Red-light camera queries (Houston)

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSe...

Bill: SB 1119

Caption Text: Relating to the implementation of a photographic traffic signal enforcement system; providing for the imposition of civil penalties and to the use of the money collected to help fund trauma facilities and emergency medical services; providing a criminal penalty.

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/08/redlight_ca...

Between September, when the first 10 cameras when up, and June 30, the department collected about $3.5 million in revenue. The program has cost about $1.5 million, leaving about $2 million to pay for other public safety programs.

Given that this tax has generated less money than hoped for by our local government, I can only assume they will add additional cameras to make up for the revenue shortfall - or maybe add speed cameras.

Because this is all about the money, not safety.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5073732.html

Red-light camera law may soon get stricter
Illegal turns — such as only slowing to go right on red — would be ticketed

CAMERA COUNTS
The facts about the Houston Police Department's red-light camera program, through June 30:

• 89,000 citations

• 442 citations per day, on average

• The busiest intersection is West Road at the North Freeway (1,066 citations, on average, per month). The slowest is North Shepherd at the North Loop (19 citations, on average, per month).

• Monthly citations have declined from a height of 15,293 in April, when only 40 intersections were monitored, to 14,201 in May and 13,512 in June.

Source: Houston Police Department

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5073732.html

Illegal turns — such as only slowing to go right on red — would be ticketed

Houston drivers will have another week of grace when it comes to turning at intersections monitored by red-light cameras, after City Council this morning delayed a vote that would have tightened enforcement.

Red light cameras are ***only*** to improve public safety, right. They tax us, I mean, fine us, only because they really want to reduce wrecks and the fact that they get our money, is just a by-product, right?

And short yellows with lots of tickets is better for public safety, than properly setting the length of the yellow. The fact they get lots of money with the short yellows and none with a longer yellow has nothing to do with it - after all, all politicans are solely motivated by the "good" they can do, not the money or power they wield over us masses.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5091190.html

Houston police quietly have moved to install new red-light cameras at 20 intersections already monitored by the system, allowing citations for motorists traveling in the opposite direction, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The 20 new cameras are expected to start working Friday. Motorists caught by the new cameras would be issued warnings during a month-long grace period ending in October, police said.

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/09/redlight_ca...

[includes video]

more than 100 public vehicles, including police cruisers and school buses, were nabbed during the first five months the cameras were operational.

Not much has changed, according to records we've received under the Texas Public Information Act.

In the camera system's first year, more than 520 such vehicles have been cited, resulting in about $40,000 in fines, the records show. City vehicles were responsible for $16,425 of that. The Houston Police Department, whose officers monitor the program, had the most citations: 103.

http://www.chron.com/mm/ymap/lightcams/

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5173908.html

Red-light cameras also snaring police

More than 520 tickets have been issued to public agencies since operation began

More than 100 Houston police vehicles moving through intersections without emergency lights were cited in the first year of the cameras' operation, according to ticket data.

Recent changes to Houston's red-light camera program take effect Monday:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5173908.html

• Turns: The City Council recently changed the camera ordinance to allow citations for motorists who turn right or left on red without stopping, as required by state law.

• New approaches: Twenty new cameras were recently installed to monitor alternate angles at some of the 50 intersections already covered by the program. They now will begin issuing citations. All the locations can be found at www.chron.com/mm/ymap/lightcams

New state law now allows red light cameras to be set up outside of major city limits. countys can now enforce red light cameras. they have set them up in the woodlands.

The following was reported in the 9/29/07 Houston Chronicle.

From Sept. 1, 2006 through Sept.1 2007 there have been more than 100,000 citations issued to all motorists. There have been more than 520 tickets isssued to local public schools, governments and the area's transit agency during this period. The more than 520 public citations amounted to nearly $40,000 in fines. All the agencies say they require the employees to pay the fines and in some cases, undergo extra training to avoid repeat offenses.

At least one school district terminates bus drivers for running red lights. METRO (the transit authority) said it suspends bus operators for violations and a third citation results in termination.

If you can believe the Chronicle, most public citations are paid for by the violators.

BTW another 20 cameras go into operation on Oct. 1, 2007 bringing the total to 70 cameras in the Houston area.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5247376.html

Red light cameras installed at 50 intersections throughout the city have generated more than $6 million for the city since the program was launched last fall, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Thursday.

Hate to continue to be cynical about red light cameras, but it's just another way for a greedy local government to create another revenue stream. Has nothing to do with safety - they say that simply for public relations.

The same is with speeding ticket, 80% of the time!

I was talking with coworker today and it is ironic that the "safest" time to speed (not recklessly) is when there is traffic. Being by yourself, you are sasking for a ticket!

ROTFL! My monitor now is a mess.

Jeff

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/11/red_light_c...

Judge Sharolyn Wood's preliminary ruling looks like a victory for the city in Felix Michael Kubosh et al v. City of Houston. His brother, lawyer Paul Kubosh, assisted in the lawsuit, which sought to attack the cameras on mulitiple legal fronts.

The judge's letter said the program is constitutional, and the city had the authority to operate the cameras even before Sept. 1, when a state law regulating the programs went into effect.

http://www.chron.com/mm/ymap/lightcams/

Interesting article about red light cameras in Texas and other locations. The myth that the motivation for the cameras is public saftey is now dispelled. Some jurisidictions are shortening the yelow light timing as revenue from the cameras drops off due to altered behavior/known locations.

http://forums.lubbockonline.com/cgi-bin/bb/ultimatebb.cgi?ub...

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/11/magazine_re...

Red-light cameras are all about raising more revenue, critics charge. But "there's growing proof that that complaint is off base," Governing magazine reports this month

http://www.governing.com/archive/2007/nov/tranbrfs.txt

I gotta find articles like this for the Dallas area. Lots of good reading...

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/11/redlight_ca...

Asking whether red-light cameras "work" depends on what you mean by work: Do they deter people from running red lights? (As measured by tickets issued) Do they cut the number of crashes? Injuries? Deaths? If a city decides to install the cameras, they need to be clear about what the criteria for "success" will be.

Running red lights causes an estimated 100,000 crashes per year in the U.S., and 1,000 deaths (Federal Highway Administration). Texas appears to have the fourth-highest rate of red-light fatalities in the U.S. (Texas Transportation Institute).

Red-light cameras are not the only way to change driver behavior at red lights. Increasing the duration of the yellow light by as little as one second can lead to a 50 percent reduction in red-light violations. (See the IIHS study, discussed below). Mauz is in favor of this technique.

http://blogs.chron.com/cityhall/archives/2007/11/redlight_ca...

Red-light cameras in Dallas, Plano and Garland [PDF]: The three cities, which also have installed systems, filed a "friend of the court" brief to support Houston's defense in a lawsuit over the RLC program. This PDF contains copies of the three ordinances establishing the cameras in each city, and some short-term, preliminary data on crash reductions in Dallas and Plano (p. 8-9)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5333942.html

The number of motorists nabbed by red-light cameras spiked dramatically last month after Houston police added 20 locations and began citing illegal turns.

The top 5 citation locations in Houston
http://www.chron.com/disp/dispcomp2.mpl?cid=8924941

http://www.click2houston.com/news/14712776/detail.html

Police Say Man Was Trying To Avoid Traffic Ticket

According WBIR-TV, investigators found a Ruger M77, Mack II 30-60 Rifle, and a new box of bullets with four missing. Police said one of the bullets went through the camera's casing.

Guess it depends on where you look:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5333942.htm...

The number of motorists nabbed by the city's red-light cameras spiked dramatically last month after the Houston Police Department added 20 locations and began citing illegal turns, records show.

The department noted about 27,000 violations last month, more than twice the total in September, according to a review of camera data released to the Houston Chronicle.

The 130 percent increase from September to October was not too much of a surprise, police say, because the state began requiring citations for illegal turns — and because the new cameras went up at the city's busiest intersections.

"I expected an increase," said Martha Montalvo, an executive assistant chief who oversees officers tracking the program. "I had no idea what the increase was going to be."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23710970