I have more about the subject of Toledo's red-light camera program on my blog (follow the link), but I salute the protester who hung this sign on the red-light camera at Secor and Laskey at some point in the past 24 hours:
Red-Light Camera Protest
Comments ... #
I thought a good idea would be to take a small pickup truck with a step ladder in the back and drive up to the cameras and place one of those big black trash bags over them in protest. Who's with me?
I heard earlier signs are being put on a lot of them.
posted by CharlieA-Z on Dec 26, 2007 at 08:14:15 pm #
I'm all for privacy, but what is the difference between a human enforcing traffic laws and a robot doing the same thing, freeing up police to tackle more pressing issues. We are a long way from telescreens with this one.
posted by thetoledowire_com on Dec 26, 2007 at 08:53:20 pm #
Alexis at Lewis too, something about "police state".
I'm all for privacy, but what is the difference between a human enforcing traffic laws and a robot doing the same thing, freeing up police to tackle more pressing issues. We are a long way from telescreens with this one.
When a cop does it, the cop's ultimately accountable to the taxpayers and the fines from the tickets he/she writes go directly to the public coffers. Red light cameras are ultimately owned/provided by a private company which gets the lion's share of revenue. Which doesn't stop the jurisdiction that hosts them from considering them to be a revenue source as well... because, hey, the camera never lies, right? And think about it, because the damned things are owned/operated by a PRIVATE company, there's NOTHING that dictates what they can or cannot do with the squillions of images they take in a day, so they very well could sell or give them to the Feds/Vast Right Wing Conspiracy/Vast Left Wing Conspiracy/whatever.
posted by anonymouscoward on Dec 26, 2007 at 09:34:14 pm #
OK, i see now. Warrantless tapping of Americans' phones is one thing, but I won't stand for some out of town company archiving pictures of me picking my nose.
Sorry for the sarcasm; it's all I got. ;)
posted by thetoledowire_com on Dec 26, 2007 at 09:45:23 pm #
Saw one at Reynolds and Airport: "Who's watching them?"
And, a note to toledowire: When a cop does it, he STOPS the offender. The red-light camera doesn't stop shit ... it only fines the offender later on, when he has had more than enough chances to smash you to bits at another intersection. The cop can stop some of that by seeing if the runner is drunk or has a long list of warrants (which is another great indicator of an asshole who doesn't care about the rest of us).
These cameras are just revenue generators; nothing more. And that's not even true for most of the revenue, since the company what placed them is getting something like 80% of each and EVERY ticket.
I'll know it's too late when one of these gizmos barks: "CharlieA-Z, room 101."
posted by CharlieA-Z on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:20:52 pm #
This is a subtle way of the local authorities asking you to walk, ride a bike, take a bus, ride the train, rollerblade, pogo, skateboard, snowmobile, and jetski around the city.
If it's not extortion from your (bi)weekly paycheck, then it's some other form.
I got nabbed by one of these redlight/speed cameras doing 52 (maybe 53 or 54?) in a 45 at the Alexis/Lewis intersection. After receiving the ticket, I took off my license plate and placed made a "F*ck You" sign out of glitter. After affixing the sign to my license plate area, I sped through that intersection 7-8 times with the speed camera's flash busting me each time.
Lame as it was, I had a lot of fun. I would have had a lot more fun if I had a log-range rifle to shoot the camera out of its' misery.
Those cameras remind me of mouse traps. The mice that get caught ARE trying to get at that cheese, arent they? Just as the people who get the tickets ARE running the stop lights or speeding.
You people bitching about these cameras could simply obey the law and not have any further problems. Just a thought.
I have a different type of peeve when it comes to these cameras. They snap a photo of the car/license plate and then send the 'ticket' to the owner of the vehicle. If you say it wasn't you driving, they then expect you to either pay or fork over the name of the person driving the car so they can be 'ticketed.'
There is the presumption of guilt on the owner of the car and the obligation of the owner to either conform or engage in 'police work' instead.
Of course, that's in addition to the other points made ...
But if the real purpose is the safety of the intersections, I can't help but wonder why we haven't done something like this.
posted by MaggieThurber on Dec 27, 2007 at 10:13:32 am #
Well, In Rome there is similar mess, that most of us have seen on television one time or another. A friend of mine who is from Rome tells me there are all sorts of accidents there, but unless they are real serious, everyone keeps going after they've been hit. Likewise when they hit someone. Since Toledo is an international city, we could add some international flavor with slow, triple decker buses, and loose cattle and chickens to further slow things down. Seriously-this business of six cars going through a light AFTER it turns red has to stop. I do not see this in other cities, either.
posted by CharlieA-Z on Dec 27, 2007 at 11:09:03 am #
What else works is when I give these self-centered jerks a 10-15 second blast from my trucks horn-works great, if for nothing more than to see the latest in obscene gestures.
posted by CharlieA-Z on Dec 27, 2007 at 11:21:00 am #
Certainly wouldn't encourage this kind of activity, but in England, they're taking their protests one step (or maybe a few steps) further.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/27/angry-drivers-torching-traffic-cameras-in-england/
I like Maggie's idea. Havn't you ever noticed that when traffic signals go out after a storm or during a power failure that drivers navigate just fine through the even the worst intersections? I easily navigated through Airport Hwy & Mc Cord on several such occaisions.
However, the politness by drivers may be only temporary. In a traffic circle in the center of Istanbul Turkey, with similar "every man for himself design", as a pedestrian I was nearly struck three times! In Turkey, if you kill someone as result of a traffic accident the "at fault" driver gets the death penalty. The kicker is the "at fault" driver is the driver who lives, regardless of the circumstances!!!
Here is a website that is dedicated to the laws and politics of driving:
posted by WalterAnthony on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:45:04 pm #
posted by WalterAnthony on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:47:19 pm #
Arson? Now that's radical! How on earth can you make red light camera catch on fire?
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say historically technology is generally used for dubious ends. My guillotine is synced up to my ipod when I play my Hannah Montana discography. It's synergy between to techno-fetish products that made the world a more "civil" place.
In response to the fence: "It sure is fence. It sure is."
After being caught by one, I remembered exactly what happened. I usually don't speed because my car can't, and I don't run red lights. On that particular day I was waiting for the oncoming traffic to break. Watching the traffic and glancing at the light. When the traffic broke and there was a clearing, I went. Apparently .3 seconds into the red light.
I paid my "fine".Now here is my problem. I find myself looking way too much for these cameras. Like a self concious person double checking everything as if a cop was following me. Am I going too fast? Is my seatbelt on? Am I putting on my blinker in enough time? Should I put more space inbetween the car ahead of me? Always wondering if the light changes to yellow, should I slam on the brakes or coast through the intersection? I become a paranoid idiot. I'm sure many of you have given me a horn blast or middle finger if you have been behind me during one of these episodes. I am only trying not to get another ticket because I can't compete with "milli-second" cameras.
I say trash bag the cameras, spray paint the lenses, or simply throw a chain around them and yank them down the highway to show our approval.
If I wanted that much monitoring, I'd sign up and try out for CBS's big brother.
Where's the solid statistics that these things even deter accidents/wrecks?
Disobeying laws and regulations are standard business practices in most industries anyway. But they're there to determine culpability.
If they were really concerned about safety we could no faster than the bumpers could handle and only enough horsepower to reach those speeds. i.e.
The idea of red light cameras may spread to foreign cities, like Pamplona, Spain, where from July 7 to July 14, they have the running of the bulls. Each bull will have a number painted on its rump. Any bull that gets photographed running a red light will have to donate 10 pounds of you-know-what.
They make a holder on an extension pole for spray cans that you use to spray ground marking paint. I wonder if they could be adapted to spray in the upright position. Juuuuuust wondering.
Walking around with a can of paint on the end of a long stick would be a bit too obvious. Personally, I think the paintball idea is the best bet with the least amount of visibility.
Maybe we should do what Cincinnati, East Cleveland & Steubenville has done - start an Anti-Camera Referendum
posted by GraphicsGuy on Dec 29, 2007 at 08:53:24 pm #
who is setting this paint ball "practice" up? When and where should we meet?
All kidding aside, tommy1, I think the real question should be "Who is setting up the Anti-Camera Referendum?"
Anybody have any idea of what it takes to get this ball rolling?
posted by GraphicsGuy on Jan 02, 2008 at 06:28:42 am #
Graphics Guy - I'm working on getting someone from the Cinci area to come on my radio show to talk about this...I'll keep you posted.
posted by MaggieThurber on Jan 02, 2008 at 09:24:13 am #
Well, since I live a very short distance from Temperance-I can do my spending there. Toledo will not get a cent from me-that I can divert elsewhere.
posted by CharlieA-Z on Dec 26, 2007 at 02:19:19 pm #