Balcones Heights rakes in $600k in red light cameras (San Antonio: college, maintenance)

[RGJ]

They have issued tens of thousands of camera red light tickets. And, the company that installed them has made over 1 million..Where do I sign up for this kind of business?

[sapphire]

They haven't gotten one cent from me.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by RGJ

They have issued tens of thousands of camera red light tickets. And, the company that installed them has made over 1 million..Where do I sign up for this kind of business?

I guess wherever people are that think that traffic laws don't apply to them! LOL

20yrsinBranson

[elmariachi]

I'm glad they are catching those damned red light runners, nothing annoys me more than people who break simple traffic laws. I wish those cameras where all over San Antonio. I'm not saying that I am perfect, i occasionally roll through a stop when no one is around or go 5-10 miles over the speed limit if I feel it necessary in order to keep up with the traffic. However, I am fully prepared to pay my debt to society if caught.

[SATX56]

Well !!! Wonderland or Crossroads ain't cutting the tax mustard these days!! They had to do something to stave off property taxes!! It would be horrible if Balcone Heights residents had to finally pay fair property taxes!!

[RGJ]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

I'm glad they are catching those damned red light runners, nothing annoys me more than people who break simple traffic laws. I wish those cameras where all over San Antonio. I'm not saying that I am perfect, i occasionally roll through a stop when no one is around or go 5-10 miles over the speed limit if I feel it necessary in order to keep up with the traffic. However, I am fully prepared to pay my debt to society if caught.

I don't understand your comments. First, you say catch all those red light runners and then you say "I occasionally roll through a stop sign when no one is around". And you finish by saying you are prepared to pay your debt if caught. I thought the main purpose of the cameras was to promote safety and not bring in revenue. That being the case, your debt to society may not be in dollars, but in injuring or killing someone.

[majormadmax]

Two years ago in Minnesota, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision striking down the legality of red light cameras (source). There has also been numerous lawsuits where cities used illegally short yellow lights in conjunction with the cameras.

But running red lights is a serious problem, in 2004 the Texas Transportation Institute did an excellent study on it and the report can be found here (1.3mb PDF format file). During the first year, the researchers determined that about 37,700 red-light-related crashes occur each year in Texas. Of this number, 121 crashes are fatal. These crashes have a societal cost to Texans of about $2.0 billion dollars annually.

The report also found that overt officer enforcement was considerably more effective than the covert cameras, which drives the argument that the latter are specifically for revenue generation...

[spursfan]

I guess it's inevitable that this turns into a red light camera opinion throwdown. If anyone is interested, the freaking things got voted out of college station a few weeks ago. It was quite exciting.

[johnsonkk]

It's been documented that red light cameras reduced fatalities but they increase fender benders. Even when the cameras have been in place for a while, drivers tend to stop suddenly which creates an accident that wouldn't have occured before.

There is additional documentation that the yellow lights are reduced in duration in order to catch more red light runners.

As for revenue building, Texas has set limits on the amount of the fine. Between the maintenance costs, fees that the compay charges, and the local police departments additional labor costs, the city is not making money. Bac.Heights has their deputy sheriff spend an entire afternoon EACH week to handle complaints. I've talked with surrounding (small city) councilmen that have sat in the "industry marketing pitch" and with the lowered Texas limit on fines, every other nearby city is voting them down.

Remember that there are only 4 cameras in BH. Just avoid the city if you don't want to take a chance. http://www.photoenforced.com/texas.html

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by johnsonkk

It's been documented that red light cameras reduced fatalities but they increase fender benders. Even when the cameras have been in place for a while, drivers tend to stop suddenly which creates an accident that wouldn't have occured before.

There is additional documentation that the yellow lights are reduced in duration in order to catch more red light runners.

As for revenue building, Texas has set limits on the amount of the fine. Between the maintenance costs, fees that the compay charges, and the local police departments additional labor costs, the city is not making money. Bac.Heights has their deputy sheriff spend an entire afternoon EACH week to handle complaints. I've talked with surrounding (small city) councilmen that have sat in the "industry marketing pitch" and with the lowered Texas limit on fines, every other nearby city is voting them down.

Remember that there are only 4 cameras in BH. Just avoid the city if you don't want to take a chance.

I have only seen one camera: Hillcrest/Fredricksburg. Where are the other three? I'd like to keep my eye out.