No WhiteWash!

Voters in College Station, Texas as well as Chillicothe and Heath, Ohio vote to ban automated ticketing machines.

Voters in three cities sent a clear message to local lawmakers yesterday by adopting charter amendments that ban photo enforcement. In addition to kicking two camera supporters from the city council, 72 percent of those voting in Chillicothe, Ohio approved a total prohibition on the use of red light cameras and speed cameras. In College Station, Texas the vote was much closer, but at the end of the night 52 percent wanted the red light cameras to come down. In Heath, Ohio 51 percent voted against the cameras. A total of nine cities nationwide have used the initiative process to ban camera enforcement since 1991, with camera proponents never having won a public vote.

Read more via Photo Enforcement Defeated at the Ballot Box in Texas, Ohio.

National Motorists Association has complied a list of states with their vehicle codes.  Click on the link below for the details on your state’s vehicle code.

Each state has a vehicle code, which is the collection of laws that govern the use of motor vehicles in that state. Some states make it easier than others to find specific laws, but each state’s vehicle code covers a wide range of violations including speeding violations, red light violations, and other ticketable offenses.

So that it’s easier for motorists to be informed about the laws in their state, we’ve collected links to each state’s vehicle code below:

Read more via How To Find Your State’s Vehicle Code.

This is a sure way to not get re-elected and a recall of the mayor and the city council In Chillicothe Ohio.

Mayor of Chillicothe, Ohio demands that state supreme court intervene to prevent voters from deciding the fate of speed cameras.

An Ohio city is so desperate to prevent voters from having a say on the future of speed cameras that it filed a motion Monday asking the state supreme court to strip the public of its right to vote on the issue. In April, residents submitted more than double the number of signatures required to place a photo enforcement referendum on the November ballot (view initiative text). The move so infuriated Mayor Joseph Sulzer that he challenged the ballot with the Ross County Board of Elections earlier this month. Sulzer insists the board had no right to reject this challenge.

Read more via Ohio City Asks Supreme Court to Stop Camera Referendum.

Accidents increased after red light cameras used in Peoria, Arizona. Longer yellows cut violations 42 percent.

Peoria, Arizona city council, 8/25The number of traffic accidents doubled at locations where red light cameras were installed in Peoria, Arizona, according to data released last week at a city council study session. City data also indicate that more recent changes in intersection yellow timing have reduced the number of red light violations.

via Arizona: Peoria Cameras Increased Accidents.

Speed camera maker sets up program allowing Baton Rouge, Louisiana to issue $167 automated litter tickets.

Speed camera vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) next month will use its automated ticketing expertise to run a litter camera program for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Under first-of-its-kind initiative, city workers will drive around photographing neighborhoods with special cameras hooked into a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite tracking device. The workers will be looking to capture homes that might have litter, weeds or trash on their lawn so that a hefty fine can be imposed.

Read more via Louisiana: Speed Camera Company Runs Litter Camera Program.

Citizen referendum efforts put red light camera and speed camera companies on the defensive in Arizona, Ohio and Texas.

Camera referendum logosPetitions placing the fate of red light cameras and speed cameras in the hands of voters are circulating across the country. In November, photo enforcement bans are likely to be considered in three Ohio cites and two Texas cities. Every Arizona jurisdiction may have a chance to vote in November 2010.

Read more via Citizen Petitions Put Photo Enforcement Companies on the Defensive.

City council in Maywood, California decides to stop using Redflex to run a red light camera program.

The contract was with Redflex Traffic Systems and the proposed contract language below would impose a financial penalty if the city chose to extend the duration of yellow times.  Click on the link below for the entire article.

According to the proposed contract language, cost neutrality would not apply “if the signal amber timings at the photo enforced intersections are not set to the minimum requirements of CalTrans in California.” In the past, photo ticketing companies prohibited the increasing of yellow warning times to ensure maximum revenue. If strictly interpreted, this provision would have the same effect by imposing a financial penalty if the city chose to extend the duration of yellow times.

Read more via Maywood, California Dumps Red Light Cameras.

Baytown, Texas discloses bank accounts of red light camera ticket recipients, admits using short yellows.

A Texas motorist caught the city of Baytown using short yellows to trap motorists at a photo enforced intersection and of failing to protect sensitive private information. At a press conference yesterday, Byron Schirmbeck and his attorney, Randall Kallinen, announced that the city had agreed to drop a $75 ticket issued on April 12 for making a right-hand turn just 0.2 seconds after the light had turned red at the intersection of West Baker and Garth Roads. The yellow time at this intersection was set at just 3.1 seconds, even though state guidelines indicate that the yellow should have lasted no less than 4 seconds.

Read more via Texas City Caught Trapping Drivers with Short Yellows.

While red-light cameras remain a technology many suburbs still plan for their futures, in Schaumburg they’re about to become a thing of the past.

A staff recommendation next month is expected to make the village’s one remaining camera obsolete and resolve against pursuing any more.

Police Chief Brian Howerton said the assessment of the camera his department is wrapping up suggests it’s provided little public safety benefit.

His department looked at data from the camera at Woodfield and Meacham roads, as well as the potential for cameras at other accident-prone intersections.

“The result is very few crashes at any of our major intersections have been the result of traffic signal violations,” Howerton said.

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said the whole point of installing the cameras was to prevent T-bone accidents at intersections. Companies selling the cameras made a compelling case about their ability to stop those, he added.

“It was not our intent to use them as a revenue generator,” Larson said.

On the other hand, he emphasized that he would not use the lessons Schaumburg learned to generalize advice for any other community.

It took only one intersection and 21/2 months to turn Schaumburg officials from bright-eyed newcomers into grizzled veterans on the issue of red-light cameras.

The Meacham-Woodfield intersection was chosen as a testing ground, as both roads were village-owned and didn’t require permission from the state or county.

After a two-week warning period, the village began issuing $100 tickets in mid-November for violations recorded at the corner near Woodfield Shopping Center.

That the camera generated more than 7,000 tickets by New Year’s Day astounded village officials.

About 98 percent of the violations were from vehicles that didn’t stop completely before making a right turn from westbound Woodfield Road to northbound Meacham.

This percentage stayed intact until the right-turn camera was turned off in early February, after more than 10,000 tickets had been issued and nearly $1 million collected from the single intersection.

During this period, the village received about 50 negative phone calls, letters and e-mails. Many angry out-of-towners threatened to boycott Schaumburg as a shopping, dining and entertainment destination.

Howerton said different communities have different goals for the use of red-light cameras. Some want them simply to change driver behavior, and not stopping completely before turning right at a red light truly is illegal, he said.

But Schaumburg’s goal was always strictly to prevent collisions, and the data doesn’t support their ability to fulfill that goal, Howerton said.

via Daily Herald | Schaumburg showing stop sign to red light cameras.

Below is a horror story concerning red-light-revenue-cameras.

Oregon’s red-light camera law violates a basic tenant of the American legal system: It allows prosecutors and state courts to convict people without their knowledge.

That might be OK if all that was at stake was a modest fine, but people unaware that they’ve convicted face substantial penalties for failing to respond, including significant financial costs, suspension of their driver’s license and even arrest.

I live in Maine. Several weeks ago I received a call from someone working collections for Multnomah County. He said I owed the county $353. I was baffled.

It took some time on the phone to sort out what he was talking about. Apparently, while visiting Portland two years ago, in May 2007, I was photographed running a red light. Continue reading “Red-light camera laws needs reform” »