With so many traffic signals, it can add up.
When a patient is hemorrhaging and the hospital is running out of blood platelets, they do not wantheir platelets delayed by traffic and signals.
As a registered tree-hugger and Greenie, I gethrough the intersection and out of everyone’s way as expeditiously as possible.
Recently a hospital ordered platelets brought emergent for a teen in postpartum hemorrhage.
While in theastern plains on vacant interstate highway at 120 mph, they called back seeking an ETA and pressured: “Get here as quickly as you can.”
Is the GPS ETA derived from the speed limits on the chosen route?
I told them what it was from where I was. (Theyvere so thankful when their blood and platelets arrived earlier.)
Imagine if these medical items, antivenins, etc. could be transportedirectly by drone?
(Apparently this 2016 RX350’s governor allows 130 mph.)
The Michelin tires are 102 Load and V Speed rated (failure at 149 mph).
The pressure of each tire can be displayed in the instrument panel!
As an emergency driver, time is vital. You should not be ticketed but the automatic system can’t recognize the difference between you on an emergency run or a personal one.
I think red light runners, in general are in a hurry, distracted by their coffee, phone, radio ect. Just not paying attention with little thought to the lethality of their actions.
I don’t know if he was prosecuted. But it certainly wasn’t a hit and run. I’m sure he was prosecuted. While the neighbors lived right behind me, they were about 50 years older than us and we barely knew them. Their daughter moved in with her husband and they were still About 30 years older. We rarely talked with either.
And here’s an interesting story, about why I only mostly agree, not completely
Several years back, I was driving along and a little ways ahead, I see a guy start to jaywalk. He wasn’t anywhere near an intersection or crosswalk.
Anyways, the car that was closest to the jaywalker had to suddenly slam on the brakes, because the jaywalker literally appeared out of nowhere.
He stopped in time, didn’t hit the jaywalker.
But the guy behind didn’t have those quick reactions and rearended the first guy
The jaywalker continued on his way . . . into a liquor store on the other side of the street
The guys stopped their cars and started arguing in the middle of the street
I went on my way
At least 20 minutes later, I as done with my errands and headed back, now coming in the other direction
Those 2 guys were still stopped in the middle of the street, arguing. I caught a few words and it seems the 2nd guy . . . the guy who rearended the 1st guy who stopped in time . . . was blaming the 1st guy for stopping so suddenly
Nobody was hurt, but people do tend to drive fast on that road, so that jaywalking incident could theoretically have led to some whiplash, I suppose
Supposedly these citations areviewed by a photo enforcement “officer”.
Wife ask “How he miss pretty lights?”
We arexperiencing more and more motorcyclist injuries andeaths.
Many I blame the biker for not detecting others not.icing him.
My riding days are over. 'Twas fun while it lasted.
When I learn of someone getting their motorcyclendorsement, I ask
“Have you signed your organ donor card?”
In EMS we call them donorcycles.
I agree that jaywalking can risk more that the jaywalker. Your exmaple is a good one.
The driver that swerves to miss the jaywalker and runs up a curb and hits legal pedestrians could be a gatal example. Thats why I wouldn’t remove the law because others are affected, not just the jaywalker.
The case cited here is about a cocaine conviction, not a red light camera. Sometimes flawed logic fools a judge, but if you carry this flawed logic down the path, then many murders would have to be set free. The police found the evidence, but they didn’t witness the crime. The only person who did witness the crime is the victim and they can’t give testimony and are not available for cross examining.
There were some early cases, the rest of the cases in your article are from 2011 or earlier where the technology did not meet the criteria for a criminal conviction. Newer cameras do meet the requirements.
People used to beat radar tickets in the past. You are not likely to beat one today because the technology as advanced so much.
Now it it just a matter of politics. If a majority of people in a town, city, or state want them gone, eventually they will be gone, but used properly, they do not violate your constitutional rights.
Edit: I googled recent red light court cases and one of the first hits was a 20 page brief of red light cases all over the country. The courts have been upholding the camera laws.
Years ago 60 Minutes or similar program did a short segment on southern drivers continuing to turn left even though their signal had now turned red. [Once the line of lefturns got going, no one wanted to stop.]
Such is expected by cross-traffic drivers who wait for the line of lefturners to clear.
In Denver we are beginning to get more lefturners likewise not stopping.
If the left green arrow did not become red, lefturns could wait until through-traffic passed and then accomplish their lefturn. Buthe red left arrow now makes them needlessly wait until the next green left arrow.
Seems that all of ouresidential \YIELD/ signs have been replaced with STOP signs.
Another impedimento traffic flow.
I didn’t actually say I got the jaywalking ticket in Los Angeles . . .
I was living in Los Angeles, but working in Pasadena. I got the ticket in Pasadena
A few years after that jaywalking ticket, my sister-in-law got one in Van Nuys. $87 if I recall. She was quite upset about it. I reminded her that mine was much higher, and she earns a lot more than I do
Speaking of Jury Duty . . .
I had it a few months ago, well before the Corona virus thing
Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised that it was at the Van Nuys courthouse. And I happen to live in Van Nuys, so it wasn’t far away, in some unknown area. Parking couldn’t have been easier. Free parking . . . with the juror badge . . . in the courthouse parking structure.
My brother wasn’t so lucky. When he got jury duty, he had to go downtown, even though he lives in Sherman Oaks.
Dear old Pasadena! I lived there, 50 years ago. I jay-walked all the time.
That’s LA.
Yeah, they made me go downtown even though they have a courthouse in Santa Monica. The traffic because of the OJ trial made it nearly impenetrable. I took the Santa Monica #10 bus (seen in Speed), a mile from my house, right in front of the courthouse, freeway almost all the way. It had to be faster than driving 'cause of the bus lane.
Going through red lights is not a southern driving problem. Drive in Boston for one day any, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t witness at least 50 red-light violations.
My “favorite” driving technique/maneuver in Florida, which is illegal in my northern location, is the legal U-Turn in intersections when one has a green light.
It took me a while to get good at it. In addition to quickly making a very tight radius turn and checking for oncoming traffic on a multi-lane highway, sometimes divided by a median strip, one has to be cognizant of legal right-on-red turners to the left and illegal red light runners in the intersection, and pedestrians crossing, too.
I have to say, I’ve adjusted to what my friend in Clearwater describes as watching out for the “Crazies.”
I’ve not heard the southern thing label, but many startling situations unique to Florida, traffic-wise, wildlife-wise, and otherwise are casually dismissed as “a Florida thing”. CSA
They have gotten vicious, when it comes to enforcement
In old town Pasadena, I once saw a guy jaywalk. The police officer ran after the guy, chasing him into a store, hauled him out and slammed the ticket in the guy’s face
