Red Light Camera Revenue Cost the City (Austin, Arlington: how much, home)

[Marty Brewer]

3-13-09 My spouse & I drove to Port Lavaca to purchase 80 acres of land just outside of the city. It was a misty day. We were driving on Hwy 35. When almost to the intersection, the light changed. I tapped my brakes and determined I might loose control of the vehicle if I tried to stop for the light. I observed that there was no danger to go throjugh the light and did so. I knew I did the right thing but was aware that it is something you don't want to do if there is a better choice. I commented to my spouse at the time. that was a bad situation.

We saw the land and headed home Sunday. When we got home, we found a redlight camera ticket in the mail. We paid it, but it shows what greedy city fathers rule in Port Lavaca. We have since decided not to buy there or move our business there based on the city fathers decision to take money from the public in such a poor fashion .

It is a nice city in a number of ways, but the city is only as good as it's policies.

I did read in detail about the motivation behind the cities who choose to install these citation systems. It's nothing but lots of money. As long as Port Lavaca chooses to fleece the public, I will not invest there. We have decided to buy in Palacios instead.

[love roses]

Then don't travel through Williamson County if you happen to tour Central Texas, because we have them too. And careful of traveling in Denver. They're there too.

[catman]

They are all over the place. Ft Worth has some. I usually try to find a route around them. I hate them!

[portyhead24]

They are ALL over Arlington and I mean saturated, nearly every major intersection has them. Gotta pay for that stadium I guess.

[Canine*Castle]

Albeit the OP may not have abused her driving privileges, many do. Hooray for the red light camera all over Texas!!! I would think it less expensive than hiring more law enforcement people for traffic control, et al.

[TexasNick]

I've always wondered exactly how much time do you have when it turns red before you are actually ticketed? I went through a red light once by mistake from doing something I will never ever do again: talking on the cell phone while driving. I didn't get a ticket.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

I've always wondered exactly how much time do you have when it turns red before you are actually ticketed? I went through a red light once by mistake from doing something I will never ever do again: talking on the cell phone while driving. I didn't get a ticket.

More importantly, you didn't have an accident.

[Westerner92]

There was a big ordeal about red light cameras here in Lubbock last year. They claimed putting them up was for the safety of the public, but before they were even put up, the city incorporated the revenues from tickets into the next year's budget. They put cameras at a few intersections (which happened to be the busiest in town) to see how much "safety would be enforced". It turned out that there was an increase in rear end accidents because drivers were slamming on their brakes to avoid running the red light. They were turned off the next day after that study came out and taken down very soon after.

[Trainwreck20]

They are up several places in Austin, mostly intersections notorious for red light running. The lights were up as a 'study', not sure if they are/were writing tickets, but they apparently resulted in a significant reduction in running of red lights simply by their existence.

Anyway, to paraphrase, you have to stop when the light turns yellow, if you can do so safely. Wet conditions and possible tailgaters/speeders behind you can be cause for contesting a ticket. Speeding CANNOT be used as a defense that you could not stop safely .

[Jezer]

Why did the light change?

Traffic waiting to go across?

Then you should have been prepared to slow down and stop.