Trial by Red Light Camera

Friday, June 20, 2008

Page 15

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

Trial by Red Light Camera

By J’AMY PACHECO

When it comes to photographs, I’m almost always the one behind the camera. Whether I’m at work or with my family, it’s ordinarily me who coaxes a pose and a smile out of others. When someone wants to take my picture, I usually balk. Paparazzi wouldn’t stand a chance with me.

So it was something of an annoyance when I saw cameras springing up all down the length of the main drag in my city. Unlike most cameras, however, these unwelcome intruders usually result in an unflattering picture and an unbearably expensive experience.

We’re not talking an occasional camera’d intersection; we’re talking imposing red light camera warnings and cameras at about every third intersection. Call me paranoid, but I found the “Big Brother” implications rather uncomfortable.

It’s not that I’m afraid of being caught doing something wrong. I’ve been driving for 30 years, and I’ve never had a moving violation. Never. That’s because I’m a conservative driver who rarely speeds, never tailgates and hardly ever uses a cell phone behind the wheel. About the worst thing I do in the car is sip Diet Coke. And I’m trying to give that up.

There’s something about those cameras, though, that gives me – and a lot of other people — the willies. I’m guessing it’s because in my city, the resulting ticket goes for a whopping $391. (My guess is the city’s leaders needed a way to recoup the $95 million they blew building an electric generating plant that has yet to produce any actual power, and therefore decided to stick it to the little guy.)

Shortly after these cameras began making an appearance, a friend mentioned that she’d been “flashed” while going through a green light. She was incensed.

Her police officer husband drove to the intersection, stood on a corner, and noted the many flashes triggered by undeserving drivers. He called the city, and was told the cameras were still being adjusted. “Don’t worry,” they told him. Easy to say when you’re not the one expecting a hefty fine in the mail.

A few weeks ago, I was second in line to make a left turn. When the arrow turned green, I followed the car in front of me. When the flash went off while I was in the intersection, I was so stunned I nearly drove over the curb.

Wondering how that could be possible, I actually turned around to make sure the second left-turn lane from which I’d made my turn was legitimate. It was. I also watched the green light, and noticed it stayed on for quite some time. I still don’t know what I did – if anything – that might have triggered that flash, but I’ve spent every day since dreading the appearance of my first moving violation in the mail.

The intersection is not one through which I ordinarily travel, so it’s entirely possible that camera was new, and was also being adjusted. If that’s the case, I’d like to send someone a bill to cover the stress I felt at being flashed, and the ensuing weeks of anxiety.

If I survive the next few weeks, that is. See, as a conservative driver, I’m one who generally applies their brakes instead of hitting the gas when a light turns yellow. Now that I know a mistake could cost me $391, I’m even more likely to stop.

That has created a number of near-misses as drivers following me too closely, apparently expecting me to hurry to beat the light, slam on their brakes behind me. I’m afraid a rear-end accident is bound to happen one of these days. At least I know there will be pictures.

The worst place is a heavily traveled intersection shared by the local mall, a freeway, and “restaurant row.” I travel through this intersection at least twice each day, and I am convinced someone keeps changing the timing of the lights in order to trap motorists in the short spaces between the signals. Add to this the fact that those spaces are often filled by motorists turning right on red lights before straight-moving traffic can get in them, and somebody’s bound to grow impatient enough to push their luck.

It’s my understanding that the companies who provide these cameras review alleged violations first to determine if a citation is warranted, and that they sometimes get paid by violation.

I would really, really like to know if they maintain a list of plates to be automatically dismissed — like those belonging to the people who made the decision to install the red light cameras all over the city. You know, the ones trying to figure out where to find an extra $95 million…