A MAJOR United States city is set to begin implementing red light cameras at some of its busiest and most dangerous intersections.
The new cameras will hit drivers with fines as high as $486 for running red lights, as well as adding points to violating motorists’ driving records.
The city of San Jose has a plan to make its most dangerous intersections much safer[/caption]
San Jose resident Anthony Greco offered explicit support for the technology’s implementation[/caption]
Four intersections in a major California city will have red light cameras installed in an effort to combat their histories of red light running and crashes.
The cameras will monitor both blatant red light running, as well as right turn rolling stops, starting on October 13.
The former will be fined as high as $486, while the latter will see drivers forced to pay $234. Each violation will add a point to the driving record of the motorist in question.
However, there will be a warning period for the first 60 days they’re active. While tickets will still be sent out during this period to raise awareness of the change, they will be billed as $0.
According to city officials, the cameras will take different still shots and a short video of the vehicle and its license plate going through the intersection, which will be used as evidence against offenders.
This evidence will then go to the San Jose Police Department, where it will be reviewed for validity before a ticket is issued to the vehicle’s registered owner.
“These are basically extensions of law enforcement,” said Colin Heyne with the city’s Department of Transportation on this methodology to local ABC affiliate KGO.
“We’ve chosen locations where we know there is a history of red light running that has caused crashes and particularly severe injury and fatal crashes,” he further elaborated.
Residents strongly support the implementation of red light camera technology at these dangerous intersections.
“I’m hoping it slows people down and people think a little bit, because they’re running these lights, and I’ve seen several accidents here,” said resident Anthony Greco.
“It’s a zoo. There’s speeding. There’s 2 o’clock in the morning burnout and donuts, and it’s crazy,” he added.
Locals at other problematic intersections have expressed similar sentiments.
“I think it’s great, because, you know, this stuff just continues to go unmonitored. You know, these things just continue to happen,” said Michael Powers.
The City of San Jose’s Department of Transportation did not immediately return The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
How to fight a speeding ticket
According to a legally reviewed post, there are five effective strategies to fighting a speeding ticket if it was wrongfully issued.
- If pulled over and issued a ticket, drivers can argue or dispute a driver’s personal opinion. When issuing a speeding ticket, an officer is required to write their opinion and come to an “objective” conclusion. If the ticket was written based on that judgment, it can be contested. An example would be if you were going 75 mph in a 65 mph zone because others were traveling at the same speed, you could argue that it would be more dangerous to travel at 65 mph.
- You can dispute the officer’s presentation of evidence. If you were ticketed for something like running a stop sign or making an illegal u-turn, you can’t contest that if an officer saw you, but you can call things into court like eyewitnesses, diagrams, or photos.
- Argue that the ticket was issued by a “mistake of fact.” This is tricky, but a “mistake of fact” is a mistake made by a driver about a situation that was beyond their control, or if a driver legitimately did not know they were violating the law. For example, you were driving in two lanes because the lane markers were so worn down that you could not see them.
- You could say circumstances justified your driving. You could say you were speeding to pass a possibly drunk driver, or avoiding an accident by rapidly changing lanes. However, the argument won’t work if there’s proof you continued to speed after passing.
- Similar to the above, it could be argued that speeding was necessary to avoid harm. The key is to argue that if you weren’t speeding, you or someone else could have been harmed.
- Consult a traffic attorney, if all else fails. Many have free consultations to decide whether or not there’s a case.
Source: FindLaw
The city claims the cameras can save lives, with red light running being its second-highest contributing factor to traffic deaths and severe injuries.
“Last year, like most years, we had more traffic deaths than homicides,” said Mayor Matt Mahan in a press conference on Wednesday.
San Jose has been working on a plan to implement red light cameras since 2022, with the state of California legalizing them in the late 1990s.
TRAFFIC CAMERA CRAZE
Other major US areas are following similar suit, such as a New Jersey city using traffic cameras to look out for parking violations which it will then give to drivers with no immediate notification whatsoever.
In Tennessee, the city of Memphis recently installed speeding cameras which will give drivers a $50 fine for each and every documented violation.
New York City is taking its red light camera usage a step further to deter repeat offenders, who could now be slapped with up to $1,500 in fines.
San Jose has been working on a plan to implement red light cameras for several years[/caption]
