to pop drivers waiting to take left turns and who had to do them on yellow because there was no way to back up. Re aiming the cameras made them cost ineffective, so when the contract was up, they went.

Decisions are made outside of politics now. No candidate will run on
removing traffic cameras that effectively frame citizens. Below the radar.
Oh yeah, that's automatic too.

This kind of stuff is going to continue until ordinary citizens stand up and
run for office and vow to change it. These automatic ticket machines should
not tolerate any failure rate. They should be foolproof.

I have received 2 such tickets at $106 a pop. On one the light was yellow for roughly 1.5 seconds and the camera showed me touching the line .1 second after the light changed. It was clearly a light malfunction. On the other one a SUV left turned in front of me though it wasn't that close but about 40-50 feet behind it and hidden from sight was a small sedan that rushed through the light causing me to break hard but I was now so close to the intersection I could not stop without being a good car length out into the intersection so I decided to go. The camera showed me going 16mph in a 40mph zone and .3 seconds late. In my mind the wrong person got the ticket. Technically you can fight the tickets but the cost of doing that would exceed the cost of the ticket. I'm not sure the error rate can be reduced enough to make them a net positive so I think they should go. Regarding safety, they should be able to compare accident rates before and after cameras were installed. If there is no statistical difference then it is hard to justify them on safety.

One was from the Los Angeles area, which I haven't visited in several years, the other from the Bay Bridge, which I also haven't crossed in a long time. It is my understanding that the County of LA was investigated over this issue. although it could've been some other local government down there....

The judge threw it out. Yeah I had to take some comp time to fight the ticket but other than that it did not really cost me anything. I usually have trouble getting my comp time taken within the 30 day window anyway. I think one factor in the judge's decision was that this light had a really short yellow and there were a number of other people there with basically the same complaint. So the take home message is that the judges are well aware of which are the problem lights or speed cameras so it will often benefit you to go tell your story if you think you have a legitimate beef. Of course the flip side is that if they got you dead to rights just pay the ticket. The only thing you are out is cash, you get no points the way you would have had a cop ticketed you. Points can put you into the high risk insurance category and that will cost you a lot more than the $40 or so for a red light ticket. So I prefer the cameras to the cops writing tickets even though I get more tickets.

Much of the revenue that is generated is kept by these companies, which pulls money out of the local economy and slows economic activity to enrich the few.

http://worldjusticeproject.org/blog/3-private-companies-making-money-red-light-tickets

Looks like just one more way to gouge the general public. It's not about safety. It's a money making racket for some greedy bastards as usual. Just like health insurance. A smart government would make the machines themselves and keep all the profits. Why have a middle man when he's keeping 88% of the take? Same with health insurance.

Government business may not be outsourced out of State nor any of its work, processes, or material purchases unless there is no such material produced in-State.

enforce laws, arrest, and imprison people, especially when they make a profit by doing so.

Now, one of the reasons may be that Philadelphia being in Pennsylvania can NOT use Radar to determine the speed people are going (Radar is reserved to the State Police only in Pennsylvania). Thus the only tickets were people running red lights not speeding.

One side affect was right after the cameras were installed you saw an increase in accidents in such intersections, but a drop in fatalities. The increase in accidents has since dropped, but the drop in fatalities has continued to drop.

How does that work with a RoboCop cam?

that in Thailand, they call speed bumps "Sleeping Policemen"

Does that make RoboCams "Texting Policemen"?

because I was so used to going to court to get a few dollars knocked off the "old fashioned" violations...

The hearing lasts all of 20 seconds -- Magistrate shows me the photo:

"Is this your car?" (yes)

"Were you driving the car at the time the photo was taken?" (yes)

"Pay the fine, in full, right around the hallway there..."

and subpoena the corporation that made the camera. If they don't show up, you win since your 6th amendment rights are violated.

they are all about safety!