I don't seem to have any problems stopping at yellow lights. Can someone explain to me why it's so difficult?

 

It's very simple to explain... Let's say you're approaching a crowded intersection on a street that has a posted speed limit of 35 mph. You have another car following 6 ft. behind you at the same speed. The intersection is 70 ft across. The yellow light is set for 3.5 seconds before it turns red.

You are 30 ft. from the intersection when the light turns yellow.

Got the scenario ?

Your only chance of stopping at the "LINE" is by slamming on the brakes. Not a good idea, since there's somebody behind you. (AGREE ?)

The responsible driver would normally slow a bit while going through an intersection, especially one that is busy. (AGREE ?)

Your only chance of clearing the intersection on the other side before the light turns red is by increasing your speed by 8.5 mph (AGREED ?)

If you maintain the posted speed limit and proceed through the intersection you will get 7/10ths through the intersection before the light turns red and will not activate the camera.

Now, if the local municipality decides to shorten the yellow light to 3 seconds and you repeat the same exercise, you will be in a part of the intersection that NOW activates the camera and you've just gotten yourself a fine for $285.

Got the PICTURE ? No pun intended !!!

I look at it like Las Vegas Blackjack, I'm the casino and I want to make sure I increase my odds of taking your money, so I use seven decks of cards to lessen your chance of winning and increase my chance of taking your money. So, If I was making money from giving you a ticket for "TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS" without using police officers to get the job done !!! (GET THE PICTURE ?)

Worse yet, Now I offer the company who installs and maintains the traffic cameras a percentage of the revenue that I generate from the traffic camera fines... This was the case in San Diego CA and West Los Angeles...


Trust me, I'm no liberal and have some sympathy with the state of finances of local municipalities, but this is STRONG ARMED ROBBERY.

 

I got my running on red light ticket last year Christmas time. It was still green when I made a left turn then it turned yellow then red. I was stuck in the middle of the intersection because the cars ahead of me are slow and making right turns toward the restaurant and mall. But the cop needs my contribution..so he gave me a ticket!

 

HDDP is correct lights are timed differently. And where I live in Ventura, I recently stopped on a yellow, I was almost creamed and DEAD Right from the speeding Bit*h behind me. She missed me and actually drove thru the yellow in the right lane! Lucky for me no one was in that lane!!! She also speed up!!! I have never had a red light ticket in over a million miles.

 

OH and I haven't had an accident MY fault ever!!!

 

I have... LOL

I was 17 years old driving down PCH in my Triumph GT6+ near Zuma Beach... There were a dozen little hotties in bikinis walking along the side of the road going into the beach access. I was too mesmerized by the little bouncing as*es that I didn't notice that the traffic stopped in font of me... BANG !!!

That was 31 years ago...

 

I was stopped by State police when I was 17, going 70 in a 55 in my family's van, with my family in it, and got a warning of not having proof of insurance (my dad's vehicle). Took proof to a station at home and it was fine. Never even got stopped by another cop since!!!

That was 31 years ago...
LOL!

 

lucky you!!!

 

I like the way these threads kind of take a life of their own... Now we're giving our 1st ticket or accident history... LOL

BLAME IT ON DAN... LOL

 

That's called FREE entertainment !!!

 

Try livin in DC where there are speed cameras too...it's a pain but you need to learn where they are and adjust your driving accordingly. Virginia stopped using red light cameras because they learned that there was a increase of accidents at red light cameras because of people slamming on their brakes so they don't catch the light and the folks rear ending them. Fighting is worthless, it isn't worth the extra court fee to go and fight it because there are only two ways to get out. One the camera isn't working right. To prove that you need to hire a 'specialist' to go test the cameras and see if it is malfunctioning...that will cost more than the ticket. The other way to get out is if there was an emergency vehicle coming and you needed to get out of the way...the kicker is that the emergency vehicle has to be in the picture for you to get out of it... And not that I am defending the cameras because I hate them, but the way they work is that they have installed plates in the white lines before the intersection...and if you drive over them as the light is turning red the camera goes off...so there is no way you are in the middle of the intersection, the light turns red and you get caught...it doesn't work that way...it isn't run by motion sensors...you have to be really running the red light for it to go off...unless of course it is malfunctioning which could always be the case. As for changing the timing of the yellow light that was common place in DC until they removed the 'commission' based contracts where the companies got a % of the fines. Once they became a straight $$$ amount contract somehow the cameras became magically timed correctly.

Oh and one more thing. You won't get any points on your license...at least in MD,VA (before the camera were shut off), DC and Delaware you won't. I can't vouch for CA or anywhere else. It's just a flat fine.

One more thing...promise. I tried that whole pay the fine a dollar extra and then don't cash the refund for a speeding ticket. They just cashed my check and never sent me a refund at all...jerks.

 

I agree... Just abide by the rules... Or take your license plates off if you plan on running intersections with cameras...

 

How about using photoblocker: www.photoblocker.com ? You just spray it and it will put a glare (overexposure) in your license plate when a flash is used.

There's some good news link and reviews in this product.

 

You're evil Cyril... I like that...

 

Well this is a deep subject!!! haha. The studies performed at these camera lights show more rear end accidents and no way are they proven they make people safer!!! The one thing that does make intersections safer is, and less red light runners is, adding just 1 SECOND to the yellow lights time!!! This alone reduced red light tickets over 90%!!! Dahhh why didn't I think of that.

 

I'll do my own experiment in this matter also and we'll just hope that the cops won't use a polarizer to remove glares in their photos! Haha...or play photoshop with it!

 

why not just affix a sign in the back window that reads "FUNERAL"? should help you beat most red light tickets. might be a little more difficult to explain if you get one at night.

 

polywave,

makes me think of the movie Starman, with Jeff Bridges. The woman passenger asked if he knew what the colors of the lights meant after he "learned" to drive watching her ... he replied ... "Green means go, red means stop, and yellow means drive like hell."

 

LOL...that's classic. Here's another...two guys driving down the road late at night, the come up on a red light, but the driver blows right through. His passenger says "are you nuts? You just went through the light!" Driver says, that's what my brother taught me to do!" They come to another red light, and he does the same thing!. At the next intersection, they come up on a green light and the driver slams on the breaks and stops completely. Passenger "What are you doing now, its green?" Driver "yeah, I know, but my brother might be coming!"

I've had this discussion with quite a few folks regarding what to do at yellow lights. I know that here on the east coast (DC to Boston) if you stop at a yellow you are definitely risking a minor bump in the back, a really pissed off line of traffic behind you, or worse. My colleagues on the west coast often remark about "why I don't stop on yellow". I've tried to explain, but they think its nuts not to stop. I guess there's a different attitude coast to coast (true or not true?). I will say, that my wife is a good driver but she's taken up this stopping on yellow after 2 camera tickets (both times due to following trucks - couldn't see the light), and it makes me nervous as hell stopping like that here in the DC area.

 

Last month we had a conference in Portland Maine, and a bunch of people came in from the midwest. All of them commented on how many people ran red lights - not even just blowing through at the last minute, but really running the red light. It happens at almost every intersection in Connecticut - ALL THE TIME! I wish we had the damn cameras here! I welcome them.

Just last week I was driving about 30 in a school zone (25 mph limit) and an idiot in a Range Rover was RIDINGMYAS*. When I stopped at the yellow light she flew into the oncoming lane and floored it through the intersection. I'm sorry - that idiot shouldn't be allowed on the road... and she had a kid in the car...