Watch Out for Red Light Camera Entrapment - Cities Shorten Yellow Lights
David M. Bresnahan
October 03, 2005
One city was caught, but how many more are guilty of the same thing – keeping the length of yellow lights short to increase revenues from read light cameras?
Millions of motorists have complained for years that they have received an automated red light camera ticket improperly. Now the evidence is strong that they are right.
Union City, Calif. has been forced to refund $1 million in fines improperly collected from a red light camera. The only reason over 3,000 people received fines was that the yellow light was so short that no one could stop in time to avoid a violation.
Worried drivers have been turning to PhotoBlocker (tm) spray as a form of self-defense, and who can blame them. They have been right about complaints of unfair tickets all along.
PhotoBlocker (tm) is a simple aerosol spray that when applied to a license plate does not in any way alter the appearance of the plate to the naked eye, but the flash picture from a red-light camera or speed camera makes the number on the plate unreadable. The company markets the product through dealers and at the company web site at www.PhotoBlocker.com.
Cash hungry cities know that shorter yellow lights produce higher numbers of tickets and more revenue. The temptation may be too great for city officials to avoid, and drivers are justified to use PhotoBlocker as defense against “red light abuse” by cities.
According to published reports, Union City turned on the red light camera in July, but was caught in September trapping motorists with a yellow signal time that was 1.3 seconds below the minimum required by state law. The city mailed out over 3,000 fines in less than three months.
Drivers have always complained that they received a ticket improperly, but proving the camera was at fault was next to impossible. Rather than lose time from work and pay legal fees to defend themselves in court, drivers have resorted to the use of PhotoBlocker spray on their license plates. And who can blame them. It is easy to use and it works.
Money was just rolling in, and Union City officials were patting themselves on the back until a city employee blew the whistle and forced them to give all the money back. It is estimated that increasing the length of the yellow light by 1.3 seconds will reduce the number of tickets generated by the Union City camera by 80 percent or more, and reduce the number of accidents by 40 percent.
A short yellow light forces drivers to decide between running the light and slamming on the brakes and risking a rear end collision. A study by the Texas Transportation Institute found that adding an extra second of yellow time can cut accidents by 40 percent or more.
Despite the fact that a longer yellow light can reduce more accidents at intersections, motorists all over the nation complain that “the yellow light changed too quickly.” Unfortunately, cities will not voluntarily lengthen yellow lights unless they are forced to do so.
People do not trust their elected officials, and when they hear of stories like this one in Union City they gain even more distrust. We will never know how many other cities are tweaking the times of the traffic lights to produce more revenue from traffic fines.
I put PhotoBlocker on my three cars, not because I want to run traffic lights, but because I am a law-abiding citizen who does not need the challenge of a unjustified traffic ticket.
Millions of motorists have complained for years that they have received an automated red light camera ticket improperly. Now the evidence is strong that they are right.
Union City, Calif. has been forced to refund $1 million in fines improperly collected from a red light camera. The only reason over 3,000 people received fines was that the yellow light was so short that no one could stop in time to avoid a violation.
Worried drivers have been turning to PhotoBlocker (tm) spray as a form of self-defense, and who can blame them. They have been right about complaints of unfair tickets all along.
PhotoBlocker (tm) is a simple aerosol spray that when applied to a license plate does not in any way alter the appearance of the plate to the naked eye, but the flash picture from a red-light camera or speed camera makes the number on the plate unreadable. The company markets the product through dealers and at the company web site at www.PhotoBlocker.com.
Cash hungry cities know that shorter yellow lights produce higher numbers of tickets and more revenue. The temptation may be too great for city officials to avoid, and drivers are justified to use PhotoBlocker as defense against “red light abuse” by cities.
According to published reports, Union City turned on the red light camera in July, but was caught in September trapping motorists with a yellow signal time that was 1.3 seconds below the minimum required by state law. The city mailed out over 3,000 fines in less than three months.
Drivers have always complained that they received a ticket improperly, but proving the camera was at fault was next to impossible. Rather than lose time from work and pay legal fees to defend themselves in court, drivers have resorted to the use of PhotoBlocker spray on their license plates. And who can blame them. It is easy to use and it works.
Money was just rolling in, and Union City officials were patting themselves on the back until a city employee blew the whistle and forced them to give all the money back. It is estimated that increasing the length of the yellow light by 1.3 seconds will reduce the number of tickets generated by the Union City camera by 80 percent or more, and reduce the number of accidents by 40 percent.
A short yellow light forces drivers to decide between running the light and slamming on the brakes and risking a rear end collision. A study by the Texas Transportation Institute found that adding an extra second of yellow time can cut accidents by 40 percent or more.
Despite the fact that a longer yellow light can reduce more accidents at intersections, motorists all over the nation complain that “the yellow light changed too quickly.” Unfortunately, cities will not voluntarily lengthen yellow lights unless they are forced to do so.
People do not trust their elected officials, and when they hear of stories like this one in Union City they gain even more distrust. We will never know how many other cities are tweaking the times of the traffic lights to produce more revenue from traffic fines.
I put PhotoBlocker on my three cars, not because I want to run traffic lights, but because I am a law-abiding citizen who does not need the challenge of a unjustified traffic ticket.
Print
Email
