PaulAdrian's Blog

I think it will be a temperary drop. Once people realize the light is staying yellow longer they will push going through it to the limit, just like they do now.

I’m not trying to be obstinate or argumentative, but have you or someone close to you accumulated a few of these red light camera tickets?

You seem to spend a lot of time on the subject.

Of course the number of red light violations is going to drop. People getting caught between a yellow light and a red light don’t get tickets, but when a driver follows that vehicle through the now red light, the second drive gets a ticket.

Sounds fair to me.

Extending the yellow light gives more time for people who would normally run the light to go through the intersection legally.

Making the yellow lights longer is enabling red right runners so they don’t have to stop at red lights like they are SUPPOSED TO DO BY LAW.

I agree Keller.

Running red lights is amazingly common around here. I guess people where I come from just respect the law and safety of others more than people down here are in some big whoop-to-do hurry.

…and I too wish the length of the yellow lights was a standard time. I’ve seen some petty short yellow lights.

They should all be the same length of time no matter.Why is there such a difference from one corner to the next? I hate pulling up to a red light where there's a camera, I'm automatically praying that it doesn't turn yellow on me lol.I was in Frisco recently and holy smokes,they have camera's on just about evryone in that town(was glad to get out of there).Mind you, I have never ran a red light and actually have a perfect driving record(yay for me)but those cameras do make me uneasy.

Money always matters to the cities. They could all extend it a full second and none would be the harm save for the city coffers. Bet you won't see that happening anytime soon!

LOL....sorry...just realized I called my husband a "she"...sorry Honey! lol

Whatever the timing, I'd hope they were uniform. All we need now is to have to guess which lights are shorter than others.

Paul Adrian,
Thank you for your time and effort put into this investigative report!

I glanced at the TV last night and recognized this intersection on the news. After tuning in I realized it was the intersection my vehicle was ticketed for in August of 2007 as well. I received TWO tickets – August 2nd and August 13th.

This past summer I loaned my vehicle to a family very dear to my husband and I. They were in need of a vehicle and I offered my vehicle to help their situation. The husband works and the wife stays home with their four children. He works for James Robinson Ministries which is located right down the road from the intersection in question. I received the first citation in the mail and realized it was my vehicle but I do not drive in that area and had to call my friend. He was humiliated that my vehicle was ticketed. He said the same thing Mr. Bullock said – the yellow light was real short. In less than a week I received the second citation. I thought it was a reminder to pay the first ticket until I logged onto the website to view and there were two citation numbers! Again, my friend was humiliated and embarrassed. He travels a completely different route now for work because of this light. I was going to protest the tickets after viewing the video online but chose to pay them instead because of the hassle.

If my citations were reviewed I’m sure you would see on the video, like Mr. Endsley and Mr. Bullock, that the light was 3 seconds and not the 3.5 or 3.6 seconds that Police Chief Barbara Childress contends.

Shame on the city of Richla

The point is you are PRESUMED guilty. When the cameras are abused, or make a mistake (one camera company had malfunctioning cameras tickets thousands they refused to refund), you are stuck and have to pay even though you DID NOTHING WRONG.

Garland, Texas also got nailed creating an "invisible stop line" three feet into the intersection that allowed them to get rich just like these crooks. These trash cameras have nothing to do with safety. I can't believe some posters on here say the system "sounds fair" when there are numerous instances of intentional camera manipulation as well as corruption and bribery charges associated with the trash cameras. You can bet they are padding the palms of State legislators to get favorable legislation in 09. My thanks to the reporter for this great investigative piece.

What I don’t understand is why people just assume the cameras make intersections safer. THEY DON’T! Ban the trash cameras!

California: Red Light Camera Goes Wild

A red light camera in Capitola, California is generating $381 tickets for motorists who did nothing wrong. The out-of-control camera is located at 41st Avenue and Clares Street and was designed to ticket motorists headed to the Capitola Mall. Now between 50 and 60 percent of the tickets it generates are bogus.

"It's going nuts," Capitola Police Chief Richard Ehle told the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.

In addition to other problems, the camera is generating tickets for shoppers making legal right turns on red and ticketing motorists who roll forward before the light turns green. Capitola police claim they are "catching" the tickets before they are mailed by ATS, the vendor in charge of the camera program.

Last year, the Santa Cruz Superior Court brought Capitola's review process into question. Police failed to notice that red light camera vendor ATS issueed $9525 worth of duplicate citations to be issued.

"With a new program there's a lot of trial and error," Capitola Police Chief Richard Ehle told the Sentinel at the time.

In the meantime, motorists are cutting through nearby parking lots to avoid the haywire ticket camera. Mall workers fear being forced to go to court to defend themselves against a bogus ticket. Police promise to drop charges against anyone wrongly cited.