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August 28, 2008 at 20:16:20
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 8/28/08: by Tumerica Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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How I Fought Big Brother and Won
A few months ago I got a surprise in the mail--a lovely packet of information about an alleged traffic violation in which I had turned right on red at one of those ubiquitous signals that features an automated traffic enforcement set-up. Two sheets of photos of me making the dreaded right on red movement, links to the video footage of me doing the same, and scary legal language about bail and appearing in court, and I better hurry up and pay the—get this—astronomical fine of $371 in order to avoid all that ugliness.
So did I lie down and let the city roll over on me? Am I a well-behaved woman? Hell, no. Not in this incarnation, anyway. I did what any other cheapskate would do who feels unjustly put-upon by a totalitarian Big Brother-type system—I conducted research on the Internet. And boy, did I get an eyeful.
Plenty of other folks in my same situation, plenty of other municipalities with questionably legal automated traffic enforcement systems that, lo and behold, bring in substantial revenue for said municipalities. And worst of all, cities that are willing to create potentially dangerous driving conditions by changing—you'll never believe this, but it's sadly true—the length of yellow lights in order to catch more violators and make more revenue.
Here is some of what I found out:
Sites to help you if you do get an automated traffic enforcement ticket:
Ticket Assassin
Highway Robbery
For more general information about traffic enforcement cameras, check Wikipedia.
Upon digging a little deeper, I found myself suspicious of the length of time of the yellow light at the intersection where I committed the horrendous and unforgivable traffic violation. I marched myself over there and timed the yellow light. One second. Exactly one second. That seemed awfully short to me, so I researched the legal minimum for yellow lights in the state of California, and sure enough, the least allowable by state law is three seconds. Now if you are driving toward a yellow light and getting ready to turn right, there is a HUGE difference between one second of yellow warning light and three. If you do decide to stop suddenly during the one second yellow, you risk getting rear-ended by the person behind you.
Armed with copies of the state law detailing the minimum yellow light length and my personal research about the yellow light length at my intersection, I protested. I requested a written trial ("Trial by Written Declaration"), I got it and was found guilty. Then I requested a "Trial de Novo"—a new trial, available only if you go through the written trial formality—and got it. I showed up at court armed with a smile and a bit of confidence that I was in the right (not that I knew I'd win, but that I knew I was doing the right thing to fight an injustice)—and the desire to get my $371 back (not to mention the damage to insurance rates and other repercussions if you take the points and don't go to traffic school).
The police office who was assigned to me—because no human was present during my offending right turn on red—was cordial. He showed me the video of me making the right on red. I smiled and said I know, I have seen it—the technology is great, isn't it—making small talk, and not being defensive. I brought up the yellow light interval and told him about how short it is for that intersection. He backed up the video to the yellow light and sure enough, there it was—all one second of it. I said, "See—just one second—that's dangerously short, don't you think?" He insisted that that was his intersection and that he had timed it recently, and that it was three seconds. I disagreed in a nice way and suggested that maybe the traffic engineers had changed the yellow light interval back to the legally recommended minimum of three seconds since I had timed it last. Perhaps the city had gotten lots of complaints about this practice?
Well, the police officer immediately suggested that my case be dismissed due to the "reasonable doubt" about the length of the yellow light at my intersection. I was grateful to have won and to get my money back, but still curious. That day on the way home from court, I timed my yellow light, and it was still one second long. All of this made me think that the city deliberately sets the yellow light interval too short in order to trick drivers into making more traffic errors, thereby generating more tickets and more revenue for the city. The police officers have to be in on the whole scheme, because they are the ones who appear in court against you to represent the city's interests. Now, it is the police officer's job to enforce, so I have no blame for them doing their job as they are instructed to do so. The city that is making fiscal decisions that endanger the common person--that's who gets the brunt of my ire.
While I was at the court and after my case had been dismissed, I was approached by a gentleman who had lots of questions about how I was able to get my case dismissed. It just so happens that he is organizing a class action lawsuit on behalf of those who have been hoodwinked into paying those traffic fines for intersections with illegally short yellow light intervals. According to him, the yellow lights all over town are illegally short and the city has much to account for.
If this happens to you—if you are the victim of a huge fine for a traffic violation at an automated enforcement intersection, do not rest until you do due diligence and fight back. Be sure to check these articles, if nothing else, and know that you are not alone.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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| 18 comments |
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Fuk the USA and US citizens for loving this fascism !!
Fuk the whole USA and the US population for loving this fascist, military police system, i don't understand how can people in this country support the police fascist system that we got in this country. Cops are all over the place in this damned country, like if we were under siege by LincolnMarx (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 86 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 9:17:51 AM  (0+)
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Reply: Fascism in the USA
I can understand a hatred of fascism, but I did want to distinguish--in this case, it was cerrtainly not any fault of the police officer who was assigned to my case--he was doing his job and had the decency to recommend my case be dismissed. What gets me is cities that endager their citizens by illegally setting yellow light intervals too short. What part of that is OK? Why isn't their more protest against this sort of thing? And since when could a mere right-on-red violation deserve a whopping $371 fine? The whole thing makes me crazy to think about. We put up with too much sometimes. by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 10:56:47 AM (0+)
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Reply: I Agree, But....
Don't you think the cops know what's going on? They're not stupid. Their tacit approval makes them just as guilty. by Bob Gormley (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 1094 comments [65 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 6:04:45 PM (0+)
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Total & complete violation of due process
If you had actually read the Ticket Assassin website, you would have discovered that there are many more problems with the red-light-camera scam than just the 1-second-yellow-light phenomenon. As acknowledged by the Constitution, you have the right to meet your accuser in court. A camera is not an accuser, nor is it a witness. A police officer -- "representing the interests of the State" -- is neither an accuser, nor a witness, since he wasn't there & he didn't take the photos. There has to be a human eye-witness in order to indict for a misdemeanor, or an infraction, & an unmanned camera does not meet this test. Barring the fact that the State has no case, ever, you also have a right to not pay an unreasonable fine -- I believe the Constitution says no fines over $20.00? Ironically, the State could probably get away with their illegal red-light-camera scam if they were only charging $20.00 per ticket -- people would just pay it & go on -- but the red-light-camera systems are extremely expensive to operate & this is the other part of the reason that the fines are so high. I'm not going to go into the whole Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) mess here, but you also have a right not to contract with anyone, or anything, including the State, but I know that's way too deep for most people, so we'll leave it alone. According to rules that the State has set up (& it's laughable that they actually have rules, since the whole scam is still illegal), a red-light-ticket cannot be issued unless 2 criteria are met: 1) There must be a clearly readable photo of the license plate. 2) There must be a clearly recognizable photo of the driver's face. Knowing this, it makes it easy to "beat" the red-light-camera scam before it even starts. 1) SPRAY YOUR PLATE. There are commercially-available sprays that make your license plate turn out blurrry & unreadable when caught by a red-light-camera. 2) COVER YOUR FACE. Always, always, always leave your sun visor down!This will help you whenever you're daydreaming-while-driving & accidentally get caught by a red-light-camera, since a partially-obscured face does not meet the "clearly-recognizeable" criteria for faces. If you're paying-attention-while-driving & are fully aware that you are entering a red-light-camera zone, then get in the habit of covering your face with your hand -- even if you know that you're not likely to get caught by a red light at the time -- as this will greatly reduce the odds of your EVER getting caught by the red-light-camera scam. You only need one of the above -- either an obscured license plate, or an obscured face -- to beat the red-light-camera scam, but why not play it really safe & do both? ;) by Kim McDaniel (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:04:37 PM (0+)
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Reply: Ticket Assassin Website
Hi, Kim, Au contraire. I read the Ticket Assassin website from bottom to top--every word of it. There is much that is wrong, unsettling, and even potentially illegal about automated enforcement cameras in general and in shortenened yellow lights in particular. My purpose in this article was not to cover the enormous scope of everything that could go wrong with every possibility, but merely to stick to what I found out about from my particular instance--shortened yellow lights for profit. Otherwise, I'd be writing books instead of short articles. And I'd be extending beyond my personal experience, which I have no presumption to do. by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:09:43 PM (0+)
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Reply: Tactics for avoiding getting a ticket
In addition, you listed options for avoiding getting a ticket from an automated enforcement camera. Sure, those are possibilities. But in my case, the point was that shorter yellow lights can be dangerous! And something should be done. If enough people protest this injustice--the yellow light injustice--then changed will be forced. Merely wriggling out of the unfair system is not my goal--although that could be helpful to some folks. I suggest that you create a unique post with the scope that you have outlined--one which covers a much broader area than the scope of my article. In addition, you may want to gather research from more websites than just the TicketAssassin.com one, as I did. by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:13:35 PM (0+)
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More on due process
Btw, I forgot ... I'm not the expert on due process -- Randy Kelton is; listen to "Rule of Law Radio" on wtprn.com -- but there are tons of problems with the way these tickets are issued. They are issued in violation of the vehicle code itself & constitutional provisions on due process. For instance, the vast majority of the vehicle code ONLY applies to commercial drivers. For example, if you get caught by a red-light-camera & you were traveling in your car on personal business, then the vehicle code doesn't apply to you. Don't quote me on this, but I believe the exceptions are if you were intoxicated &/or caused an accident. As you can see, the subject is a deep one -- too deep for me! -- which is why I like the idea of prevention: just make sure your plate &/or your face is always obscured & you will remain free. by Kim McDaniel (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:20:33 PM (0+)
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Wha-HUH?!
So ... let me see if I understand this: You would support an unconstitutional & patently illegal red-light-camera SCAM ... as long as it was FAIR????? :D :D :D by Kim McDaniel (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:31:30 PM (0+)
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Reply: Most completely wrong
I support action to change the illegal system--not mere tactics for getting out of a ticket. The system is flawed and unfair. Sure, it's worth sharing info about how to work the system--until the system is fixed. But I have my eyes on a higher prize. by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 1:38:44 PM (0+)
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Neither one of you is right,
As a retired professional driver, I am astounded!!! How did you ever get your DL to begin with??? You are supposed to pay attention to everything on the road round about you and in the sight line in front of you. You are supposed to be aware of the lights you are approaching and use the orange lite to stop your progress. One second-three second, immaterial! You are supposed to know if the green is getting stale and prepare to stop as the orange lights up. If there is a controlled no right turn light then YOU DO NOT TURN ON THE RED!!! CAPISHE? by Blacktiger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 49 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 5:00:54 PM (0+)
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Tumerica
I absolutely love what you did! This kinda stuff is going on in my town too. You are no cheapskate! Like I said before , these cops today are just a bunch of glorified revenue generators! by Bob Gormley (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 1094 comments [65 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 6:03:17 PM (0+)
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Reply: Thank you, m'dear . . .
I did try, I really did. It would have been much easier to simply send in my check and forgeddaboutit. But it rankled too much. Something about it made me uneasy--and then the research revealed so much more. Anyway, I wanted to let other folks know they have options, too. by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 11:23:20 PM (0+)
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Black Tiger, You Are Wrong!
You are wrong! The light was intentionally rigged to rip off decent law abiding citizens. The fine of $371 is astoundingly ridulous. Where is the justice in that? Some people have to work a whole week to pay a fine like that. I'm so sick of our government ripping people off. P.S. Nobody gives a crap if you're a professional driver or not . by Bob Gormley (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 1094 comments [65 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 6:35:46 PM (0+)
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Tumerica, what did the police officer
"who was assigned to" you, say under oath, to the Judge? No oath, no judge, no justice! by Samuel Bryan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 168 comments [7 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 8:30:31 PM (0+)
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Reply: The police officer was impressively polite and . . .
cordial. I was impressed with his seeming desire to do the best he could. Really--he was the one who stood before the judge and declared, "I recommend this case be dismissed because of reasonable doubt about the length of the traffic light." by Tumerica (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 44 comments) on Friday, Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:23 PM (0+)
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Even law-abiding drivers have to get a detector
I've always wanted to buy one of those cool nav systems that warns you about cameras, speed traps, but could never justify the expense. Plus, it wasn't PC. But now I can justify it all, and so can every other non-scofflaw driver. How? The navigator will warn me that I'm coming to an intersection where the drivers in front of me will be exhibiting strange and dangerous behavior, like slamming on their brakes on a brand new yellow. THe electronic warning will save me from rear-ending them - an accident for which the law would automatically hold me responsible. by Ed Highway (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Aug 30, 2008 at 12:33:42 PM (0+)
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Writ of Mandamus
Look it up. Not used enough in my opinion but much faster than any class action suit. I've used it and won for prison litigation. Basically what this writ does is asks the court to compel the city to obey the law. If you present video or some form of certifiable evidence of the short time along with the statute showing the minimum time the court has no choice but to compel the city to set their yellow lights to no less than what is stated in the statute. Tape as many locations as possible and always have a person in the video who will also verify the timing. The more the better. Perhaps find a news person to do so as part of an expose so you also get the public involved. If the city fails to make the correction they are in contempt of court. You can also ask the court to compel the city to "make right" trafic citations that resulted because of their error in setting the timing. You can't ask for damage, only actual loss due to the error. It would not preclude other civil remedies later. I know..."error" may not convey a willful violation for profit but in a legal sense it was still an "error". A successful writ could open the door for other remedies against the person(s) who ordered the timing to be shortened as part of a fraud since they altered the lights for profit. Perhaps even criminal charges. by Paul Kruger (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 304 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 at 10:16:20 AM (0+)
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M & M !
Mud and Mustache. Keep a stick on mustache in your car and smear mud on your front license plate prior to your drive. You might consider those funny glasses with the big nose as well ! by Paul Kruger (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 304 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 at 10:33:26 AM (0+)
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