Houston Red Lght Cameras....

... the red light horse has been rode into the fucking ground. Originally Posted by oilfieldscum

.. that ain't the only matter that ...

.... "has been rode into the fucking ground"..

... revived .. and then ridden into the ground again.

People tend to get educated really fast when a fairer, more logical system is introduced -... Originally Posted by obiwansalami

Yes, I know. It is totally illogical for ....

red = don't go aka "stop"
green = go

yellow/amber = you are about to have to stop!

Kinda like those octagan shaped red signs ....

............ with the letters "S" "T" "O" "P"!

What on Earth does that mean?

In this whole thread I've heard alot of opinions, anger, insults, and no real facts (except a few vague references to mysterious 'stats', etc...). So here is my two cents in no particular order:

1) Everyone should read this before posting anything in this thread: http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/rlr.html

2) Everyone should do research themselves and not just go by heresay. One of my favorite studies that I have read (because it is short and the least biased I have found) is here: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications.../safety/05049/

3) People flock to the reason that is is a revenue maker. Why is that bad? More money means less taxes, more cops doing police work instead of sitting at intersections, more vests, more 'no cell phone' signs in school zones, etc... In this economy the PD is stressed financially. Now its easy to say F--- Cops and all that, but its really hard to stand up and say I admire and respect you guys for risking your lives every day in order to keep us safe. And if that means I get a ticket when I run a light and that helps you do police work - then so be it. I broke the law and you caught me. I'm big enough not to whine about it and claim my privacy (in the middle of a public roadway) was infringed. In Texas 50% of all RLC revenue goes to the state (state law) for trauma care, drunk driving prevention, and DPS officers.

4) My experience with RLCs is in College Station. I do not know the similarities between Houston's implementation and College Station's, but in CS the pictures were processed and filtered for mistakes by the RLC company, then they were processed and filtered by a civilian member of the police department, then they were looked at by a police officer who actually authorized the ticket. Every possible precaution was taken to ensure mistakes were not made.

6) Quite honestly - if I were pulled over by a cop and given a ticket for running a red light, my first response would be "show me the proof." Photographic evidence would prove to me without a doubt that I ran the red light. It is no different than radar guns, or any other electronic device that is used to gather evidence of a crime.

7) The pictures in CS showed the car before the intersection with a red light on the pole. From the picture earlier in this thread I can see that Houston did not do this. I will criticize them for not ensuring the pictures actually hold evidentary value (not just a license plate).

8) The RLCs in College Station were taken down in a rather close, but nasty special election. I voted to keep them. Until someone shows me proof that they bring harm or endanger my life I will support them. It is a simple matter of the PD finding a technological solution to improve enforcement of existing laws, free up resources, and yes - generate revenue (not an evil thing).

aggie, be careful. next thing is you will be accused of being a cop!

Interesting, lots of information in this thread - some of you guys really do your research! But I don't understand why they would have allowed it on the ballot to be voted on, if it wasn't valid legally? But as seriously as the state of Texas takes their traffic violations, I can't say I'm surprised they're turning them back on. Be careful about not paying them though - they CAN and will turn into warrants!

... But I don't understand why they would have allowed it on the ballot to be voted on, if it wasn't valid legally? Originally Posted by Jaida_So_Lovely

According to the Judge's opinion, the city and the proponents of putting to a vote had characterized the "election" as the same thing, but the Judge determined that they were incorrect in their characterization. I believe that is what the city is going to appeal ... the Judge's characterization of the "referendum."

Apparently the current administration wants to get rid of the them, but they have to get rid of the contract to avoid the damages to the city for breach of the contract with the camera provider. Rather than suffer additional damages during the appeal, the city is apparently opting to leave the cameras turned on during the appeal process.

I did not see in the enabling legislation that the city can issue warrants for the failure to pay the civil penalty. There are other things that can happen, but my reading says ... no jail.

Just a quick FYI out there.

All cameras now manufactured use CCD's (Charge Coupled Device) to make a picture. But not all cameras are created equally. Only the best chips with high tolerances are used in broadcast quality cameras. Surveillance cameras use low end to middle of the road chip sets that do not have the same processing tolerances.

Next, light has a color temperature component to it as well as a heat temperature. This temperature is measured in the Kelvin scale. Indoor light is incandescent and measures at 3200 degrees Kelvin and Sunlight measures at 5600 degrees.

Now you may be wondering how this is relevant? Well here is the kicker that is not common knowledge and considering the industry you can well imagine why. These low end chips cannot handle color temps over about 6000-6500 degrees Kelvin without massive failure. IE: THEY BURNOUT AND ARE RUINED FOREVER!!!!!

This can be accomplished rather easily with a green laser pointer. Green laser pointers put out a color temp of around 9300 degrees Kelvin. A green laser fired directly into the camera lens for about 3-5 sec will permanently destroy the CCD chipset rendering the camera a pile of junk! So basically you can burn out the traffic cameras and make in fantastically cost ineffective to replace them thus rendering the whole exercise pointless.

So all of you may do what you will with this information. I am here merely to inform.

Amid all of this, one of the best laughs I ever had was listening to the comedian Gallager: "have you ever made up your mind to run a red light and the guy in front of you chickens out?"

So Rakhir if we all get green laser pointers and burn up the cameras, you think the city and the Pussy Licker would be pissed?

....burn up the cameras, you think the city and the Pussy Licker would be pissed? Originally Posted by Satin

Does the City or the Mayor "own" them?

Destroying the cameras will take them offline temporary... but the 3rd party vendor is responsible for maintenance and warranty repairs. Either the vendor or the original manufacturer will replace the equipment in a month or so. Destroying the camera does not mean the city pays for the replacement.

I ride a motorcycle so I'd like to steer clear of the RLC intersections as much as possible. Are there any links that show where the RLCs are located? I didn't see RLC location info on the Houston Transtar Speed link earlier in this post. Maybe I missed it.

One of the suburbs here in Big-D provides a link to both a pic of your license plate and a video showing your vehicle and the signal light so it's easy to determine that your car was in the intersection when the light turned red.

Are there any links that show where the RLCs are located? Originally Posted by seventonine

Yes.

I sure wouldn't pay one. The press in Los Angeles finally nutted up and used the words "payment ... is...voluntary" (just as the LA city council was nutting up and eliminating the cameras). I think they'll go away here soon, certainly before the next election.

Ok boys and girls, the initial report numbers are in and the first 2 weeks have netted almost 3400 citations , which is going to collect $335,000...

There are almost 1100 more being reviewed right now.

The city has collected over $44 million since the program started. But nah, it's not about the money, it's about "safety" right? But we can always take LL advice and not run any red lights and we'll have nothing to worry about, right?