A delivery van driver's view of red light cameras [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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From: "Raymond D. Mereniuk" <Raymond () fbntech com>
Organization: FBN Technical Services
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 22:20:19 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: Re: [Politech] Replies to a contrarian, supportive view of red light

Hello

I drive a delivery van in a large metro area, Vancouver BC.   It is a
van which is marked in the company colors and telephone number.  If
I drive aggressively or in a passive manner people call my employer
to complain.  This metro area has a large number of red-light camera
sites with a limited number of cameras which are rotated through the
available sites.  From what I see the yellow light duration has not
been shortened to enhance the number of possible infractions.  What
I do see when I do see the camera flash lighting up is a person
getting a well deserved ticket.

How do we police and punish drivers for breaking a basic trust we
expect of other drivers on the road?  I see many drivers entering an
intersection 1 or 2 seconds, sometimes as late as 5 seconds, after I
see a green light.  If I am the first  vehicle in line at a traffic signal I
never proceed until I have looked in both directions for vehicles failing
to obey opposing traffic signals.

There must be some method of policing situations where vehicles are
required to obey traffic signals.  If the yellow light duration is
shortened that is plain wrong.  In my area I don't see shortened yellow
light durations to enhance revenue from redlight cameras.

Driving must be a predictable affair, if I have a greenlight I should be
able to proceed without fear of a rogue driver deciding his signal was
of no importance.  Redlight cameras, if properly configured, enforce
what should be expected of your fellow citizens, that vehicles should
stop for redlights or stale yellow lights.



Virtually

Raymond D. Mereniuk
Raymond () fbntech com
FBN - Offering PUP - Unbreakable Encryption Techology
http://www.fbntech.com/pup.html

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