Red Light Cameras

lol as per nyc unofficial rule of thumb... if u see a red light cam and the light turns yellow...... STOP . As a matter of fact in certain parts of queens the trafic officers hide out by the corners and wait for people to get stuck at intersection during red and the ask them to pull over and ticket them. there justification is " its up to u to determine if u can make it threw without getting stuck."

IN TEXAS... You don't need to run the light, you can and will get a ticket for being over the "SOLID WHITE LINE"... It is the same as being in the intersection! ask my Sister she has the picture and the ticket to prove it.

CHECK THE RULES IN YOUR STATE!!!

The probability on being issued a ticket is directly proportional to the WANT of the revenue....

NYC?
YUR BONED.

This is the "don't block the box" scam. If you get ticketed by a meter maid, it is a moving violation with points, hefty fine and a possible hike in your insurance. Unfortunately, I do not have the reaction time of a cougar, so I really slow down when the rl camera alert sounds. Thanks POI Factory...

If your system is like ours. the camera is set far back enough that you can see both the traffic light and the car at the same time in the photos. The sensors are buried in the road before the intersection. There is nothing past the stop line to trigger the camera.

This system requires light to be dead red before the camera will fire... There are two shots taken about 1/2 a second apart.

One photo will show the car just -before- it enters the intersection with the light being red. It will be a few feet before the stop line.

The second photo will show the car within the intersection with the light still being red.

If the light isn't full red in BOTH photos, a ticket won't be issued.

Ask the person to show you the photos on the ticket. That will settle whether the light was red or amber.

In Manhattan if your car is in the "box" when the light turns red you Will get a ticket. The only ones who don't are city busses. The same ones who can spew nasty smoke out of teir stacks.

In New York City, "Don't block the box" means don't block the intersection in a traffic jam (as in gridlock). Hundreds of these intersections are in Manhattan and they have diagonal stripes inside the "box" where the streets intersect. If you are caught inside the box by a police officer or traffic enforcement officer, it is a moving violation with points on your license.

According to richardhuang, we not only have red light and speed cams, we have "don't block the box" cams! This is a whole different animal, and we must report these locations. Miss POI must now compile a "don't block the box" file!

dobs108 I never drive in Manhattan!

You have the right solution. Driving in Manhattan is no picnic.

one of my NYC friends drives there everyday. She has to honks "loudly" (not sure how she did) to pedestrians who are talking on the phones while crossing the street, or she will not be able to make it through before the light turns red.

I beleive in Ohio, also other states, if u do not trip the first camera (light MUST be full res), there is nothing to trip the 2nd light, so NO ticket. Check ur state law on this.

Get a rope!

jwt873, just curious: which system is your system?

But yes I think you're explanation is correct. When i received my red-light ticket in the mail, both pictures were red, so my original explanation was faulty.

The camera will only take pictures after the light is red. Once it's red, and a car happens to cross that sensor, it will then snap that picture as you enter the intersection, then another soon after to see you crossing the intersection while it was still red.

I was unfortunately in a bit of a hurry and was following a realllllly slow driver making a left turn, so he made it and I got caught trying to follow.

This seems to answer my question... If you are already in the intersection before the light is red, a picture WILL NOT be taken.

BUT from some other responses, it sounds like COPS will still give you a ticket if you haven't exited the intersection by the time red light hits, you're getting pulled over. Which is what my friend had told me too.

Any more experiences to prove this theory? =D
I'd love to hear.

From richardhuang's explanation, he is talking about getting a ticket from a red light camera - and - getting a ticket for blocking the intersection.

There is no evidence that the red light camera will give you a ticket for blocking the intersection. That can only be given by a police officer or traffic enforcement agent on the scene. I haven't heard that the New York State legislature granted the authority for a camera to give a ticket for blocking the intersection.

In Manhattan, where there are hundreds of red light cameras at the intersections with the highest traffic; they literally have a traffic enforcement agent always on duty at these intersections, and others, to immediately serve summonses for blocking the intersection. It matters little whether a camera is involved. At these intersections, traffic moves so slowly (as in gridlock) that it is highly likely you will be caught blocking the intersection through no fault of your own, but you still get the summons. It is a moving violation (no pun intended!) with points on your license.

Richard, where do you drive in Manhattan? My advice is to take the subway, like I do. We haven't even gotten into finding a parking space!

dobs108

I was in a restaurant last week in Nassau County NY, and my seat gave me a great view of an intersection with a red light camera.

I watched it for several light changes, and noticed that the camera absolutely took pictures when someone was waiting to make a left turn inside the box, the light turned red, then the driver proceeded (having to say cheese).

I don't know if they will receive a ticket, but the definitely had their picture taken.

Someone had pointed out to me that all the cameras they had seen WERE at intersections with left turn arrows. All the ones I looked at after I was told that did have left turn arrows. I wonder if that has any significance to the cameras.

All Nassau County NY red light cameras are full-motion video cams, even though there is a flash.

While inside the intersection waiting to make a left turn, and the traffic signal turns red, it is legal for one driver to turn left on red, and not more than one. The second driver in line to make this turn is doing it illegally.

It may take a long time to make this turn safely because drivers going in the opposite direction are running the light, passing the red signal not only after a couple of seconds but ten seconds or even more than that. No matter how long it takes, that one driver is making a left on red legally. The camera flashes, but no summons will be sent...

...IF you believe that those who are reviewing the video are to be trusted. There is great doubt in the mind of the public that this review will be done fairly.

All red light camera intersections in Nassau County NY have been chosen because they are very busy, and they naturally have left-turn arrows and even right-turn arrows. The more chaos in the intersection, the more RLC fines!

dobs108 Nassau County NY - a suburb of New York City

I see many different topics and issues being brought up from the responses. Mainly from dobs. I should probably start some new threads on them, if they don't already exist!

I didn't know that it was a legal rule that ONLY ONE car is allowed to make a left turn at the intersection. That's good to know (I'm guilty of following along after the light turns red. But hey sometimes you just gotta especially in the city).

But the thing you said about cars running red lights not for 1 second, but TEN seconds not allowing a car to turn left kinda struck me. That can't be right. Where do people do that? TEN SECONDS?! That's crazy! That's an accident waiting to happen (I don't like to waste time so i hit the gas after a light turns green, so if people are still zooming down running red lights, thats quite dangerous). BUT that's probably EXACTLY why high traffic intersections have cameras to prevent this.

So thanks get2mike for your response. In addition to this, you mentioned that all intersections with these left turn lanes tend to have cameras. There is a relation there. That usually means these are very busy intersections. I read somewhere that all the red light cameras are placed in the most high traffic/accident areas. So that makes alot of sense.

Usually these cameras are set back far to catch whole intersection, so no matter which side the red light is being run from, it will still take a picture. I do recall getting my picture taken once (noticing a huge flash behind me as i turned left, saying AW CRAP), but never got ticketed for it. So i guess there are people actually reviewing all these photos.

Back to dobs. You mentioned that there are enforcement agents at all these intersections in manhattan. I don't know if I fully agree with that. I tend to drive alot in manhattan (all over the place from lower east side area all the way to 34th st. and occasionally higher) I rarely ever see traffic officers at intersections UNLESS it is rush hours/holidays.

My wife's friend got a red light camera ticket in Queens (NYC). She saw the light was turning and stopped. When she told them she stopped they said her bumper was in the intersection. If your bumper is in the intersection on a red light you get a ticket.

Sounds like a DOUBLE STANDARD to me!

In Manhattan, not Queens, if you are still in the intersection (the box with zebra-striped wide diagonal lines) after the light turns red, you receive a summons for a MOVING violation with points on your license! This is to prevent gridlock. I think that red light cameras cannot do this and it must be a traffic enforcement or a police officer.

Richard, are there intersections in Queens where they do this?

dobs108

Richard, you are right, and Saturday and Sunday are included for many intersections. Just recently on a Saturday afternoon, I was driving from Harlem, Manhattan, about 130th Street, across the bridge to the Bronx, in a traffic jam. The last intersection before the bridge did not have a RLC, but it did have a live traffic enforcement agent ready to write a summons.

dobs108