Traffic Cameras Rife With Bogus Violations, Audit Shows

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News



At an intersection in Baltimore, video shows a driver clearly stopped, but the unmanned speed camera cited the car, with brake lights on and traffic whizzing in front of it, for going 38 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone.

It’s a costly mistake at $40 a ticket, and a pretty common one at that, according to an audit leaked to the Baltimore Sun that has the city council investigating.

An evaluation in 2012 by consultant URS Corp. of the camera system run by Xerox State and Local Solutions found an error rate of more than 10 percent, a figure 40-times higher than initial claims, The Sun reported.......

“If there is one thing we know about the power of markets is that if you give people financial incentives it will change their behavior, and so if you give companies an incentive to ticket more, lo and behold they will ticket more,” said Phineas Baxandall, a senior analyst with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “That is not really what this should be about. This should be about maintaining safety.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2014/01/traffic-cameras-rife-with-bogus-violations-audit-shows/

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Yet more reasons not to outsource a government function. When the hell should it be OK for a private company to write traffic tickets (and profit from them)? Note that I'm not inherently against traffic light cameras (not since a wonderful 8 year old child I knew was killed by a moron who ran a red light), but I'm vehemently opposed to a private for-profit company operating the things.

[Warpy]

1. Big scandal here were that the cameras were aimed

to pop drivers waiting to take left turns and who had to do them on yellow because there was no way to back up. Re aiming the cameras made them cost ineffective, so when the contract was up, they went.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Where is the Libertarian Traffic Camera Demolition Crew when you need it?

Decisions are made outside of politics now. No candidate will run on
removing traffic cameras that effectively frame citizens. Below the radar.
Oh yeah, that's automatic too.

This kind of stuff is going to continue until ordinary citizens stand up and
run for office and vow to change it. These automatic ticket machines should
not tolerate any failure rate. They should be foolproof.

[AndyTiedye]

3. This is What Happens to them in the UK

[SunSeeker]

8. LOL nt

[DallasNE]

4. It's Not The Cameras But The Error Rates That Is The Problem

I have received 2 such tickets at $106 a pop. On one the light was yellow for roughly 1.5 seconds and the camera showed me touching the line .1 second after the light changed. It was clearly a light malfunction. On the other one a SUV left turned in front of me though it wasn't that close but about 40-50 feet behind it and hidden from sight was a small sedan that rushed through the light causing me to break hard but I was now so close to the intersection I could not stop without being a good car length out into the intersection so I decided to go. The camera showed me going 16mph in a 40mph zone and .3 seconds late. In my mind the wrong person got the ticket. Technically you can fight the tickets but the cost of doing that would exceed the cost of the ticket. I'm not sure the error rate can be reduced enough to make them a net positive so I think they should go. Regarding safety, they should be able to compare accident rates before and after cameras were installed. If there is no statistical difference then it is hard to justify them on safety.

[Ned Flanders]

15. I've received two bogus camera tickets

One was from the Los Angeles area, which I haven't visited in several years, the other from the Bay Bridge, which I also haven't crossed in a long time. It is my understanding that the County of LA was investigated over this issue. although it could've been some other local government down there....

[yellowcanine]

17. I fought a red light ticket where my front wheels were over the line but vehicle clearly stopped.

The judge threw it out. Yeah I had to take some comp time to fight the ticket but other than that it did not really cost me anything. I usually have trouble getting my comp time taken within the 30 day window anyway. I think one factor in the judge's decision was that this light had a really short yellow and there were a number of other people there with basically the same complaint. So the take home message is that the judges are well aware of which are the problem lights or speed cameras so it will often benefit you to go tell your story if you think you have a legitimate beef. Of course the flip side is that if they got you dead to rights just pay the ticket. The only thing you are out is cash, you get no points the way you would have had a cop ticketed you. Points can put you into the high risk insurance category and that will cost you a lot more than the $40 or so for a red light ticket. So I prefer the cameras to the cops writing tickets even though I get more tickets.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. Big Brother's Big Cameras

We're watching you.

[Snarkoleptic]

6. A lot of these cameras are run by 3 companies in AZ and TX.

Much of the revenue that is generated is kept by these companies, which pulls money out of the local economy and slows economic activity to enrich the few.

http://worldjusticeproject.org/blog/3-private-companies-making-money-red-light-tickets

American Traffic Solutions, Inc.- This Arizona-based company bills itself as "a leading provider of technology enabled business and service solutions for Road Safety Camera operations." What they don't tell the public is that one-third of the company is owned by Goldman Sachs, or that they keep up to 86 percent of the profit on their red light cams. Critics say ATS, Inc. is getting rich while the municipalities they supply are barely breaking even after expenses.

--snip--

Redflex Traffic Systems.- Phoenix, Arizona-based Redflex is second after ATS, Inc. as a provider of red light cameras, with more than 2,000 of the devices placed in cities across the United States and Canada. Their revenues totalled more than $92 million in 2011. The company keeps up to 88 percent of the proceeds from traffic violations caught using its equipment.

--snip--

Affiliated Computer Services- This former Fortune 500 Company is a subsidiary of the Xerox Corporation. It is based out of Dallas, Texas and now operates in over 100 countries. Its annual revenue is in the billions, and it was the subject of an SEC investigation in 2005 due to the unethical business practices of its then-CEO, Mark King and CFO Warren Edwards, who both resigned. The company was bought out by Xerox in 2010 and provides red light cams to cities all over North America through its Transportation Solutions Group.

[go west young man]

10. Good info.

Looks like just one more way to gouge the general public. It's not about safety. It's a money making racket for some greedy bastards as usual. Just like health insurance. A smart government would make the machines themselves and keep all the profits. Why have a middle man when he's keeping 88% of the take? Same with health insurance.

[dickthegrouch]

14. We ahould have a new Constitutional amendment in each State

Government business may not be outsourced out of State nor any of its work, processes, or material purchases unless there is no such material produced in-State.

[yurbud]

18. or privatized. There is something creepy about giving a private company the power to

enforce laws, arrest, and imprison people, especially when they make a profit by doing so.

[happyslug]

7. Philadepahia has had little problems with their red light cameras

Now, one of the reasons may be that Philadelphia being in Pennsylvania can NOT use Radar to determine the speed people are going (Radar is reserved to the State Police only in Pennsylvania). Thus the only tickets were people running red lights not speeding.

One side affect was right after the cameras were installed you saw an increase in accidents in such intersections, but a drop in fatalities. The increase in accidents has since dropped, but the drop in fatalities has continued to drop.

They cite studies such as one by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Advisory Committee, which found a 66 percent reduction in deaths and a 24 percent drop in injuries at Philadelphia intersections with red-light cameras in operation for at least three years

http://articles.philly.com/2013-10-30/news/43497911_1_red-light-cameras-25-intersections-philadelphia-intersections

A 2011 IIHS study of large cities with longstanding red light cameras found that cameras reduced the fatal red light running crash rate by 24 percent and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections by 17 percent.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/study-provides-more-evidence-that-cameras-reduce-red-light-running-decrease-is-biggest-for-most-dangerous-violations-well-into-red-cycle

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/study-provides-more-evidence-that-cameras-reduce-red-light-running-decrease-is-biggest-for-most-dangerous-violations-well-into-red-cycle

http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4601.pdf

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/tag/red-light-camera/

http://www.photoenforced.com/philadelphia.html#.UuscKj1dU7k

[Indi Guy]

9. We're supposed to be able to face our accuser in court.

How does that work with a RoboCop cam?

[bucolic_frolic]

13. A guy from New Zealand told me

that in Thailand, they call speed bumps "Sleeping Policemen"

Does that make RoboCams "Texting Policemen"?

[Blue_Tires]

16. I was dumb enough to try to challenge it in court once

because I was so used to going to court to get a few dollars knocked off the "old fashioned" violations...

The hearing lasts all of 20 seconds -- Magistrate shows me the photo:

"Is this your car?" (yes)

"Were you driving the car at the time the photo was taken?" (yes)

"Pay the fine, in full, right around the hallway there..."

[cosmicone]

11. I always fight the camera tickets

and subpoena the corporation that made the camera. If they don't show up, you win since your 6th amendment rights are violated.

[yurbud]

19. you should post the forms and instructions for doing so

[Sherman A1]

12. But, but....

they are all about safety!

[jsr]

20. This corporate welfare scheme should be outlawed