Houston's red-light cameras click off 3,400 tickets

 
Quote:

Houston motorists have been issued nearly 3,400 red-light camera violations in the two weeks since the city's contested surveillance program was switched back on, according to figures released Monday by the camera company.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7689225.html#ixzz1UUwUMxnF

Related links

See also

Houston red-light cameras may be turned off again Read more: ht

Quote:

Houston's red-light camera vendor said on Friday that Mayor Annise Parker is trying to turn the cameras off again, and it has asked a federal judge to stop her from doing so.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7695490.htm...

So Many?

There must be a tremendous number of red light runners in Houston, huh? Don't the numbers demonstrate the need for such cameras in Houston?

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Tuckahoe Mike - Nuvi 3490LMT, Nuvi 260W, iPhone X, Mazda MX-5 Nav

When They Say It's Not About the Money

This proves that it is.

Houston Council could nix cams Friday

Quote:

Council could outlaw red-light cameras Friday

Mayor Annise Parker has called a special meeting of City Council for Friday to consider outlawing red-light cameras in Houston once and for all.

Council will consider repealing the ordinance that authorized the use of the cameras.

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/council-could-...

Red-Light Camera Operator Asks for Restraining Order Against May

And, the plot thickens...

Quote:

- American Traffic Solutions, the owner and operator of Houston’s red-light cameras, requested a restraining order against Mayor Annise Parker on Monday.

That order would have prevented Parker and the city from shutting down those controversial cameras.

But a judge struck down that request, calling ATS’ request premature, according to an ATS spokeswoman.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110815-red-light-...

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Garmin Nuvi 1690

We don't need those stinky

We don't need those stinky red light cameras. Cities should live within their means and drivers should pay attention to their surroundings.

Vote on Houston red-light cams is delayed by a week Read more:

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/vote-on-red-li...

Quote:

Vote on red-light camera resolution delayed for a week

The council will not act today on Mayor Annise Parker‘s resolution seeking its approval to shut off the city’s red-light cameras and fight its vendor in court over breach of contract. Councilwoman Sue Lovell tagged it, delaying a vote until at least next week.

Cities Should Consider This Mess

Hopefully, other cities will look at this mess before signing contracts with these red light camera companies!

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Garmin Nuvi 1690

Vendor, Houston hope for a red-light deal

Quote:

A day after Mayor Annise Parker ripped American Traffic Solutions for "jerking us around" and failing to negotiate in good faith, she said Wednesday that she hopes the two sides can reach a solution through mediation scheduled this weekend.

American Traffic Solutions' response Wednesday echoed Parker both in expressing hope for an amicable outcome by Sunday and in attacking its adversary for not playing fair.

"The mayor's manufactured outrage toward ATS is not only disingenuous, but it's also disappointing," ATS spokesman Charles Territo said. "At the same time she was issuing that statement, we were already working with her legal department on arranging settlement discussions for this weekend."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7701754.htm...

Right...

gadget_man wrote:

We don't need those stinky red light cameras. Cities should live within their means and drivers should pay attention to their surroundings.

And the stock market should never go down....like taking the cameras out would give everyone an incentive to not run red lights!!!!!I don't understand why there is such a push to get rid of them....seems the only ones that complain possibly are those that run red lights. What is the difference if you run a red light if the ticket comes from the policeman or a camera???

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Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

wonder

I wonder how many of those tickets are really running red light tickets

Differences

farrissr wrote:

What is the difference if you run a red light if the ticket comes from the policeman or a camera???

The primary differences are the real-time knowledge of doing something wrong, vs weeks later; human interaction with the PERSON that observed it; and the presence of a police car, especially with the lights on, causing other drivers to be cautious.

The real reason municipalities want the cameras is because they are cash cows! It has nothing whatsoever to do with public safety, as evidenced by the number of rear-end collisions caused by drivers slamming on the brakes when the light turns yellow so they don’t get caught in the intersection when the light turns red.

--
Garmin Nuvi 1690

I agree with you

farrissr wrote:
gadget_man wrote:

We don't need those stinky red light cameras. Cities should live within their means and drivers should pay attention to their surroundings.

And the stock market should never go down....like taking the cameras out would give everyone an incentive to not run red lights!!!!!I don't understand why there is such a push to get rid of them....seems the only ones that complain possibly are those that run red lights. What is the difference if you run a red light if the ticket comes from the policeman or a camera???

3,400 tickets in two weeks! Put more camera's in that city as they have drivers who don't seem to care if the light is red. How many cops do you need to catch every driver at every light!

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Nuvi 50LM Nuvi 2555LM

BS

Lube-Guy wrote:
farrissr wrote:

What is the difference if you run a red light if the ticket comes from the policeman or a camera???

The primary differences are the real-time knowledge of doing something wrong, vs weeks later; human interaction with the PERSON that observed it; and the presence of a police car, especially with the lights on, causing other drivers to be cautious.

The real reason municipalities want the cameras is because they are cash cows! It has nothing whatsoever to do with public safety, as evidenced by the number of rear-end collisions caused by drivers slamming on the brakes when the light turns yellow so they don’t get caught in the intersection when the light turns red.

Real-time knowledge that you are passing a Red Light, come on, you know when you passed a Red Light, don't need a cop to tell you that you did.

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Nuvi 50LM Nuvi 2555LM

Difference seems to be ...

Lube-Guy wrote:

The primary differences are the real-time knowledge of doing something wrong, vs weeks later; human interaction with the PERSON that observed it; and the presence of a police car, especially with the lights on, causing other drivers to be cautious.

The difference seems to be whether one is able to talk an arresting officer out of a ticket.

It happens (as was related to me in another thread) that someone runs a red light and does not realize it. However, that would be extremely rare if the driver is one who is paying attention to the road INSTEAD OF talking on the phone, texting (worse), putting on makeup, writing notes on things to do, reaching into the back seat to get something, etc..

From what I can observe, people make a conscious decision about running red lights and have assessed whether they can beat the perpendicular traffic. As such, they make a decision as to the likelihood of being ticketed for the traffic violation.

No sympathy here !

Have 1 red light violation in 59 years of driving. However, have been broadsided twice by people running red lights.
I'm sure that was Bush's fault !!!!!!

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MrKenFL- "Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." NUVI 260, Nuvi 1490LMT & Nuvi 2595LMT all with 2014.4 maps !

Red Light Cameras

I have to agree with you, farrissr. I didn't particularly like the idea of seeing those cameras installed in my city, but now I believe we need a lot more of them. People continue to run red lights where there are no cameras. They don't just run them because they just turned red, they continue to run them for several seconds after they turn red - just as if the light were not even there.

with our help...

Lube-Guy wrote:

Hopefully, other cities will look at this mess before signing contracts with these red light camera companies!

If we attend city/town meetings when cameras are being proposed and bring up the lawsuits, perhaps the camera companies' decision to sue their own customers could be the beginning of their end.

Prevention?

MrKenFL wrote:

Have 1 red light violation in 59 years of driving. However, have been broadsided twice by people running red lights.
I'm sure that was Bush's fault !!!!!!

If they'd had red light cameras at those intersections, would it have prevented you being broadsided?

I have never had a red light violation -- though I did get a red light camera ticket (dismissed in court) because I stopped with my front wheel over the white line after stopping for a light turned yellow. But, I have been broadsided once and I have been rearended twice for stopping at a yellow light.

I still believed that red light cameras exist only because they are cash cows, not because the bureaucrats that approve them are the least bit interested in public safety.

--
Garmin Nuvi 1690

Another article

Speeders

It is always about the money!

--
Dudlee

another Study

Report on effects of Houston-area red light monitoringcameras
Matt Loftis, Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz, and Robert Stein
Rice University, Houston Texas
August 12, 2011

Executive summary

This report tracks the impact of red light monitoring cameras on the frequencyof traffic accidents in Houston, Texas. We use data collected over seven years tosimulate the effects of camera installation and to estimate their impact. The resultsshow that cameras are associated with a long-lasting reduction in the number of collisions at Houston intersections that averages almost 30% for single cameras. Wefind that intersections with one camera benefit from reduced collisions only on theapproach with the camera, whereas those with two or more see reduced collisionsfrom all approaches. From September 2006 to December 2009, we estimate thatcamera-controlled intersections prevented about 792 collisions in total.

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/study-says-red...

Same Study by rice - different article

http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2011/08/red-light-readjustme...

a quote from the article

Like the authors of a Texas Transportation Institute report released earlier this month, our research concluded that red light cameras in the city of Houston are effective at reducing intersection collisions. Moreover, we find that the effect of red light cameras on collisions is distinct and independent of other sources of variation in intersection collisions

Great....

Dudlee wrote:

It is always about the money!

We can always use more of that!!!!

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

words

jgermann wrote:

Report on effects of Houston-area red light monitoringcameras
Matt Loftis, Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz, and Robert Stein
Rice University, Houston Texas
August 12, 2011

Executive summary

This report tracks the impact of red light monitoring cameras on the frequencyof traffic accidents in Houston, Texas. We use data collected over seven years tosimulate the effects of camera installation and to estimate their impact. The resultsshow that cameras are associated with a long-lasting reduction in the number of collisions at Houston intersections that averages almost 30% for single cameras. Wefind that intersections with one camera benefit from reduced collisions only on theapproach with the camera, whereas those with two or more see reduced collisionsfrom all approaches. From September 2006 to December 2009, we estimate thatcamera-controlled intersections prevented about 792 collisions in total.

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/study-says-red-light-cams-prevent-accidents/

operative word "simulate", and "estimate" in other words some one's opinion.

@ blake7mstr - Did not read the study, did you

blake7mstr wrote:
jgermann wrote:

Report on effects of Houston-area red light monitoringcameras
Matt Loftis, Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz, and Robert Stein
Rice University, Houston Texas
August 12, 2011

Executive summary

This report tracks the impact of red light monitoring cameras on the frequencyof traffic accidents in Houston, Texas. We use data collected over seven years tosimulate the effects of camera installation and to estimate their impact. The resultsshow that cameras are associated with a long-lasting reduction in the number of collisions at Houston intersections that averages almost 30% for single cameras. Wefind that intersections with one camera benefit from reduced collisions only on theapproach with the camera, whereas those with two or more see reduced collisionsfrom all approaches. From September 2006 to December 2009, we estimate thatcamera-controlled intersections prevented about 792 collisions in total.

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/study-says-red-light-cams-prevent-accidents/

operative word "simulate", and "estimate" in other words some one's opinion.

Houston: Red-light cams up for another vote

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/A-primer-on-...

Quote:

City Council today will consider ending Houston's red-light camera program. It has been mired in controversy since voters rejected the use of the cameras last November.

Council votes to turn off cameras

http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/08/council-votes-...

Quote:

The City Council passed a resolution today to turn off the city’s red-light cameras immediately.

Only Councilwoman Sue Lovell, who has repeatedly warned that such a vote shouldn’t be taken without knowing how much it could cost the city in potential legal damages, cast the only vote against the resolution.

The resolution is non-binding. The mayor has the authority to turn the cameras off herself. However, City Attorney David Feldman said it will help him in federal court to have a united City Council behind him. He said he expects that the red-light camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions, will ask a judge to enjoin the city from turning off the cameras.

Andy Taylor, an attorney for American Traffic Solutions, confirmed that the company will seek to block the turn-off in federal court. ATS will argue that the Council’s action is invalid and void.

dark again

guess city council has finally gotten scared of the voters, and turned off the money cameras again.

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