Who is really running the red lights...

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...age&id=4147609

" The cameras catch everyone, including government workers driving on
taxpayer time. City vans. Prosecutors' sedans. And nearly 90 police
vehicles, all caught on camera going through red lights.

But it is the Chicago Transit Authority with the largest number of
tickets... by far. You might expect that since the CTA has 2,500 vehicles
on the road. But documents from the city's Revenue Department obtained
under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the CTA hasn't paid its red
light tickets in at least a year-and-a-half.

Last year, the CTA racked up 248 red light citations. As of February,
when ABC7 first started looking into this, only 16 of those tickets were
paid. The CTA accumulated $20,880 worth of violations. Since no one paid,
in theory, the fines would have doubled to $41,760. "

On Tue, 09 May 2006 07:36:19 -0500,
(Brent P) wrote:

>
>http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...age&id=4147609
>
>" The cameras catch everyone, including government workers driving on
>taxpayer time. City vans. Prosecutors' sedans. And nearly 90 police
>vehicles, all caught on camera going through red lights.
>
>But it is the Chicago Transit Authority with the largest number of
>tickets... by far. You might expect that since the CTA has 2,500 vehicles
>on the road. But documents from the city's Revenue Department obtained
>under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the CTA hasn't paid its red
>light tickets in at least a year-and-a-half.
>
>Last year, the CTA racked up 248 red light citations. As of February,
>when ABC7 first started looking into this, only 16 of those tickets were
>paid. The CTA accumulated $20,880 worth of violations. Since no one paid,
>in theory, the fines would have doubled to $41,760. "
>
>

The cameras don't catch everyone. I have never been nailed for this.
Obey the law.

laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE wrote:
> On Tue, 09 May 2006 07:36:19 -0500,
> (Brent P) wrote:
>
> >
> >http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...age&id=4147609
> >
> >" The cameras catch everyone, including government workers driving on
> >taxpayer time. City vans. Prosecutors' sedans. And nearly 90 police
> >vehicles, all caught on camera going through red lights.
> >
> >But it is the Chicago Transit Authority with the largest number of
> >tickets... by far. You might expect that since the CTA has 2,500 vehicles
> >on the road. But documents from the city's Revenue Department obtained
> >under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the CTA hasn't paid its red
> >light tickets in at least a year-and-a-half.
> >
> >Last year, the CTA racked up 248 red light citations. As of February,
> >when ABC7 first started looking into this, only 16 of those tickets were
> >paid. The CTA accumulated $20,880 worth of violations. Since no one paid,
> >in theory, the fines would have doubled to $41,760. "
> >
> >
>
> The cameras don't catch everyone. I have never been nailed for this.
> Obey the law.

Do as I say, not as I do, right dumbass?

nate

Brent P wrote:
> http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...age&id=4147609
>
> " The cameras catch everyone, including government workers driving on
> taxpayer time. City vans. Prosecutors' sedans. And nearly 90 police
> vehicles, all caught on camera going through red lights.
>
> But it is the Chicago Transit Authority with the largest number of
> tickets... by far. You might expect that since the CTA has 2,500 vehicles
> on the road. But documents from the city's Revenue Department obtained
> under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the CTA hasn't paid its red
> light tickets in at least a year-and-a-half.
>
> Last year, the CTA racked up 248 red light citations. As of February,
> when ABC7 first started looking into this, only 16 of those tickets were
> paid. The CTA accumulated $20,880 worth of violations. Since no one paid,
> in theory, the fines would have doubled to $41,760. "

If you really want to get riled up about double standards look at
millions of dollars in tickets that federal politicians, diplomats,
U.N. people, etc., get to walk away from every year. Hell the
diplomats are not even subject to our criminal laws.

Some city bus agencies that I'm more familiar with seem to be in this
habit -- in particular, when the bus stop is the last thing before the
intersection, they'll roar out of there under a yellow or even pink
light.

And of course running yellow lights, though sometimes unavoidable or at
least reasonably justified, can be the first step down the proverbial
slippery slope. For one thing, it's to your benefit (albeit at the
expense of others) as long as you don't get hit or ticketed, so it's a
behavior pattern that tends to get worse, not better, once you're in
the habit. And since the light is soon gone from your regard, it's
easy to think that running the yellow is all you're doing, and kid
yourself about how much of the red you're catching -- especially in a
long vehicle, such as a bus.

Surely the drivers aren't instructed to do this. However, it must be a
tempting way to try and catch up with the timetable, especially if
traffic has been bad or an unusual number of people have been jumping
on and off and thus you're running a bit late.

It works too. But as with the same practice in smaller vehicles, it's
merely unlawful and a bit rude right up until it 's much more -- the
time you've got a car lodged under the bumper, or a pedestrian or
bicyclist Wiley Coyote'd across your windshield, and then there's no
do-overs.

--Joe

In article . com>,
John S. > wrote:
>If you really want to get riled up about double standards look at
>millions of dollars in tickets that federal politicians, diplomats,
>U.N. people, etc., get to walk away from every year. Hell the
>diplomats are not even subject to our criminal laws.

London, England is angry at American diplomats for not
paying the fee to drive in the city.

--
John Carr )

laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE wrote:
> On Tue, 09 May 2006 07:36:19 -0500,
> (Brent P) wrote:
>
> >
> >http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...age&id=4147609
> >
> >" The cameras catch everyone, including government workers driving on
> >taxpayer time. City vans. Prosecutors' sedans. And nearly 90 police
> >vehicles, all caught on camera going through red lights.
> >
> >But it is the Chicago Transit Authority with the largest number of
> >tickets... by far. You might expect that since the CTA has 2,500 vehicles
> >on the road. But documents from the city's Revenue Department obtained
> >under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the CTA hasn't paid its red
> >light tickets in at least a year-and-a-half.
> >
> >Last year, the CTA racked up 248 red light citations. As of February,
> >when ABC7 first started looking into this, only 16 of those tickets were
> >paid. The CTA accumulated $20,880 worth of violations. Since no one paid,
> >in theory, the fines would have doubled to $41,760. "

> The cameras don't catch everyone. I have never been nailed for this.

There you go, you've admitted you run red lights.

In article . com>,
says...

>And of course running yellow lights, though sometimes unavoidable or at
>least reasonably justified, can be the first step down the proverbial
>slippery slope.

There is no such thing as running a yellow light. As far as entering an
intersection goes, a yellow light and a green light have the same meaning.

>For one thing, it's to your benefit (albeit at the
>expense of others)

Expense of others? Explain that.

>as long as you don't get hit or ticketed

If the light is yellow, neither of those should happen.

>so it's a
>behavior pattern that tends to get worse, not better, once you're in
>the habit.

What gets worse? Entering an intersection when the light is not red is
what you are supposed to do.

>And since the light is soon gone from your regard, it's
>easy to think that running the yellow is all you're doing, and kid
>yourself about how much of the red you're catching -- especially in a
>long vehicle, such as a bus.

Length has nothing to do with it. The light just tells you if you can
enter an intersection, nothing more. Red means you should not enter,
the other colors mean you can enter.


>It works too. But as with the same practice in smaller vehicles, it's
>merely unlawful

It's not unlawful. If you think it is, please point out the law that is
being broken.

>and a bit rude right up until it 's much more

Again, explain that.

>the
>time you've got a car lodged under the bumper, or a pedestrian or
>bicyclist Wiley Coyote'd across your windshield, and then there's no
>do-overs.

If the light is yellow when you enter and the intesection is clear when
you enter, none of that should happen.
--------------
Alex

In article >,
says...

>Only dumbasses put bus stops BEFORE the intersection. Not only does it
>cause the problem you mention, it also needlessly blocks traffic from
>making right turns.

In NYC you will see that fairly often.
-------------
Alex

In article . com>,
Ad absurdum per aspera > wrote:
>Some city bus agencies that I'm more familiar with seem to be in this
>habit -- in particular, when the bus stop is the last thing before the
>intersection, they'll roar out of there under a yellow or even pink
>light.

SEPTA does it the other way; the buses often go through the
intersection late in the red cycle. Since almost everyone else in
Philadelphia runs the lights early in the red cycle, probably the only
thing preventing collisions is the fact that buses are very large and
noticable. Possibly the drivers that still don't notice them have been
winnowed out already.

>the habit. And since the light is soon gone from your regard, it's
>easy to think that running the yellow is all you're doing, and kid
>yourself about how much of the red you're catching -- especially in a
>long vehicle, such as a bus.

Doesn't legally matter in many states; entering on yellow is legal
even if your ass-end remains in the intersection when the light turns
red.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.