Red Light Cameras: I think Arizona was a leader in this. Whatever you think is wrong with this idea, you don't know the half of it. In the Phoenix area they don't buy these systems, they lease them. This is done so that any legal challenges to the system become more complex. You have to subpoena information not only from the local law enforcement officials, but also from an out of state company. It also puts pressure on the localities that lease them to make sure the system writes enough tickets each month to pay the lease. When the initial installations weren't paying for themselves, the towns here shortened the yellow lights. There . . . that produced profit.
But here's the real kicker. The system can't be build that doesn't produce false positives. Think about it. In Arizona, if the nat on the end of your front bumper crosses the leading plane of the intersection prior to the light turning red, then by law you are obliged to go through the interection. If the nat is one nat's wisker away from crossing the plane of the intersection when the light turns red, you must stop.
The sensors are Electromagnetic metal detectors (similar to what airports use) placed under the pavement. They detect metal moving above them with a location accuracy of probably about + or - 6 to 12 inches. So you start placing those sensors anywhere you want. They use 2. Try to take into account how they are going to work if there is a motorcycle ahead or behind you. How they are going to work if there is a semi-trailer ahead or behind you. How they are going to work if you are stopped in the intersection when the light turns red. etc.
Now get a ticket with one and find out how you can go about fighting it. First they tell you that you can review the photographs. Amazingly, the cameras take dozens of pictures. You look. "Yes that's me in my car, but I can't see the light so I don't know what color it is or where the front bumper of my car is when the light changed. I notice that when the first picture was taken, I seem to be half way across the intersection. Is that normal?" And the answer you get to all your questions is, "the system is infallible. I don't know how it works, but if that's you in the picture, you are guilty."
The local police have a cop hired who does nothing but testifies in court on photo red light cases. You can talk to that cop and figure out that they don't know anything about the system, the installation where you were photographed or anything else. But they do have memorized testimony for the judge. The testimony goes something like this: "The system is infallible. That's you in the picture. You are guilty." You can ask for specific information about the system and installation, but that is held by an out of state company, so you will have to hire a lawyer and subpoena those records. You will not have credibility in court explaining that the sytem won't work. You will need to hire an expert witness to argue against the company's expert witness. A judge may believe yours or may belive theirs -- no guarantees. Estimated cost to have a chance to beat that red light ticket: $20,000 - $40,000.
I'm not bitter.
![:-\](https://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
