Red Light Cameras (Knoxville, Chattanooga, East Ridge: live, safe, car)

[TriDad]

anyway to configure this with Google Maps on my Blackberry?

[David37343]

Keep in mind that Red Bank uses a white van unit also. You'll see it mostly on Signal Mountain Rd. between Dayton Blvd and 27. but it also goes other places in RB too. It has a chrome attachment on top that's a dead giveaway.

My wife found out the hard way just how clear and sharp the photos on the S curves' cameras are! 51mph in a 40mph zone. I rountinely go through every day at about 47-48, since I believe the "trigger speed" is 50.

[Barking Spider]

We have had red light cameras in Knoxville for a while now. We have an intersection that was notorious for a string of cars going thru after the light turned red. I was almost nailed there several times by someone running a red light way after it turned red.

I have to say that the intersection now is much safer. There used to be wrecks there several times a week, and now there are very few, and very few cars blow thru after the light turns red.

The cameras do not give tickets to drivers that entered the intersection while it was yellow. ONLY when they have entered the intersection AFTER the light turns red. And last time I checked, it was against the law to do so.

When you get a ticket, there are usually 2 or 3 photos showing your car running the red light. If you go to court, they can show you the video clip of the sequence. MY daughter got two tickets and a friend went to court to fight one and found out about the video clips.

When you want to complain about cameras, be glad you don't live in England or China. There is a city in China that has over 200,000 cameras throughout the city - England as a rule has more.

[CircuitSorcerer]

Originally Posted by TriDad

anyway to configure this with Google Maps on my Blackberry?

Tridad:

I am unsure what format that Blackberry uses. I did list the possible formats I can convert the file into in a previous post. When I get time, I will google "blackberry navigation point of interest file". If you get a chance before me.. let me know the file format, and if possible I will convert for you, and email to you.

Question: Can you connect your BlackBerry to your PC and see the unit's file system ... say like a USB JumpDrive? That probably is the key, because you will need to cut and past the file once it is in the proper format. Sorry for being so ignorant on BlackBerry... I have never had the chance to play with one ... YET...

On another note: I have managed to devise a way to make a connector for the Garmin ETREX to PC, using the spindle edge-connector from an old IDE hard drive, and an old mouse cable (RS-232c).

What does this mean????????

You can connect your Garmin to your Laptop, and cruise down the highway, with Microsoft Mappoint (or software of your choice, I.E. Google Earth, etc), and use it as a BIG SCREEN Nav System. I also found a program called XPORT, that allows you to share the NEMA data on the serial port with other applications ... (Network Stumbler, etc) to maintain WiFi as you drive... it is pretty cool if you travel a lot, and want your location, as well as internet access from hotspots! (Price a ETREX cable... $60, what a ripoff).

WARNING... OFF TOPIC: Anyone here go GeoCaching? It might be fun to make a POI file for a few local Caches. Any takers that want to join on a Saturday? Moderators please forgive me, I felt the urge for a tangent ( As a very old man told me once: "My mind wandered, and I follered it!" )

Anyways, Ladies and Germs....

Take Care, and Best Wishes!
CircuitSorcerer

[CircuitSorcerer]

Originally Posted by David37343

Keep in mind that Red Bank uses a white van unit also. You'll see it mostly on Signal Mountain Rd. between Dayton Blvd and 27. but it also goes other places in RB too. It has a chrome attachment on top that's a dead giveaway.

My wife found out the hard way just how clear and sharp the photos on the S curves' cameras are! 51mph in a 40mph zone. I rountinely go through every day at about 47-48, since I believe the "trigger speed" is 50.

Man oh man, Once I am there I lock my speed at 40, and just give up. If I get nailed from the rear, then so be it. I did learn though that my speedometer register's 5mph too fast. I was driving a former police car from Grundy County (long story) who's speedometer is VERY accurately calibrated, and TomTom was in total agreement with the speedometer of the Crown Victoria, unlike in my car. I guess that is a blessing in disguise. DO NOT hold me to this, but I *might* be able to find out the "trigger" speed... checking into it.

Are the Vans they use in RB not the same ones that Chatt uses? Do you suppose it might be Hamilton County instead, or does RB actually own them?

CircuitSorcerer

[Katsmeeyow]

Wow!

[CircuitSorcerer]

Just a passing though, once again....

In my travels, as I notice "points of interest", I note them and pass them along, and log them (I.E. cameras).... But you know thinking of it in an expanded point of view... would it not be prudent to also include school zones? I know there are TONS of them in Hamilton County.. TONS.

If we had a POI file that you could set to warn you with a BLEEP just before you came upon one... THAT YOU DID NOT REALIZE WAS THERE.... would this not be a good thing too? Hey... slow down from the warning... maybe save a ticket... maybe save a LIFE??? Who knows. I am just throwing this one out there for debate. Y'all are free to pick it apart, good or bad. I realize that this is a "little" off topic, but really not if you think about it, it is a matter of time before they have cameras there too. They already have State Troopers riding on the buses, looking for crossing violations. Maybe, just maybe it will serve to make us all safer using technology! Comments?

CircuitSorcerer

[Photog]

Originally Posted by CircuitSorcerer

Email me at CircuitSorcerer {at} bellsouth {dot} net, and I will be glad to send you a copy of the file... I just added two new redlight cams that they snuck in on us... ALL are Chattanooga, Tennessee so far... any information on other cities with lat and long, would be appreciated, and I will gladly add your info to my (our) database!!!!!!

I'm heading up to Chattanooga from Florida in the next week or so to check out some real estate. I've been lurking here for a while, and came across this string yesterday.

Sent CircuitSorcerer an email at the addy he provided, shown above, and a few hours later he was kind enough to send me his Tom Tom overlay file, along with instructions on how to install it. The instructions are really, really simple.

If you know enough to be able to connect your Tom Tom to your computer so you can update it, etc, you can install this file. It is like falling off a log.

Once I've had a chance to try it out up in Chattanooga, I'll let you know how it worked out. Since I do not know my way around up there at all, this type of addition to my nav system is invaluable. Tough, too, to argue with FREE. I love free.

Thanks again, CircuitSorcerer.

[kderrick]

What bothers me is when I stop so that I don't get a ticket then the people behind me are honking! And when a friend used my car - I got the ticket. Said that she turned right on red without stopping. Now how did the camera know that?

Anyone know how to fight them when you aren't the driver?

[financelife]

I'm not sure I like the idea of the cameras and that was before I got a ticket in the mail! haha. I got caught speeding 46mph in a 40mph zone by the white van. And the funny thing is someone was telling me about the exact white van.

They showed a pic of my car with another car in front of me, so maybe we both got a ticket that day. I usually follow the speed of traffic and not the signs. Anyway, it was $50 which is not much to me, and they said it wouldn't affect my driving record.

So, yeah, it's all a scheme to raise revenue even though safety is touted as the reason. I'm not mad about it. But I was going about 46mph again the other day, at the same location and didn't realize it, and hit my breaks hard, the car behind me who was also going around 46-50 swerved around me. Hopefully I won't get another ticket in the mail. LOL