Cameras & Inclement Weather

Inclement weather may have a MINOR impact on the ability of a camera to photograph license plates. Snow might build up around the opening for the camera lens, and slush will obscure the license plate. A driver MIGHT get lucky and not get a ticket for speeding because of weather conditions, but how would they know?

If you think about it, heavy rain or snowfall has a much more significant effect on driving habits. Most drivers TEND to be a little more cautious in downpours or snow storms, so they're not as likely to be speeding or rolling through red lights. You wouldn't get a camera ticket driving under the speed limit in a snow storm, but you could still get into an accident if you were driving too fast for the weather and road conditions!

The cameras are looking down at an angle and snow will not cover the lens. It is rare that you see anybody's plate covered with snow. The falling snow will not prevent them from getting the plate. In Nassau and Suffolk County NY the cameras are full-motion video, so it's more likely they will see the plate.

Drivers should be used to driving in snow around here - it snows a lot. But there is more red light running and speeding (too fast for conditions) in snow than in good weather. People are driving like it isn't even snowing. They are going so fast that when the light turns red, there is no chance of stopping.

Drivers of 4-wheel-drive vehicles are the worst offenders. Anytime a vehicle rolls over or runs off the road to be hopelessly stuck in deep snow, it is an SUV. This happens so often we are not even surprised anymore!

dobs108

All 4 wheel drive does is help you get moving faster. To use it to its full advantage in snow conditions is a lot more than the average idiot can grasp. But the feeling is "I've got 4 wheel drive - I'm invincible!"

I wave and toot my horn at them when they are stuck in the snow off the road because they were speeding by me and thought they were invincible.

If the snow is so thick you can't see 20 feet ahead, I would guess the cameras would be useless there... I wouldn't go blindly cruising through any intersections though...

The RLC will watch for California stops on a right turn. Those who are driving in heavy snow, might tend to avoid complete stops. you don't get stuck till you stop.

Up here, the saying goes "all four wheel drive gets you is stuck deeper in the snow, further off the road".

That is soooooo true!!!
I can honestly say that in the wintertime I see more trucks/4x4's in the ditches than 'regular cars'!!

I actually drive a firebird in the winter..rear wheel..light in rear. Bad combo right?
Not so much....
With a few bags of salt in the back and a set Altimax Arctic snow tires, my bird pulls thru the snow ridiculously easy!

I've noticed that pickup trucks have a knack for collecting snow around the rear license plate. It seems that a lot of people don't make sure that area is clear of snow.

Something that I find notable about RLC intersections in inclement weather, are the use of LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs. LEDs cannot melt snow, and sometimes obscure traffic signals.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/winter-hazard-in-...

"Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Transportation has aggressively pushed for replacing incandescent traffic signals with LED lights, requiring communities that install red-light cameras to use LED traffic lights at those intersections because they burn brighter, said Priscilla Tobias, an IDOT safety engineer.

LEDs 'are much more visible to the motorist so they have more time to see the traffic signal and react," Tobias said. "Not only are we addressing energy efficiency, we're also improving safety at intersections.'"

At dangerous intersections in my area, the state has been installing LED traffic signals with larger sized lights, and more lights than before.

In areas without street lights, the glare from these signals is so bright at night that you can't see the intersection or past the intersection as you approach. This is a very dangerous situation.

At one location, a traffic signal on a state highway with a steep hill and a curve, I have to turn left onto a side road that goes at an angle. I can't see the pavement markings or where the road is.

My vision is good, and I could always drive through there safely with the old incandescent traffic signal.

dobs108

It's not the DOT replacing the incandescent lamps because they want to, it's because the EPA made it a requirement "to reduce greenhouse gasses from power generation."

Please provide a link showing that the EPA requires use of LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs.

.

They are called 4-wheel DRIVE, not 4-wheel STOP.

You are quoting Box Car.

dobs108

Indeed. Both my vehicles are SUVs and have 4WD. What I tell everyone is: "all 4WD means is that you won't get stuck in the snow".

You can do better than other people driving a 2WD regarding speed, but not abuse it like the many idiots you see on the side of the road (usually upside down). You have to account for a LOT longer distance to stop if you are going faster than the average car. Also, one shouldn't "disrupt" traffic by swerving between cars to pass others if there are vehicles on both sides going slow on the snow (I see that often too, always people in 4wds)

I remember driving during a snow storm, the roads were icy and most people driving 2WDs were going 15/20MPH on the highway. There weren't that many cars and all were well spaced and driving on the right side. I was on the left doing 35 and it felt OK for my SUV. After I passed everyone I went on the right side, since it was cleaner, and held my speed. A Grand Cherokee passed me on the left side. Must've been doing at least 60MPH and lost sight of it quickly (not hard with the limited visibility). 15 minutes later I took a very icy exit along my way and let my car "engine-brake" to 15MPH while turning. I saw some black marks on the road going for about 300 feet. At the end of that there was a police car, an ambulance and the upside down Grand Cherokee that passed me 15 minutes ago, roof crushed (emergency vehicles got stationed along the cross-county in Westchester during storms back then, so they were on the scene quickly--probably saw the whole thing)

Definitely not a good idea to go fast on the snow or any other type of bad weather. Some people believe that the technology will compensate for their stupidity. Maybe they are just not thinking at all about the issue. People should use COMMON SENSE.

I think is was Scotty (beam me up) that said that....

Shave the whales,Hippy lights....
'Nuff said...

Just another example of why Liberalism is retarded..

We have allmost 50 cameras in Winnipeg and I got pulled over because my licence plate was covered by snow. The police said it had to be cleared because of the cameras.

In snow & sub-freezing temperatures, simply pack snow on your front & rear license plates! And, no, they won't be able to identify you from your smile!

Fred

It just shows you the stupidity of it all. So it's snowing like crazy and the wind is blowing at around 15-20 mph. Visibility (while NOT great), is still good/safe enough for one to drive in as long as one uses some caution.

Your license plate is partially covered, but using the Police theory of "clean plate or ticket", it just goes to show two things.

1.) In a lot of cases Cops don't use any common sense.

2.) Cops (in general), are NOT your friends!

The above two points I have observed many times throughout my life.. so BEWARE

Nuvi1300WTGPS

The requirement for having unobstructed plates has been in place in Winnpeg longer than there have been traffic cameras. I got such a ticket on Valor Road in 1976

I was driving along a highway in Quebec and it was pitch black, 5:00am, and PISSING rain. You couldn't really see much except for the weird red flash that I thought was lightening. Anyway months later I get a letter in the mail with a picture of the ass end of my car stating I was going 101 in a 70....... I thought it was a 100km/hr zone. What really surprised me was how clear the picture was given how bad I recalled the conditions being.

Good to know, I'd have guessed cameras were hindered by weather. Better to learn from your experience than my own

The real problem with red light cameras in snowstorms is not that they don't work, because they usually do; it's that if the roads are covered with a coating of snow, drivers can't see the stop line at the intersection. The cameras are set to go off for any driver who crosses the stop line while the light is red. It's common for drivers to think they've stopped in time, but they're over the line they can't see. If I can't see the line and I'm coming up to an RLC intersection first in my lane with the light red, I always stop at least one car length away from where I think the line is, which really ticks off some other drivers. You would have a good defense if you fought an RLC ticket you got this way, and cops are supposed to take stuff like this into consideration before sending out tickets, but who needs the risk and the hassle?

All these posts about speeding SUV's/4-wheel-drive vehicles in snowstorms are dead on. Literally sometimes. 4WD vehicles need just as much room to stop in snow, maybe more because they weigh more, than passenger cars. 4WD brakes are no more effective than any other brakes, and stopping distances are much longer on snow-covered roads. Too many 4WD drivers sail by like the roads are clean and dry. Dead men driving.

All these posts about speeding SUV's/4-wheel-drive vehicles in snowstorms are dead on. Literally sometimes. 4WD vehicles need just as much room to stop in snow, maybe more because they weigh more, than passenger cars. 4WD brakes are no more effective than any other brakes, and stopping distances are much longer on snow-covered roads. Too many 4WD drivers sail by like the roads are clean and dry. Dead men driving

This is what dagarman posted and it hit the nail on the head. Alot of four wheel drivers think because they ahave all wheel driver or 4wd they walk on water but I have seen many over the years that got in trouble driving because they thought that way. As I was taughat at a young age all it does is give you more drive traction not more stoping power.

I'm wondering why it's considered going through a red light, if you cross the white line? I think everyone knows where they need to stop, but if it's not possible to stop exactly where the white line is, why does that potentially generate a ticket?

It's common for a red light violation to be defined in the local traffic ordinance as crossing the stop line after the light has turned red. It's not just sailing all the way through the intersection. If you cross that stop line before stopping, when the light is red, technically, you broke that law.

You have to have some way of defining it and measuring it so everyone can agree whether or not a violation occurred. That's why many ordinances are written to make reference to the stop line, and why many red light cameras are set to measure where the car is in relation to the stop line when the light changes to red.

They get a lot of right turn on red violations with red light cameras this way. You have to be really careful with RLCs, because a lot of us that want to go right on red do come to a complete stop but do it after crossing the stop line. In some jurisdictions, they never even mail out those tickets when caught on RLC. In other jurisdictions, where raking in revenue is the primary goal, they will enforce those, and typically, as you'd expect, this type of violation generates more RLC tickets and revenue than any other. And that's why a lot of people say RLCs are not for safety primarily, because it's not really a cause of accidents to have people turning right on red stop but do so just over the stop line, as long as they're not running into pedestrians in a crosswalk or anybody or anything else.

So, again, the problem with the snowstorm is it may obscure the stop line, and a driver can only guess where it is.

Check your state law. In Ohio, there the law says you have to stop at the stop line, but if there is none (or it is covered by snow) then you have to stop before the crosswalk, and if there is no crosswalk then you have to stop before the intersection.

"Vehicular traffic, streetcars, and trackless trolleys facing a steady red signal alone shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if none, then before entering the intersection and shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is shown "

The law about where you stop is the same in New York - so if it is snowing and you can't see the stopline or crosswalk, you stop before the intersection. I am sure the red light camera sensors still work in the snow, so if you stop too far forward do you get a summons or not? All cameras in my area are full-motion video which is reviewed by the RLC contractor before recommending a summons be sent. I hope that when they see the road is covered that you don't get a summons.

dobs108

I found this online today (at http://www.thestreet.com/story/10945914/1/7-best-cars-for-th...):

Joe DeMatio, an editor for Automobile Magazine who spends winters commuting through southeast Michigan, assiduously preaches the value of snow tires to average Americans who are "completely ignorant" of their benefits. While he's aware many drivers are put off by the extra $1,000 to $2,000 it costs to buy and maintain an extra set of wheels or tires, he also seems miffed that the same consumer base will splurge for an SUV with four-wheel drive. That drive system may dislodge an SUV from a snow pile more easily that a rear-wheel drive or front-wheel drive vehicle would. Without snow tires gripping the road, though, there's little that will help that vehicle's hulking mass stop once the driver hits the brakes.

"Especially early in the season when there's a big snow and you're driving up and down the freeway, invariably the vehicles you see on the side of the road or in ditches are SUVs much more than cars," DeMatio says. "SUVs tend to make people feel invincible because they have traction and ground clearance, but they don't stop any better and have a higher center of gravity, so they're easier to roll."

There are two groups of 4X4, SUV drivers, the ones who can drive them properly and the ones you see in the ditch.

The latter will claim they are part of the former.

I hold to the truth the only thing 4 wheel drive does is get you moving faster.