Bullshit Traffic Cameras

[Lebowski]

The Plain Dealer recently ran a story about those new traffic cameras implemented by the city to curb speeding and running red lights. The cameras are fixed on top of traffic lights and automatically take photographs of cars that are being driven at excessive speeds and when someone passes through an intersection when there is a red light. The article mentioned that the city has acculated over $230,000 in fines in one month.

I got nipped by the cameras for speeding on Chester Ave, as I was rushing home from the airport in order to catch the kickoff of the OSU-ND Fiesta Bowl. (I went to Chicago for New Years)

A week later, I received my ticket. For me, there is no reason to fight it, because I was speeding....but my problem is that they only photograph the car, and unlike other cities, there is no photo of the driver. That means anytime you loan your car to someone, they could get one of these tickets, leaving you responsible, putting points on your license, and raising insurance premiums.

Complete bullshit if you ask me.

[HoodooMan]

I got nipped by the cameras for speeding on Chester Ave, as I was rushing home from the airport in order to catch the kickoff of the OSU-ND Fiesta Bowl.

Aren't all the lights timed on Chester? God knows I tried to break through the cycle time after time, but I don't believe I ever succeeded. One of maybe three streets I'm aware of in the Cleveland area where it's just pointless to try to speed. And BTW, if your destination is University Circle a much better (and more scenic) option is MLK. It doesn't sound like it makes any sense, and it looks like you're going out of your way by waiting to get off 90 so much longer, but zero lights vs. what seems like about a hundred makes all the difference.

That means anytime you loan your car to someone, they could get one of these tickets, leaving you responsible, putting points on your license, and raising insurance premiums.

That doesn't bother me so much. What's bullshit to me is that it changes all the rules of the game. Even if a cop sees the front end of my car take a nose dive the second I see him, the unwritten rule I always figured was that if I can get my car down to around 10mph over the speed limit in a timely fashion then regardless of how fast I WAS going, I'm driving safe ENOUGH to not get pulled over.

You wouldn't happen to know how many mph over the speed limit you have to be going for one of these things to tag you, do you? Or how red the light has to be for you to be considered running it?