Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Many Red-Light Cameras Broken
According to a story in today's Post (the Post's source for the info is a report issued by the firm taking over responsibility for the cameras today) 23 of the District's 50 red-light cameras are currently broken. The report also raised troubling issues about the legitimacy of some tickets that have been issued based on radar speed readings. ACS, the firm that previously oversaw the cameras is the same firm recently slammed for poor maintenance of District parking meters. Here's a list of the broken cameras. Here's more info on DC's red-light cameras, and here's some more general info on the topic. You might also be interested in this old DDOT pdf on traffic calming (similar information to a pdf recently sent out on the ANC6A listserv).
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8 comments:
is this supposed to make me feel less safe? nope.
i wish all of 'em were broken! :o)
I haven't seen the one by Gallaudet flash in a while. It does seem to slow people down, which is a good thing on Florida. I think the speeding, running reds, rolling through stops and the illegal motorcycle riding with impunity contribute to a general sense of lawlessness in our area and even though it's going to mean me making fewer lights I'll welcome stepped up traffic enforcement if they really do implement it as discussed at the last CAC meeting.
Enforcement would be a good thing. Some people go really fast down Florida and collisions (even ones where pedestrians are crossing in the crosswalk with the light) do happen, and that kind of accident just shouldn't be happening.
enforcement is definitely a good thing. i don't know how useful the cameras are in providing a deterrent though. there are lots of folks that use these little plastic license plate holders that defract the photo, so you can't see the number.
I believe those reflectors are actually illegal in DC, but police don't seem to enforce that (assuming it is actually illegal).
It's definitely possible the camera outside Gallaudet's campus is broken, as it sure gets a lot of attention. I've passed by there around 8 or 8:30 AM several mornings within the past month and seen an MPD employee examining the box at the corner. Almost made me wonder if it was a Polaroid and they were coming by to pick up the prints!
There is a way to legally beat these cameras:
A majority of red light & speed cameras utilize strong flash to photograph the license plate on your car. Once sprayed on your license plate, PhotoBlocker’s special formula produces a high-powered gloss that reflects the flash back towards the camera. This overexposes the image of your license plate, rendering the picture unreadable.
http://www.answerdots.com/detail.php?link_id=25
Which really ought to be illegal. Many people use those plastic shields over their plates (which are illegal).
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