Mike
Site Co-Founder
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/l...cle_6b740b76-e8c7-5e6a-95eb-1c0622f66e24.html
comments on article:
red light cameras target car owners, not bad drivers; cause increase in accident producing injuries; car owners can ignore tickets
vehicle owners are targeted not bad driver.
Vehicle owners can **fight back** by refusing to respond to mailed red light camera tickets - their right under Va. law and would drive the program to be revenue negative if the city must pay for persona service for a lot of accused owners.
According to initial analysis by the national motorists association, it appears this intersection and probably other Richmond intersections do not comply with state and federal standards for timing of yellow lights etc., and so the Richmond red light ticket scamera scheme seems ripe for further investigation.
More background:
Red light cameras tend to increase the number of injury producing accidents because drivers behave differently at these intersections based upon asymmetric information and fear of the cameras, causing rear enders and establishing incentive for localities to make the intersections more dangerous by shortening yellow timing less than fed standards, etc.
Most people should know this already, but just in case, the rule is this: unless you are served personally (i.e., deputy hands you the summons), there is no penalty for ignoring red light camera tickets mailed to you or tacked to your door. See blogs at http://blog.motorists.org/toss-your-...-camera-ticket & http://757hamptonroads.com/2010/08/2.../#comment-3026
Let's get the word out - if localities know they will not make money on ticket scammeras, they will not engage in these accident producing schemes.
See 2005 VDOT red light camera report at http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/05-vdot.pdf:
As the 2005 RLC VDOT report states in Appendix H: Virginia’s red light camera law “ultimately requires a personal notification, which may prove prohibitively expensive for some jurisdictions.”
In summary, in Virginia, there is no penalty for not responding to a **mailed** red light camera ticket - personal service, meaning a Sheriff's deputy finding you and personally handing you the car owner a red light camera violation summons is required - the city does not have enough money to pay for such personal service for every red light camera ticket - if enough people refuse to respond to red light camera tickets in Richmond, then the program becomes "revenue negative," and the city will be forced to shut down this dangerous program.
comments on article:
red light cameras target car owners, not bad drivers; cause increase in accident producing injuries; car owners can ignore tickets
vehicle owners are targeted not bad driver.
Vehicle owners can **fight back** by refusing to respond to mailed red light camera tickets - their right under Va. law and would drive the program to be revenue negative if the city must pay for persona service for a lot of accused owners.
According to initial analysis by the national motorists association, it appears this intersection and probably other Richmond intersections do not comply with state and federal standards for timing of yellow lights etc., and so the Richmond red light ticket scamera scheme seems ripe for further investigation.
More background:
Red light cameras tend to increase the number of injury producing accidents because drivers behave differently at these intersections based upon asymmetric information and fear of the cameras, causing rear enders and establishing incentive for localities to make the intersections more dangerous by shortening yellow timing less than fed standards, etc.
Most people should know this already, but just in case, the rule is this: unless you are served personally (i.e., deputy hands you the summons), there is no penalty for ignoring red light camera tickets mailed to you or tacked to your door. See blogs at http://blog.motorists.org/toss-your-...-camera-ticket & http://757hamptonroads.com/2010/08/2.../#comment-3026
Let's get the word out - if localities know they will not make money on ticket scammeras, they will not engage in these accident producing schemes.
See 2005 VDOT red light camera report at http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/05-vdot.pdf:
As the 2005 RLC VDOT report states in Appendix H: Virginia’s red light camera law “ultimately requires a personal notification, which may prove prohibitively expensive for some jurisdictions.”
In summary, in Virginia, there is no penalty for not responding to a **mailed** red light camera ticket - personal service, meaning a Sheriff's deputy finding you and personally handing you the car owner a red light camera violation summons is required - the city does not have enough money to pay for such personal service for every red light camera ticket - if enough people refuse to respond to red light camera tickets in Richmond, then the program becomes "revenue negative," and the city will be forced to shut down this dangerous program.