After years of failing to do so, the New York State Assembly and Senate both passed red light camera bills that will expand New York City’s program by 50 cameras (allowing 150 cameras to operate in the city) and initiate programs in Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester and Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Governor Paterson is expected to sign the legislation today.
As a result, red light runners will be fined $50 and face an additional late fee of up to $25.
Both the Nassau and Suffolk County Legislatures issued unanimous “home rule” messages late last month and early this month, respectively, that asked Albany to adopt the traffic camera program. It is heartening that Albany has realized that red light cameras are direly needed to improve safety on Long Island, which is home to the two most deadly roads for pedestrians in the region.
The Assembly bills were sponsored by Assm. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) and Assm. Patricia Eddington (D-Medford). The Senate bills were sponsored by Senators Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Brian Foley (D-Blue Point). While not credited with sponsorship of the Nassau County bill, a special thanks should be extended to Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) who had championed this issue, along with County Executive Thomas Suozzi, for years prior to its passage.
There is speculation that these bills finally cleared Albany because of the State’s dire financial prognosis. Whatever the reason, expansion of the red light camera program will be a tremendous benefit to the safety of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians and are an integral component to creating more walkable and bikeable environments on Long Island and throughout New York State.
These cameras will only benefit safety if the yellow light interval is adequate and meets standards. See the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Many jurisdictions have shortened the yellow light interval when installing cameras. Also be suspicious if the red light camera company gets the major portion of any revenues.
[…] state legislature recently passed legislation which will increase the number of red-light cameras in NYC to 150 and allow other municipalities in the state to install cameras. This is a step in the right […]
1. There is a Federal Dept. of Transportation law that ALL yellow lights must have a minimum 3 second duration. This duration INCREASES with higher speed limits posted on the street where a red light and a camera is located, and also increases depending on the grade of the road. A traffic light on a steep hill road SHOULD have a longer yellow light than one on a level road given the same posted speed limit.
2. In New York City the city speed limit is 30 MPH and ALL yellow lights on level roads should have a MINIMUM 3 second duration.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE IN ALL RED LIGHT CAMERA LOCATIONS.
Perhaps this is due to a faulty timing mechanism, BUT MOST LIKELY the yellow lights have been rigged to a less than 3 sec. duration to cause more drivers to run thru a red light, and get their photo taken by the camera. The city makes A LOT of money that way along with the private contractor who installs and operates the camera.
3. Next time you get a red light camera fine in the mail, go to the intersection, use your cell phone’s stopwatch function and TIME THE YELLOW LIGHT. Do that about 5-10 times and average the results. ALL the timings, as well as their average, should be MORE than 3.0 seconds.
IF NOT, that’s an illegal yellow light and NYC is essentially ROBBING YOU.
4. There is a 100% chance that even if you document this and go in for a hearing YOU WILL STILL BE FOUND GUILTY AND HAVE TO PAY because the city will CLAIM that AT THE TIME the photo was taken the light was operating properly.
5. NOW if you REALLY want to defend yourself against an illegal yellow light, OR YOU SIMPLY WANT TO THROW A MONKEY WRENCH into the system: FILE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW REQUEST – FOIL -with the New York City Dept. of Transportation requesting ALL maintenance records and light timing adjustments and benchmark tests and any other defect corrections done to that light for the period of time that you are interested in. The longer your request the more NYC DOT will have to dig and chances are you’ll get some data to help in your defense (an unusually high # of repairs in the X number of months before you got your photo taken, for instance). Now, IF there is a record that the light timings were adjusted soon after your photo was taken, you have a very good case of a defective light and possibly avoiding the fine.
NOW, IF EVERYONE WHO GOT A PHOTO AND A FINE DID THIS it would cost the city much more than the fine. Complying with LOTS OF FOIL requests is time consuming and requires a lot of manpower.
File your FOIL request with the:
Litigation Support
New York City Dept. of Transportation
55 Water Street
New York, NY 10041
6. This is really the only way to defend yourself against being robbed by the city and its red light camera contractors.
7. TRAFFIC ENGINEER studies have shown that increasing the yellow light duration by just half a second above its minimum causes a DRAMATIC DECREASE IN RED LIGHT RUNNING to the point in many cases of making the installation, maintenance, and operation of these cameras uneconomic.
A simple google search will provide a wealth of information on yellow light duration and its ILLEGAL manipulation by cities and contractors across the USA to entrap motorists and raise revenue.
RED LIGHT CAMERAS ARE REALLY A REVENUE SCAM CONSIDERING THAT IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT LENGTHENING THE YELLOW LIGHT DURATION DRAMATICALLY REDUCES RED LIGHT RUNNING AND IS THEREFORE MUCH SAFER FOR ALL INVOLVED.
WRITE TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATOR AND DEMAND A LAW INCREASING YELLOW LIGHT TIME DURATION. REVENUE SCAMS BY NEW YORK CITY AND OTHER CITIES WILL STOP THEN.
And what should I, as a safe driver, do when a light turns yellow and I’m being tailgated?
Proving government is in touch with people and “care” about them, they add another tax estimated to generate over 50 million dollars- that comes directly from the wallets of citizens who have no ability to defend themeselves-from the theives that are politicians. They will sleep like a baby, reserve one of the two state corporate jets that are used to rule over the peasants/serfs of NYC and spend their new found money elsewhere- but the likleyhood that this will go to balancing a defict, improve education, or fund pensions is zero!
How does this add to safety? How did people even survive 20 years ago then? Apparently everyone died in car accidents. I am not really alive, I am a ghost typing this on my ghost message machine.
[…] light cameras were first approved for use in areas outside NYC in early 2009, with Nassau allowed 50. County Executive Ed Mangano’s budget would expand the county’s […]
The first thing everybody should do when they receive one of thes red light tickets is to enter a not guilty plea. Request a hearing and clog up the courts with hearing dates and documents – if these theiving law makers want to steal your money, make it as costly and in convient as possible for them to do so. If your going to pay anyway,and you may very well do so when you get to court, because we don’t have too many judges with integrity and honor that see this camera scam for what it really is, you may as well make someone do some legitimate work for it. Another shame with this whole camera scam is that even this scam and all its components has been out-sourced to Colorado. Our New york legislators could’nt even keep this at home and give new yorkers jobs. Damn – they can take yor money, but they can’t give you a job. Foley, you lost my vote.