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War on Short yellow lights.

A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123975737976619187.html

A few quotes.

"Where red-light running is a problem, the solution is usually a longer
yellow "


"Half a dozen Georgia towns just cancelled their camera contracts after a
state
law mandating the addition of an extra second to the yellow made them
unprofitable."

"Laid to rest long ago should have been the pretense that the goal is
"safety," not chasing cash. New York State, sinking under budget shortfalls,
last week authorized a batch of new red-light cameras around the state."
Mike
 
S

Sylvia Else

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123975737976619187.html

A few quotes.

"Where red-light running is a problem, the solution is usually a longer
yellow "


"Half a dozen Georgia towns just cancelled their camera contracts after a
state
law mandating the addition of an extra second to the yellow made them
unprofitable."

"Laid to rest long ago should have been the pretense that the goal is
"safety," not chasing cash. New York State, sinking under budget shortfalls,
last week authorized a batch of new red-light cameras around the state."
Mike

This is a complex issue. People do run red lights - I've seen it happen
often enough. Lengthening the yellow reduces this only where the time
left before the light goes red, allowing for reaction times, means that
drivers are otherwise too close to the junction to feel comfortable
about stopping.

Other drivers will simply respond to longer yellow periods by being
willing to run lights from further back - "if the light goes yellow, put
your foot down". Indeed, one might even anticipate increasing accident
rates caused by such drivers' inaccurate judgement about when the light
will actually go red.

Accidents caused by the latter group can only be reduced by increasing
the delay between a light going red and the conflicting light going
green. Or by disuading such people from running red lights be camera
based enforcement. The latter is preferable, because the former reduces
traffic throughput.

Maybe the situation in the USA is different, but here in NSW, Australia,
I haven't heard of a single convincing case, documented with video,
showing a red-light camera connected to lights with an unreasonably
short yellow period.

Sylvia.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
All around the Phoenix metro area. I timed intersection lights with
and without a camera, 2 blocks from each other, same traffic stream...
without camera, 4.7 seconds, with camera 4.0 seconds.

When I protested, in a letter-to-the-editor, all the leftist-weenie
fairies came out against me, citing "It's for our own good" :-(

So is paying your "fair share". So pony up!
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
krw said:
So is paying your "fair share". So pony up!

The story I heard was about the poor elderly widow that got caught by one
of these
short yellows and received a $485 ticket, she has to pay this out of her
monthly
social security check.

When we divide up the tootsie rolls for the kids they all get equal
amounts.
That's only fair and common sense.
When the country has a bill to pay, we should divide it up by 300 million
and bill everyone equal amounts.
Bet you have a problem with fair now!
Mike
 
J

Jon Danniken

Jan 1, 1970
0
amdx said:
"Where red-light running is a problem, the solution is usually a longer
yellow "

We solved that problem here in Oregon, by dictating that you have to stop at
a yellow light if you safely can do it.

In other words, in most cases a yellow light means you have to stop, unless
doing so would create a hazard to the drivers behind you.

Jon
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
The story I heard was about the poor elderly widow that got caught by one
of these
short yellows and received a $485 ticket, she has to pay this out of her
monthly
social security check.

Right. Only "the rich" should pay for their actions.
When we divide up the tootsie rolls for the kids they all get equal
amounts.
That's only fair and common sense.

"For the children." Of course.
When the country has a bill to pay, we should divide it up by 300 million
and bill everyone equal amounts.

Only "the rich" should pay. Tax businesses more! Subsidize the poor.
You get what you subsidize and we *sure* don't want more of "the
rich", right?
Bet you have a problem with fair now!

He don't know me vewwy well, do he?

<Janet, are you listening?>
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've found that simply presenting the undeniable proof to the powers that be
(and anyone else for that matter) has a much deeper impact. I bitched to
the police and city council for years about speeders on my street, of course
it was all just a waste of time and breath. At least that's how it used to
be.....

While tinkering with Linux, a video capture card, and some C coding
experiments in motion detection and tracking, I came up with an idea. I
discovered that I could actually estimate (on the fly) and then later prove
exactly how fast any vehicle was moving. I sent a few captured images to
the police chief proving the ridiculous nature of the problem (people doing
50 in a 25) and viola the political inertia evaporates and we're finally
getting somewhere.

The way to control speeding is to design the road for the speed
desired. If the road is designed for 50, people will drive 50. Speed
limits are properly set at the 85th percentile and roads adjusted to
meet the desired ends.
You learn interesting things when looking at surveilance recordings. Allot
of stuff happens when no one is looking or at least when someone thinks
that. I now know whose cats patrol my property and walk around on my
vehicles at night. I know who the lame dog walkers are that let their mutts
trample my front flower bed, and I also know who the good owners are. I
know which a-holes speed the most and when they are likely to be doing it.
I feel so informed and empowered now. ;-)

Sounds just like the Obama and the DHS. Are you going to shit on
their lawn now?
Seen some really unusual stuff too. Saw a car hit a squirrel but not quite
kill it, and then what appeared to be a red-tailed hawk snatch it up from
the street within a couple of minutes.

Neat. Easy lunch for the hawk and saved the tax payer some money. ;-)
 
A

amdx

Jan 1, 1970
0
krw said:
Right. Only "the rich" should pay for their actions.


"For the children." Of course.


Only "the rich" should pay. Tax businesses more! Subsidize the poor.
You get what you subsidize and we *sure* don't want more of "the
rich", right?


He don't know me vewwy well, do he?

Oh! you were being facetious, well your right, Jim should pay more.
Mike :)
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
Oh! you were being facetious, well your right, Jim should pay more.

Well, these days you never know who's watching. PC is now not only "a
good idea", it's the law.
 
T

T

Jan 1, 1970
0
To-Email-Use- said:
All around the Phoenix metro area. I timed intersection lights with
and without a camera, 2 blocks from each other, same traffic stream...
without camera, 4.7 seconds, with camera 4.0 seconds.

When I protested, in a letter-to-the-editor, all the leftist-weenie
fairies came out against me, citing "It's for our own good" :-(

...Jim Thompson

I'm one of those leftist weenies you speak of but even I abhor the
practices used with traffic cameras.
 
T

T

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've found that simply presenting the undeniable proof to the powers that be
(and anyone else for that matter) has a much deeper impact. I bitched to
the police and city council for years about speeders on my street, of course
it was all just a waste of time and breath. At least that's how it used to
be.....

While tinkering with Linux, a video capture card, and some C coding
experiments in motion detection and tracking, I came up with an idea. I
discovered that I could actually estimate (on the fly) and then later prove
exactly how fast any vehicle was moving. I sent a few captured images to
the police chief proving the ridiculous nature of the problem (people doing
50 in a 25) and viola the political inertia evaporates and we're finally
getting somewhere.

You learn interesting things when looking at surveilance recordings. Allot
of stuff happens when no one is looking or at least when someone thinks
that. I now know whose cats patrol my property and walk around on my
vehicles at night. I know who the lame dog walkers are that let their mutts
trample my front flower bed, and I also know who the good owners are. I
know which a-holes speed the most and when they are likely to be doing it.
I feel so informed and empowered now. ;-)

Seen some really unusual stuff too. Saw a car hit a squirrel but not quite
kill it, and then what appeared to be a red-tailed hawk snatch it up from
the street within a couple of minutes.

Yep, motion capture cameras are great for that. I live on a one way
street in the city. You constantly see cars go the wrong way down the
street.

Then of course there are the taggers like this one on the building next
door to mine:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3317/3447942011_6e33483129_b.jpg

Though I seem to appreciate the political tags a bit more:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3633/3448757246_3bde24ea41_b.jpg

Those big plates to protext the HV lines for the trains are just an
invitation to tag.
 
T

T

Jan 1, 1970
0
To-Email-Use- said:
Scottsdale used to have a radar unit that they would loan out to
neighborhood groups. Citizens wrote down date, time, license plate
numbers and speed. The city mailed letters (no tickets), warning the
drivers. Speeds dropped.

...Jim Thompson

Until some brilliant councilman figured out that money could be made on
the deal.

They still put the automatic RADAR units in neighborhoods. They only
show speed and don't record anything.
 
T

T

Jan 1, 1970
0
We solved that problem here in Oregon, by dictating that you have to stop at
a yellow light if you safely can do it.

In other words, in most cases a yellow light means you have to stop, unless
doing so would create a hazard to the drivers behind you.

Jon

We have the same law here in Rhode Island yet most peole continue to
blow through the yellow light.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm one of those leftist weenies you speak of but even I abhor the
practices used with traffic cameras.

Yep, even leftist weenies don't like *their* ox Gored. They sure
don't mind Goreing others.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
We have the same law here in Rhode Island yet most peole continue to
blow through the yellow light.

Yes, in New England you'd better blow through the yellow light because
the person behind you certainly will, whether you do or not.

BTW, there is no law against blowing through a yellow. That's what
it's there for.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
Given that the road isn't even wide enough to have a center line or markings
of any kind, I'm going to have to disagree with you on the feasability of
that actually working. The road in question is in no way designed to be
/safely/ travel at 50MPH even without people parking along it.

Do you have statistics? The 85th percentile rule works amazingly
well.
So now that the DHS is run by Democrats, it's suddenly a bad thing?
Whatever floats your boat I suppose. I tend not to modify my belief system
based upon who's currently in charge of the regime.

No, when the members of the opposition are targeted, instead of the
ones who have declared war on us, it's a bad thing. Only a leftist
weenie would confuse the two.
Hardly, but it's nice knowing that I can return the "property" to the
rightful owner should I desire to do so. People who let their dogs shit on
other's lawns without cleaning it up are thoughtless asses, it's really just
that simple. :) The same goes for people that think driving 50 on wet
residential roads is prudent.

If course they're thoughtless asses. The question is what you're
going to use the information for? If nothing, then the information
has equal value. The neighbor has four constantly yapping ankle
biters (who run loose and dig under our common fence). I don't need a
stupid camera to know who owns them but the information doesn't do me
any good.
I knew the town wasn't cleaning them up that fast, so I had wondered where
they went anyway. Now I know.

We have a bunch of red tails around here too. They tend to stay away
from the residential areas though. There were some black vultures
along the road the other day. Impressive birds too.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'd say that 85% of the traffic travels at least 35MPH though it's posted at
25MPH. Less than 5% of vehicles travel >45MPH. I can almost live with
35MPH, though when you do the math on the reaction and stopping distances
it's a little unsettling.

Then the road should be posted at 35mph. Don't like it? Then have
the road changed.
Only a weenie would approve of suspending civil liberties (for any reason
whatsoever) I'll tell you one thing about the "war on terra"(sic), I don't
feel a bit safer (or even less safe for that matter), but I'm woefully
depressed about the national debt.

Nonsense. The Constitution isn't a suicide pact.
That's an easy one to solve. It involves pulsing high voltages at low
currents. It's how I'm tempted to solve the pissing problem on my front
bed.

I hope you consult the appropriate authorities and your insurance
agent. I'm not so interested in fighting a murder rap or even a
wrongful death suit.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
[snip]
Yes, in New England you'd better blow through the yellow light because
the person behind you certainly will, whether you do or not.
[snip]

I just love driving in Boston. They're such a blustery bully bunch,
until I'm driving right at 'em at 100MPH... watch the chicken-shit
bastards run ;-)

I didn't say they were crazy, just nuts. ;-)
 
P

Paul E. Schoen

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
[snip]

Yes, in New England you'd better blow through the yellow light because
the person behind you certainly will, whether you do or not.

[snip]

I just love driving in Boston. They're such a blustery bully bunch,
until I'm driving right at 'em at 100MPH... watch the chicken-shit
bastards run ;-)

I didn't say they were crazy, just nuts. ;-)

Except for the inconvenience, waiting for a replacement car, I've been
tempted to take care of tail-gating Democrat-weenies, by taking my
4400 pound car down to zero instantly by testing my Brakes:
(Front/Rear) vented disc/vented disc, with ABS, EBD, Brake Assist ;-)

Bolt an I-beam and/or a railroad tie to the rear bumper. Make it high
enough that, when you stop (and they attempt to), it targets their soft
(and expensive) crumple zone :)

Paul
 
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