NO Redlight Cameras…..EVER! Here we are in the midst of the biggest economic meltdown in world history…and what do the great powers that be in Huntington Beach decide to consider? Yep, 20 Lockheed-Martin (type)redlight cameras may be coming to the intersections of Huntington Beach should the HB City Council decide in favor this week. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck! Eckee, Eckee, Eckee….NO REASON Foundation Solutions please!
These are the same redlight cameras that shorten the Yellow lights to catch the poor and unsuspecting right in the middle of the intersection on a left turn light. These are same redlight cameras that require constant calibration and monitoring to be sure they work correctly. These are the same redlight cameras that literally kill local business because “locals” do not want to go through these intersections and pillars of technology nightmares every day.
The main argument for installation of redlight cameras is “safety”. “Let’s stop those evil redlight runners killing our kids and grandma’s in busy city intersections. Let’s get big bucks from tourist and unsuspecting locals that don’t see the cameras. Let’s not even put signage up, warning of redlight cameras ahead…until we get a 1000 complaints! Let’s charge upwards of $425 bucks if any part of your mini-van gets stuck behind some weenie that will not go completely through the intersection to the other side, either because of traffic or because they are not paying attention, or because they want a ‘safe zone’ between their vehicle and the one in front of them!”
Hey, “automating the process” is alot easier than putting motorcycle cops out there watching what is going on. What they need are cameras in the Huntington Beach – Beach Parking areas….so that Homeless and Criminals don’t break into cars during the hot summer months or during the less traveled winter emptiness, or even in the Main Parking structures. But then, that would require “dispatch”, that would require “sending out the troops to find out what is going on!” With Redlight Cameras, you just get the photo, look up the license number on the DMV website and automatically send the ticket. Hey, this is safe for the enforcement people – “no contact with people” and people just send in their money….or they won’t get to then renew their car license the following year, or when it comes due.
In the UK, these cameras are endemic. They have them on all the highways to monitor speeders, erratic drivers and parked vehicles. All good “Cash Cows” for government. The cameras monitor illegal right turns, left turns or anything they can determine goes against the vehicle code….and then just send the tickets…..lots of tickets! They don’t even require signage in the UK for any cameras; which is a good reason for living in America! Remember those terrorists, with their burning van – “You Tube”; camera photos outside the airport in Dublin? At least something good came of that….they found the nerds and arrested them. But who are we planning to arrest in downtown Huntington Beach? Grandma’s with bad eyesight? Teenagers, fully text messaging or on the cell phone in direct contravention to the CA Vehicle Code? Who knows?
One thing is for sure……when the word gets out…and they put the info on every GPS software program in the US and the world…..well, you can bet that tourism in Huntington Beach may be affected negatively. The Huntington Beach City Council might want to put this item “on the back burner” until the economy makes a comeback. No need to just try to kill tourism outright or to insure that new City Council members will be voted in during the next election cycle…….ya think?
Finally, don’t we always find it interesting that when “Redlight Cameras” are suggested….it is never just “one or two Major problem intersections”. No, it is always multiples of 10 like in this case 20! Why is that? Because the vendors are not in it for “Public Safety”….they are in it ….for the buck they make on servicing and supplying the equipment involved. Who would want to provide “low cost cameras” for two problem intersections? The members of the Huntington Beach City Council and the HB Police Chief might want to answer that question before they “move on” to approve prolific electronic monitoring and surveillance throughout the City of Huntington Beach!
These red light cameras also cause accidents. People who are afraid of these things actually will come to a tire screeching hault to try and stop in time. I saw this happen several times at the intersection of Orangethorpe and Magnolia. The other day a pickup skidded sideways past the crosswalk area, stopped, then backed up. This caused the vehicle in back of him to also slam on his brakes and screech to a stop. Not safe!! These cameras belong to the city of Fullerton. Once this camera caused a very bad rear end accident to occur. I wonder just how many of these rear enders are caused by these cameras. Of course, even though it is the fault of those who installed these cameras, the collision becomes the fault of the person who is driving the rear car, who then becomes the victim of the red light cameras. The city profits too if the victim in the rear car is assigned a traffic ticket and has to pay that fine.
Fullerton has installed yet another of these cameras at the intersection of Malvern and Gilbert near the new shopping area.
As the economy worsens more of these fund raisers will be installed to rape the general public of their much needed money. In a time of economic crisis these cities are installing yet more and more of these fund raisers grabbing as much of the people’s money as they can.
And, that intersection did have a shorter yellow light than allowed by standard traffic engineering practice. For an intersection that size the yellow light should last for at least 4 seconds . After many, many citations were issued that particular traffic signal/light was timed at 3.5 to 3.75 seconds. Some people received tickets that said that they violated the timing of that light by 0.02 to 0.25 second. If the yellow light timing was corrected to th e proper time span these citations would not have been issued. In its actions concerning this particular light, the city of Fullerton is criminal. It is actually a form of extorsion except if you don’t pay them the money they take your driver’s license instead of beating you up with a baseball bat (that would come later if you went to jail). Because the timing on those traffic lights was incorrect, the fines for those citations and the cost of traffic school should be refunded. This yellow light timing on that signal was later corrected after a rather prominent citizen received a citation for violating the timing at that intersection. That person complained and the timing was corrected to the appropriate standard. Probably less citations are issued from that intersection now.
These signal cameras are not meant as a safety measure. That is another government lie. Studies conducted to prove this were conducted for just that purpose , i.e., to say that these devices cause less intersection accidents. They are purely for increasing cities incomes. One of the city council people in my city actually said that “this would be a great fund generator for the city”. They have not yet been installed in the city where I live.
One sure way to increase the safety of a signaled intersection is to create a situation wherein the lights are red for all directions simultaneously. This is referred to as dead time or dead intersection. As the signal changes from green to yellow to red for one direction, the light is not allowed to change to green for the cross direction for some number of seconds, currently this is about one second. Just increase this dead time to say four seconds and the majority of intersection collisions would just go away. There would be no need to have these red light cameras to “make the intersevtion safeer”. The intersection would be safer by design. Drivers would have either come to a proper stop or ran the red light, but there would be little danger of hitting cross traffic. In this case, for those who run the red light, they deserve a ticket.
People who run red lights are the same kind of people who run over pedestrians.
Lets hope next we have predator drones flying over head with hellfire missiles so they can automatically take out those murderess auto drivers before they kill again.
FJCer..
Agree, Agree, Agree!! Please send your comments
to the City of Huntington Beach. Hey, we are all
connected…and what happens to them may soon happen to us. Your points are spot on!!!
Cook….
Rent a black helicopter and buzz your own house!
Looks like we have Keith Bohr, Gil Coerper, Cathy Green, Don Hansen, and Jill Hardy for the new red light cameras they just ordered.
At least we can thank Joe Carchio and Devin Dwyer for their Pro-Freedom votes.
I think this can still be fought. Santa Monica recently balked at their initial attempt at red light cameras.
*Sad….guess they want to restrict traffic all along Beach Blvd. from the beach to the 405! Nightmare! Oh and at Brookhurst and Adams too!
i especially hate the one on harbor/orangethorpe… i agree they do cause accidents its not fair.. might as well have a camera in the car to see how we drive
Revisit this topic
Notice the FIVE new cameras at MANY intersections? One barrel camera pointing upstreet on the four compass points, N S E W, and a fish eye camera on its own pole. WHY? Why do the liberalists on city council tolerate this privacy violation this fascism? Conservatives and hippies can agree that privacy is centrally important to all citizens
Have a smart phone? Report new cameras in the WAZE driving application