't matter.
Sit a cop on the corner and create a job, for crying out loud. He can sit there all day and raise his kids off the fines. That I can live with.

Cops don't get any of the fine money, Scott, they get the same salary whether they write 100 tickets or zero tickets.

Phoenix has them on the Highways set to go off at 76 MPH, to tell you the truth I love them, now the need to have ones that can count how many you have in the car so they can ticket the people that use the car pool lane with only one person in the car.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Cops don't get any of the fine money, Scott, they get the same salary whether they write 100 tickets or zero tickets.

Yeah, I know. That's what pisses me off.
Get rid of the cameras and sit a cop on a lawn chair and we've created a job (paying his salary via tickets). I'd support that all day long and be happy to pay my fines.
We'll avoid doing anything like that though, cause it makes sense.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by shilala

Yeah, I know. That's what pisses me off.
Get rid of the cameras and sit a cop on a lawn chair and we've created a job (paying his salary via tickets). I'd support that all day long and be happy to pay my fines.

If I can smoke cigars in the lawn chair, I will take it for a retirement job in a warm climate.

[NCRadioMan]

They were here until they couldn't keep the money.


Charlotte, North Carolina Suspends Ticket Camera Program
Red light and speed cameras turned off in Charlotte, North Carolina in wake of court ruling.

The city of Charlotte, North Carolina yesterday suspended its red light camera and speed camera program in the wake of a May 16 state appeals court decision that ruled ninety percent of photo ticket proceeds had to be directed to the state school system, and not into the city's coffers and the pockets of a private vendor.

Charlotte had been paying Peek Traffic Inc. $35 out of every $50 red light citation to operate the cameras ($39 for speeding tickets). Under the court ruling, each ticket issued would cost the city $30-34. That is a price many North Carolina cities have already said they are unwilling to pay. Charlotte joins Greensboro, Greenville and High Point in shutting down their camera program.

Here is the ruling:

North Carolina Appeals Court Rules Against Red Light Cameras
Statewide Court of Appeals ruling could mean the end of red light cameras in North Carolina.

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.

High Point had argued that the Article IX, section 7 of the state constitution did not apply to red light camera tickets because they imposed a "penalty" not a "fine." Judge J. Douglas McCullough swept aside the word games, writing for the court, "the fact that the violation results in a civil penalty rather than a fine for an infraction is irrelevant if we are to observe the Supreme Court's admonition to consider 'the nature of the offense committed, and not in the method employed by the municipality to collect fines for commission of the offense.

[Da Klugs]

Love to see someone do a little research on when they decided to install them and quote the "safety justification".

It's all about the companies that sell and administer the actual determination to ticket as a service and their ability to sell the cities on this as a revenue producer.

Absent the revenue no one talks about safety.

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

They were here until they couldn't keep the money.


Charlotte, North Carolina Suspends Ticket Camera Program
Red light and speed cameras turned off in Charlotte, North Carolina in wake of court ruling.

The city of Charlotte, North Carolina yesterday suspended its red light camera and speed camera program in the wake of a May 16 state appeals court decision that ruled ninety percent of photo ticket proceeds had to be directed to the state school system, and not into the city's coffers and the pockets of a private vendor.

Charlotte had been paying Peek Traffic Inc. $35 out of every $50 red light citation to operate the cameras ($39 for speeding tickets). Under the court ruling, each ticket issued would cost the city $30-34. That is a price many North Carolina cities have already said they are unwilling to pay. Charlotte joins Greensboro, Greenville and High Point in shutting down their camera program.

Here is the ruling:

North Carolina Appeals Court Rules Against Red Light Cameras
Statewide Court of Appeals ruling could mean the end of red light cameras in North Carolina.

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.

High Point had argued that the Article IX, section 7 of the state constitution did not apply to red light camera tickets because they imposed a "penalty" not a "fine." Judge J. Douglas McCullough swept aside the word games, writing for the court, "the fact that the violation results in a civil penalty rather than a fine for an infraction is irrelevant if we are to observe the Supreme Court's admonition to consider 'the nature of the offense committed, and not in the method employed by the municipality to collect fines for commission of the offense.

UPDATE! They installed 4 cameras at 4 lights in Clarksville 1 month ago, and in one month, they photo'd a total of $20000.00 in fines.. It is on tv news here as the news pulled the FOIA on the city and got the totals