Red Light Camera Alerts in NYC
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 11:12am
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  17 years
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I was just in NYC and found difficulty in using my GPS due to the Red Light Camera Alerts. Alerts were showing every few blocks, and the alert covered the bar at the top which shows the next turn. I was driving "blind", and at the earliest convenience had to pull over and turn off the alerts. Works great at home, but in a heavy concentration of cameras, it was terrible. Wish there was a way to temporarily turn off alerts for a single POI, i.e. turn off redlight but leave on the others.
666
I was just in NYC and found difficulty in using my GPS due to the Red Light Camera Alerts. Alerts were showing every few blocks, and the alert covered the bar at the top which shows the next turn. I was driving "blind", and at the earliest convenience had to pull over and turn off the alerts. Works great at home, but in a heavy concentration of cameras, it was terrible. Wish there was a way to temporarily turn off alerts for a single POI, i.e. turn off redlight but leave on the others.
Dear MK,
I live in Brooklyn (NYC) and I find that there is no problem as I have set the notification at 666 feet, which is very easy to set in manual mode as I am hitting the same key three times (I use 1321 feet for a quarter mile for the same reason -- ease of keystrokes). Of course, some may suggest that 666 is appropriate for other reasons.
david
nüvi 1490T, V1, Sanyo PRO-700a, maps, sunglasses, hot co-pilot, the open road
Shorter Alert Distance
Yes, I agree that the default alert distance in POI Loader of 1320 feet is too long. At 1320 feet you get four alerts for EACH camera. In NYC that is two to three blocks. If every intersection has a camera the alerts would be constant. I set POI Loader in manual and enter 500 feet proximity distance. That way I get two alerts for each camera. 500 feet is less than one city block.
dobs108 - Nassau County NY
interesting tip
Never thought of lowering the distance for the alert, might give it a try...
Alerts in NYC can drive you bonkers!
I drive for a living and found that shortening the alert to 528 feet (0.1 miles) is my comfort zone.
nüvi 3590LMT "always backup your files"
I Might Try This
I don't live in New York and I try to avoid driving through it, but I might give this a try anyway. In Providence, with the setting I have for my red alert cameras I can be on I-95 itself and have my red alert klaxon go off four times. Once for each of the four cameras that surround I-95 on the streets that cross it in one spot.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams
Might Not Do Any Good
The same thing happens in depressed limited-access expressways, with parallel service roads and intersections at street level, in New York City. As you are driving at 65 mph, you get one alert after another from the red light POIs, even with the short proximity distance of 500 feet.
A_user and others have said the proximity area is not a radius but a rectangle 50 feet wide and as long as your setting in POI Loader. These nearby intersections must be within 50 feet of the expressway lanes. Perhaps nothing can be done about this.
dobs108
Hadn't thought of readjusting the alert distance.
Reloading with a shorter distance does make sense, but only if you live in those areas with the high concentration of cameras. I will consider it when I go back to NYC, however, if there is a large concentration of cameras, it probably is easier to turn off the alerts as cameras every block or two can be considered as cameras at every light for the purpose of driving safety. When outside of city limits, I can turn on the alerts again.
Still wish there was a way to turn off and on the alerts on the fly, by POI.
Garmin StreetPilot c530, Mapsource
dfittio
dfittio
nuvi 250 --> 1250T --> 265T Lost my 1250T
Alert Distance
I find that the default alert distance works just fine. It give me enough time to know to get ready to stop or slow down if its a stale green light or not. Plus, I dont have to worry about changing the distance in poi loader every time I get an update. Give it a try...i'm sure you will think the same.
It Depends
It depends on how far apart the intersections are. In large areas of NYC, they are about 570 feet apart. If the alert distance is 1320 feet, the alerts start two intersections before the camera intersection. This is confusing enough if there is only one camera in the area, but if every block has a camera the alerts are always on.
dobs108
Problem is that NYC is a
Problem is that NYC is a very dense area so I don't go there unless I have to
-Chris