Red light runners (Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette: trip , work, home)

[Caa]

Has anyone noticed how bad it is getting with people running red lights in Baton Rouge? I don't mean yellow and just turning red, I mean the light is RED and traffic keeps coming as if the light is still green. I was at the corner of Old Jefferson and Airline and 4 cars went through a blatent red light and not one person seemed to care. Is it me or is this the way it has been (esp since katrina)?

[SBCmetroguy]

I will run it if it's still yellow, but those who run it blatantly on red deserve to have the book thrown at them. That's just as bad as DWI in my opinion, because it DOES put people at risk.

It has always been bad like that at East Texas/Airline in Bossier but the problem has grown here as well. It's all over now, and I see it a lot in the Youree corridor in southeast Shreveport where 3-5 cars will pass through the light once it has changed. Downtown, though, is probably the worst. Downtown people just don't seem to care about traffic laws at all.

I'm probably the most impatient person I know, and even I can wait for the light if it's red. Geez. Seriously, we're all in a hurry to get nowhere. I can fully understand if it's a TRUE emergency, but I would venture to guess that in 99% of the cases there is no real emergency. People are just in a hurry to get to Wal-Mart or SuperTarget, or to stuff their faces somewhere.

[darylwi]

I've been driving around the country for a while now and I have to say that I believe it's a nationwide problem and it IS getting worse, everywhere. That's why so many areas are going to the red-light cameras now (don't know how much of a deterent they really are though). They are currently putting up several in BTR, mostly on the eastern side of the city.
I've gotten very accustomed to just waiting an extra second and looking both ways before I proceed on a green light. I had a guy fly past the red in front of me yesterday at North Blvd and N. 9th by the Methodist Church. People don't care as much anymore. They think you'll see them and you'll stop.

[CindyM]

Some people are in for a big surprise starting later this month when camera installation begins at some of the worst intersections. If you run a red light the camera takes a pic of your license plate and a ticket comes in the mail.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by CindyM

Some people are in for a big surprise starting later this month when camera installation begins at some of the worst intersections. If you run a red light the camera takes a pic of your license plate and a ticket comes in the mail.

Are you sure this is the type of camera they're installing? We have traffic cams at most of our major intersections in the cities, and we even have them way out here where I live, in a town that only has a handful of traffic lights. These cameras, however, control the flow and are not useful for ticketing. The camera has to be able to see your license plate to do that, but the way the state of Louisiana does their traffic flow cameras they simply can't see your license plates. Now maybe they're doing something different in Baton Rouge, but at least it's not the case in most of the state.

[darylwi]

Yeah, they're starting the red light camera program in BTR at the request/demand of the city-parish government. I think it will initially be a dozen or so cameras set up and they will snap pictures, front and behind. It is privately run (company) which has created a little bit of stir.
If it appears to work somewhat, I imagine they will expand the program further to include much of EBR. For now, it will be major intersections around Airline Hwy and I've noticed a lot in south east BR, like Jones Creek, Coursey.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by darylwi

Yeah, they're starting the red light camera program in BTR at the request/demand of the city-parish government. I think it will initially be a dozen or so cameras set up and they will snap pictures, front and behind. It is privately run (company) which has created a little bit of stir.
If it appears to work somewhat, I imagine they will expand the program further to include much of EBR. For now, it will be major intersections around Airline Hwy and I've noticed a lot in south east BR, like Jones Creek, Coursey.

Wow! This is quite different. I wonder, is this the same company that's doing the surveillance in Lafayette?

[darylwi]

American Traffic System. I had to look it up. Not sure about Lafayette, but we do have hundreds of traffic surveillance cameras all around the entire metro area, even small town areas on the west bank. Don't know how much good they really do though.
I do like the real-time freeway cams and message board signs we've added. Those were very much needed. Of course, sometimes no one is manning the message board signs when there really is a problem.

As for the system... it's $117 for the first offense, $167 for subsequent offenses within a year. And ATS gets 35% of the fines. They received permits through DOTD, but I don't know if there's going to be any other QA/QC by the city-parish government. I would hope there would be.

So be forewarned on your next trip to BTR.

[SBCmetroguy]

Yeah thanks for the warning. Holy crap. I'm a speeder... they would get me every time. My wife warned me today that there were THREE Shreveport city cops standing outside their cars at one of the southern gateways to downtown Shreveport, running radar. I've seen this before. They literally stand by their car or motorcycle and shoot the radar gun, then flag down speeders and write tickets at the intersection. Fricking quotas... At this same intersection, for years they used dummies dressed in police uniforms, sitting in police cars.

On the parkway down by the river, they often use a HUGE radar sign that tells your speed and tries to slow you down. I usually speed past those, but one of these days I know there might be a motorcycle cop sitting behind it, since it is a large sign. Got to be careful there, though, as there are often children and families. Once I reach Sci-Port and Riverview I tend to slow down.

as for the freeway cams and message boards, they finally added the boards here but no cams. Every day when I'm leaving the office I wish we had cams so I could take a peek at the I-20/I-49 interchange and consider another route. The only downside is that the loop takes just as long because of lane hogs. I thought I-20 and I-49 were bad roads for the amount of inconsiderate, left-land hogging fools... but when I sometimes hear of tie-ups on the traffic report I'll go down I-220/3132 and it amazes me just how many people will hog that left lane. It ends up being more stressful than sitting in traffic downtown, frankly.

And until they build a twin span to the Jimmie Davis Bridge in south Bossier or build I-69 (which, knowing Louisiana, might happen before the bridge expansion), I can't go home that way either. That WOULD be my best route. So don't feel left out, we have traffic woes as well, and like you guys we're stuck with a state government that doesn't fund its roads and freeways like our neighbor to the west. I swear every time I'm in Dallas or Houston, another freeway is being widened, rebuilt, or a new one constructed.

[darylwi]

Now talk about a marvel. Texas has some of the best freeways on earth. And several with HOV lanes and/or double decks.