[s-cars] Red light traffic in Illinois

[Thomas R Green]

Sorry for the confusion, Eric.  These examples are in TN, and  
specifically
in Knoxville.  The traffic cameras are allowed by state law.  They are
installed and operated by a private company under contract with the
city government to control traffic at city intersections, not to  
enforce the
state traffic laws - that is the job of law enforcement.  And yes,  
these right
turn cameras are set by the operator.  The company states this  
particular
site requires a full stop for 3 seconds when the light is red or the  
camera
is initiated.  There is some sort of quasi survey of the traffic by  
the company
and the city police to determine the particular setup at each  
intersection,
but it can be changed without notice under this formula.

Similarly, if you are in the intersection when the light is red, even  
if not
moving, you will trigger the camera.  When initially installed, one  
camera
would continue to flash and photograph as long as the vehicle remained
in the intersection.  Isn't digital photography wonderful?  That was  
why the
guy shot the camera one day while it took his picture with an  
intersection
in gridlock.  It is not a matter of violating a state or city traffic  
law or acting
in a reasonable and prudent manner when the law does not adequately
address the problem at hand.

Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:13:01 -0500
> From: "Eric Rechlin" <quattro at rechlin.us>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Red light traffic in Illinois
> To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <F48CF59B0DAF4506B6D6CAAB6A4EE0D4 at quad>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
>> My wife will detour a mile to miss these intersections since
>> she apparently can't be retrained to make a complete stop; that
>> entails a 3 second motionless period to defeat these on the right  
>> turn
>> lane.
>
> Wait...are you saying that even though the law in Illinois is that  
> you have
> to make a complete stop first in order to make a right turn on red,  
> the
> cameras are set up to give you a fine unless that "complete stop"  
> lasts at
> least 3 seconds?  So even if you don't break the law you can still  
> be fined?
>
>> They have them in the other lanes as well, and they give no
>> grace period if you are in the intersection when the light turns red.
>
> In Illinois, is it illegal to enter an intersection on yellow if it  
> turns
> red while you are in the intersection?  Or is that just something  
> that will
> get you a fine from a red light camera but isn't actually illegal?   
> In other
> states that I am aware of, that's not illegal.
>
> This sounds really fishy to me.   How can they get away with this?
>
> In Texas, the legislature has banned any new red light cameras (I  
> can't
> remember the reasoning; it wouldn't surprise me if it's because they  
> caused
> an increase in the number of collisions), and the existing ones are  
> not only
> clearly signed, but they take a picture of your car twice, once  
> before the
> intersection and once after, to prove that your car entered the  
> intersection
> on red.  If I come across them, when there's nobody behind me I enjoy
> stopping suddenly just before the intersection to force the first  
> flash (I'm
> hoping that will wear out the camera faster), which seems to be
> radar-triggered, but never let it make the second.
>
> But still, I try to avoid them.  There are two on my normal route  
> that I can
> avoid by paying a 65 cent toll, and I'd rather pay the toll (no toll
> booth -- it's an electronic-payment-only tollway) than take a chance  
> at
> being rear-ended by someone because I chose to stop for the light to  
> avoid a
> $75 fine.
>
> Regards,
>
> Eric Rechlin