Green Light Cameras

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For me it was a road I was knew pretty well, but don't travel on it very often. I live in the deep SE but happened to be in the NW; so I was travelling on 16th ave. I got nabbed by the camera on 10th street NW. I wasn't really looking at road signs as I knew where I was going.

As for successfully fighting a ticket; I have never tried with the red light/ speed on green cameras. I did attempt to fight a multinova ticket back in the 90s, but I was sick on my court date. My defense there was that I had sped up to do an emergency lane change, and the camera had actually caught the guy who had cut me offand showed my car still in mid body roll. I guess it was obvious enough to the court; they dismissed the charge without me even showing up.

Now I believe they won't even give a ticket if there is another vehicle in the picture.

I hate that one. The speed goes from 60 to 50 to 60... Luckily never been nailed by it but it's a pain in the ass.

[JonDuke]

I got nailed by the one near COP. Went down to fight it.
Walked away with a "failure to operate equipment (cruise control) properly"
Cost less than the speeding ticket and no demerits.

[getbak]

Isn't the speed on 16th 50 between 14th Street West and 6th Street East? It's not exactly a quick dip just before 10th Street.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

The sign couldn't be more clear.

28000 tickets a year disagrees with you, unless you believe that all those people are just in so much of a rush they don't care. A number like that clearly indicates for some reason the signage isn't obvious enough to drivers.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Running a province costs money. Wouldn't you rather the money comes from handing out fines for people breaking the law, instead of having your property, fuel and/or income taxes raised?

Is there proper signage at this intersection regarding speed limits, cameras, etc. that are well displayed and clearly visible? If so, then it's your own fault for getting caught. You can choose almost any speed you want to drive at. If you get caught for speeding, it's not a cash grab, it's your punishment. The same goes for texting while driving.

I thought the goal of these cameras was safety not a cash grab though, I have no problem with the tickets. But all those tickets speak to a issue with road design and/or signage. But the city couldn't give a damn about actually trying to fix the problem and instead gives a big f you to safety and just prints the tickets.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Dan02

But all those tickets speak to a issue with road design and/or signage.

I disagree with you here. I think that it's people's driving habits and yes, the fact that they just don't care that is driving the main number of tickets. I am wondering what number of those tickets are repeat offenders? I doubt that they are all first time offenders. You get a $120 slap on the wrist, which sucks but isnt' that rough to pay off, and away you go.

This one isn't hard. If 'you' can't drive and pay attention to road signs and conditions and monitor your speed...maybe the problem is that 'you' shouldn't be driving, and not the road.

[Resolute 14]

Agreed. That number of tickets speaks to an issue with people's mentality, not road design.

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I just read that an intersection in the NW caught 28,000 drivers last year speeding on green. Wow! Nice revenue driver for the city. Has anyone ever successfully fought one of these tickets? I've heard you can plead your case if the conditions are bad such as icy roads making it less safe to try to stop but not sure if that's true or not.

I would love to see someone try to fight a speeding ticket using the argument that they had to drive 12+ KPH over the limit due to icy road conditions.

[TopChed]

Originally Posted by JonDuke

I got nailed by the one near COP. Went down to fight it.
Walked away with a "failure to operate equipment (cruise control) properly"
Cost less than the speeding ticket and no demerits.

I was under the impression that there were no demerits for green light tickets regardless?

[Street Pharmacist]

My issue with traffic cameras is that they generate revenue, with no change in traffic patterns. The flashing light signs with the speed of traffic are far, far more effective.
If you don't get the ticket until a week to a month after you've sped through a camera, how is the goal to improve safety? It's not

[calgarywinning]

Get an escort radar with GPS to remind you of when you are approaching these speed traps.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Agreed. That number of tickets speaks to an issue with people's mentality, not road design.

It does speak to road design. Each road has a design speed. This design speed ranges from between 10km and 30 km of the posted speed limit. Things like curve radius, light timing, lane width, shoulders and othe factors set the design speed. A speed limit is then recomended by the engineers which is then sometimes ignored for a variety of reasons.

If the design speed of a road is significantly higher than the speed limit of a road people feel safer and drive faster. If you reduced sitelines on the road or narrowed the lanes people would naturally slow down because the design speed of the road would be reduced.

This is why I think one of the goals of the red/green light cameras is to improve road design to limit speeding in these high accident areas. 28,000 people are still speeding through here, by improving the design you can reduce this number to improve safety.

In a well designed road you shouldnt need a speed limit sign to tell you how fast to go.

[JonDuke]

Originally Posted by TopChed

I was under the impression that there were no demerits for green light tickets regardless?

You are correct actually. My mistake.