Autoblog

Red light cameras are nothing more than a surreptitious tax. Oh sure, they're sold to municipalities as a safety benefit, but what else would you say if you wanted to be paid to install, administrate, and monitor your little ticket-writing bots? The cities and towns that put the cameras greedily snap up the extra revenue generated by dangerously short yellow lights and overzealous cameras. Patrick Bedard has been poking holes in the theory that traffic cameras are the salve for behind the wheel idiocy, and a recent study by the University of South Florida Public Health agrees that the cameras actually cause accidents. Other studies also back up the findings that drivers are quicker to slam on their brakes at yellow lights when they spot the cameras. While it should not play out with a rear ending, nobody maintains a safe following distance, or even pays attention. In some cases, the rate of red light running is low enough that the cameras cause a spike in incidents, proving that the cure can sometimes be worse than the sickness.

[Source: Kicking Tires, Photo: Morning Chu Hi]

An old friend of mine used to have a trick for getting out of tickets. She would flick her long blonde hair back over her shoulder, blink a lot and emphasize the ending of any word that concluded with a long "e" sound. "Sorryyyyyyy," she would say, and the cop's pen would never touch pad. Unfortunately, my bag of tricks is missing a few of those tools, so I've gotten a ticket for every time my car has been motioned to the shoulder.

Perhaps, however, there are strategies to get out of a ticket for those of us who are not blessed with long blond hair and a cute voice. Our brand new sister site, DIY Life, has somewhat of an ex-cop on staff who offers his own How To on getting out of a ticket by being respectful. Yes, respectful. If you've been pulled over, you should suck it up and own your mistake, then go about seeing how the officer's attitude towards you can be improved. Among DIY Life's best pieces of advice is submitting to the cop's authority by having both hands on the wheel before he or she arrives at your window. That gesture alone will make the cop feel much more comfortable approaching the situation, and a comfortable cop that sees you don't intend to be confrontational may be more lenient. There's plenty more good advice available by clicking the Read link below, but let us know in the comments some of your own tips that have proven successful.

[Source: DIY Life]

The police make mistakes with traffic violations all the time, and we've all heard plenty of stories on top of the ones that have happened to ourselves personally, but this one takes the proverbial cake.

Derrick Thomas, 71, of Ipswich, Englad, received a ticket a few days ago from police claiming he was speeding on a local road, allegedly clocked at 60 mph in a 40 zone. Fair enough, but the ticket took nine years to arrive, covering a distance of just 52 miles from the police station in Essex, at a speed which our friends at Carscoop calculated at about 0.0006 mph! What's more is that the car which Mr. Thomas, a professional master of ceremonies, was allegedly driving was a Mercedes C250, when he's only owned BMWs since 1989.

British police and postal officials are now competing to see who messed up more. Mail carriers insist that they couldn't have had the letter for that long and that it must have been re-introduced to the system at some point. Meanwhile police say it's not their responsibility to ensure that the mail has arrived, but in nine years they failed to follow up on the infraction, despite the letter threatening the imposition of a fine and demerit points if the driver didn't follow up within 28 days.

Enough excuses, Thomas. Were you speeding or weren't you? "I can't remember what I was doing last night let alone in 1998." Good answer.

[Source: East Anglian Daily Times via Carscoop]

If you're going to wrecklessly disregard traffic laws in the state of Illinois, make sure to do it in a Dodge Stratus.

The driver of a black 2000 Dodge Viper learned this lesson the hard way when he was clocked doing 127 MPH in a 35 zone. The clueless motorist was caught red-handed, but he decided that his 450 HP beast was quick enough to evade the long arm of the law. The driver then hid in a parking lot where he was later captured. The local law enforcement knows a compromising situation when they see one, so the fuzz decided to keep the pricey snake for their own as a promotional vehicle for D.A.R.E.

This is no doubt an extremely steep price to pay for a moving violation, but since the driver of the Viper disregarded the lives of others during the chase, the consequences could've been far worse.

[Source: Motor Authority]

States have come up with some neat little quips to get people to slow down for work zones on freeways. "Slow for the cone zone" comes to mind. The Hoosier State has shunned the soft sell and gone straight for the I-double-dog-dare-you-to-speed-here school of prevention by serving up a $1,000 ticket.

Starting July 1, the Indiana DOT can lower speed limits without previous any study in highway work zones. Then, they can send five-0 to the scene to make sure Joe Q. Driver isn't trying anything funny, even if there aren't any workers present. The first time Joe's foot slips after he passes the 45 mph sign, it's $300. The second infraction is $500. And if that doesn't cure his wayward ways, then his gracious donation of $1,000 will gladly be accepted by the good state of Indiana. Oh yeah, and if he fights it and loses it's another $70.

Our favorite provision is the "aggressive driving" misdemeanor. If you drive 46 mph in a highway work zone and perform any aggressive action on a driver in front of you, such as flashing your headlights, and you get caught, you get a $5,000 fine that probably comes with its own Howitzer sound effects. If you do it again, the officer will apply a Rowdy Roddy Piper sleeper hold, then pin you to the mat with a $10,000 ticket, three years in jail, and a felony on your record. Don't mess with Texas Indiana.

[Source: The Newspaper]

Finally, someone's fighting back against the fleecing of the general populace. Famous for liking things big, Texas lawmakers have laid the smackdown on red light and speed cameras in a large manner. HB.922 states "A municipality may not implement or operate an automated traffic control system with respect to a highway under its jurisdiction," which means that cameras, automated radar or laser, or anything else designed to snag an image of a car, driver, or license plate and record its speed is now forbidden. The even larger racket of red-light cameras have had the brakes applied by HB.1052, which requires giving motorists notice of the devices at least 100 feet out.

These bills have passed through the legislature and are awaiting Governor Rick Perry's inscription. If the measures do make it into law, we hope that other states follow suit. Ticketing egregious speeders and actual red-light scofflaws is one thing, but the systems have been calibrated in a cynical manner to generate loads of revenue (and kickbacks) for the companies that sell and administrate the systems for municipalities. Rather than keeping people safe, random ticketing amounts to a tax, and that really sticks in our craw. We're pleased beyond words that Texas has taken up the motorists' cause, and we hope that the new legislation can stand as a precedent.

Thanks for the tip, Dylan!

[Source: caradvice]

If you've ever blown past a school bus with its lights flashing, here's proof that there is absolutely no excuse. Even Kewaskum Wisconson Police Chief Richard Knoebe isn't above the law as the officer gave himself a $235 ticket and 4 points on his driving record for passing a flashing school bus while in his patrol car. What's amazing is that the officer even had a good excuse for passing the bus. He was approaching a stopped dump truck when he saw a vehicle passing from behind. He was busy passing the truck when he belatedly noticed the school bus. Since Knoebe was the only officer around, he wrote himself up and paid the fine the next day. We're guessing Knoebe received his Cub Scout honesty badge without any issues.

The incident occurred back in September but went unnoticed until recently when a local newspaper noticed the infraction in the court records.

[Source: MSN]

The story of the Colorado man who got fined $50 for using a device to change traffic lights on his way to work from red to green has made its way around the internet already. As much fun as it is to read about the man’s eventual capture after two years of playing god in traffic, it’s more fun to watch this CNN video of townspeople pissed off that the guy got off virtually scott free. Hilarity also ensues watching the authorities explain how after fielding two years of complaints about an unexplicably long red light at this particular intersection they finally went to the tapes and noticed a reoccurring Ford Ranger pickup that never got caught… by the light, that is.

[Source: CNN via AutoSpies]