Fighting Camera Tickets?
- Thread starter mustangcy
- Start date
What does the city of CR do with the money? If it is only for safety reasons, I propose that they only keep whatever money it costs to operate the cameras and donate the balance to charity. They could have a place on the ticket where you can indicate what charity you would like your ticket to go to.
1. Does marijauna use typically lead to prison? Plus, statistics show that about 30% of Americans have smoked marijauna. Thats not exactly the average citizens. Plus, I'm of the opinion that marijuana should be decriminalized.
2. So if you aren't actively doing something, its okay for it to be a civil violation, but if you are actively violating the law, its not okay to make it a civil violation? And what does having separate ways to do it matter? If I commit a murder, I might be convicted based on eyewitness testimony. Or they might have video evidence of me committing the murder. Or they might find the gun with my finger prints on it and gun shot residue on my hands.
How assinine is it to think that something is unfair because there are multiple ways to get caught committing a crime.
3. I'm not sure the exact distance. However, the situations you talk about like avoiding a crash are really short situations. If you are obeying the speed limit the rest of the time, you'd have to be going insanely fast to avoid an accident to make it a problem.
4. Trying to look at 2007-2010 (before cameras) and 2011-2014 (after cameras) to try and match as closely to the data from the article.
Cedar Rapids crashes along the S curve dropped by more than 23%.
Fatal crashes in Iowa dropped by 15%.
Total crashes in Iowa dropped by 13%.
So Iowa has significant drop in accidents over the same period of time, but not as significant of a drop as Cedar Rapids has in the S curve.
I do disagree with Cedar Rapids fighting the DOT, but I'm not real up-to-date with the battle. In my opinion, so set standards of how speed cameras should work makes sense, I don't think the each city should make up their own rules. I also think its reasonable for the cities to show that the cameras are making a real difference in safety. Cedar Rapids is basically just fighting it on the principle that they city should be allowed to decide how to administer things.
I was glad when Clive removed their red light cameras they other year as they basically admitted that they had very little impact on reducing accidents at those intersections. It's the same reason I dislike the I235 speed cameras, they are pure money grabs especially for unsuspecting out of towners that are not aware of them and the fact that the times when most accidents occur on I235 are during rush hours which usually means traffic is going slower than the posted speed limit. It's just lazy law enforcement that generates a lot of easy dollars in my opinion.
If you live in Polk County there is a guy running for sheriff that is against the use of speed cameras as 1 of his topics of his platform so you can at least voice your opinion that way by voting out the current sheriff. It won't eliminate the city of Des Moines cameras downtown, on I235, or their mobile cameras but it could eliminate the mobile ones the Polk County Sheriff's office use if he's elected. Trying not to turn this into a political thing now by mentioning it which is why I did not mention the candidate's name or some of the other interesting things on his platform but felt it was worth mentioning this considering the relevance to this topic.
If you live in Polk County there is a guy running for sheriff that is against the use of speed cameras as 1 of his topics of his platform so you can at least voice your opinion that way by voting out the current sheriff. It won't eliminate the city of Des Moines cameras downtown, on I235, or their mobile cameras but it could eliminate the mobile ones the Polk County Sheriff's office use if he's elected. Trying not to turn this into a political thing now by mentioning it which is why I did not mention the candidate's name or some of the other interesting things on his platform but felt it was worth mentioning this considering the relevance to this topic.
I really should have known CF would turn a simple question into a chance to play judge/jury on someone they've never met then followed up by a pissing match...good grief.
Since I've been called 'whiney' and someone who doesn't except any responsibility let me just say that I drive 70 miles a day, many times every few weeks over 250 miles a day. I haven't had a speeding ticket in over 15 years, I haven't been pulled over in over 15 years. So when I say I "don't speed" of course I speed a little just like everyone but I'm a cautious good driver and my record reflects that.
Also as I said in the OP the picture of my car is literally in the middle of the road and I do have a habit of speeding up a little when passing someone to make sure I safely get passed them. I knew about the cameras which is why I make an effort not to speed on that road. I'm frustrated because I'm a guy that tries to do the right thing and here a camera gets me going a few over (1 mph less and I don't get the ticket) while passing another car. It's just wrong... a regular officer would not have given me a ticket in this situation because I would have been under 10 within seconds and I was moving to the slow lane.
It's all good, I know a lot on CF love playing the role of judge and jury...makes them feel superior or something, who knows...
Since I've been called 'whiney' and someone who doesn't except any responsibility let me just say that I drive 70 miles a day, many times every few weeks over 250 miles a day. I haven't had a speeding ticket in over 15 years, I haven't been pulled over in over 15 years. So when I say I "don't speed" of course I speed a little just like everyone but I'm a cautious good driver and my record reflects that.
Also as I said in the OP the picture of my car is literally in the middle of the road and I do have a habit of speeding up a little when passing someone to make sure I safely get passed them. I knew about the cameras which is why I make an effort not to speed on that road. I'm frustrated because I'm a guy that tries to do the right thing and here a camera gets me going a few over (1 mph less and I don't get the ticket) while passing another car. It's just wrong... a regular officer would not have given me a ticket in this situation because I would have been under 10 within seconds and I was moving to the slow lane.
It's all good, I know a lot on CF love playing the role of judge and jury...makes them feel superior or something, who knows...
More animosity towards the police force. OMG! POLICE! MONEY!! HOW DARE THEY!!!!
How in the world do you view that as animosity? That's ludicrous.
While not arguing with that data, every time I drive through the S curve the only times the traffic flow is going 55 is within 100 yards of those cameras.
I laughed when WH wanted to put speed cameras up on their 1 mile stretch of I235 and got denied. That area is the biggest bottle neck during rush hour and most accidents were not because of speed. So WH instead jus purchased a couple mobile speed cameras instead. But it's all about safety...
There's not really a better place for CR to put those cameras. The speed zone can't be changed, because that's the jurisdiction of some other entity (and CR has asked to move the speed zone for a while), and any of the other overpass signs are on the S curves already, which would probably create more problems in poor weather by having people slow down in the curves instead of prior to hitting them.
That stretch of road was absolutely awful with speeding and people being asshats prior to the cameras being in place.
Yeah, thats kind of the point. Between though camera's is dangerous if you're much above 65. Before the camera's there would be several cars weaving in and out of traffic going 75, 90, 85 mph. Now you see that far less often.
I'm consistent!
Seriously though- can you deny that cities are cash starved? Can you deny that a contributing factor is a general disdain by citizenry to add new taxes? Can you deny that the general resistance to government and more taxes is exacerbated by the almost universal disgust at how things run in DC?
Windsor Heights is nothing more than a pack of bandits. If they could legally put up road blocks and shake down passers by, they would. I won't spend a dime in that little **** hole.
Ironic that within a year of removing the cameras they had a serious accident at 142nd and Hickman. they had one there prior to the cameras but none during the time they were active. I know this as I lived away from the intersection for the time period before and during the cameras being there. But we all know that these cameras do nothing to slow people down or not run red lights correct!
If I remember right those cameras actually increased small accidents. Or at minimum didn't do anything.
The same exact thing could be accomplished, probably with better results, by changing it to all way red for an extra second or two. Anyone who ran it then just wasn't paying attention and a camera won't change that.
Yeah, that mobile unit parked along University pisses me off. I drive through Windsor Heights most days and I'm always surprised at how many people are doing 35 easy. I don't know the stats but that thing has to be an ATM on wheels for WH.
