Avoid red light camera tickets with brake lights

[snopes]

Comment: I have a friend that does IT work for one of the largest
nation-wide street camera companies and he told me years ago that the way
you beat the red light camera ticket is that you keep your brake light on during the whole
intersection or turn. Just apply the brakes enough to keep the brake
lights on but you still fly through. Their computer system deletes the
pictures with cars that have the brake lights on in all the pictures or
through the entire duration of video because you can fight it in court and
tell the Judge that you tried to stop but could not.

[snopes]

he told me years ago that the way you beat the red light camera ticket is that you keep your brake light on during the whole intersection or turn.

Alternatively, you can avoid red light tickets by pressing the brake pedal sufficiently such that your car stops at red lights.

[GenYus234]

tell the Judge that you tried to stop but could not.

Unless you can prove that the yellow light is too short, won't this mean that you were going to fast (legally or for the conditions), that your vehicle is not working properly, or that you weren't paying sufficient attention to your driving?

[jimmy101_again]

I wouldn't think "I couldn't stop" would get you out of a ticket for running a red. You ran the light, it doesn't really matter why you did it, it is illegal.

If you ran the light because your brakes failed you should get two tickets; one for running the red and one for operating an unsafe vehicle.

[Not_Done_Living]

i have received two red light camera tickets, both from the same intersection, due to me just sitting in the intersection waiting to make my legal left hand turn, due to the amount of traffic coming from the north, and folks blasting through the yellow.

i assure you i had my brake lights on in both of the pics.
(but i did succesfully fight the tickets per the circumstances above, and the video clearly indicated the same)

[erwins]

I think "I couldn't stop" is a defense for running a yellow light, since the law there is basically, "stop if possible." Maybe the UL mixes that up with red light cameras, and stupidity ensues.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by erwins

I think "I couldn't stop" is a defense for running a yellow light, since the law there is basically, "stop if possible." Maybe the UL mixes that up with red light cameras, and stupidity ensues.

In most states you can't run a yellow since yellow is the same as green (except it is warning that red is about to happen).

[GenYus234]

You can in Oregon.

Oregon 811.260

Steady circular yellow signal. A driver facing a steady circular yellow signal light is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated and that a red or flashing red light will be shown immediately. A driver facing the light shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if there is no marked crosswalk, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.

[jimmy101_again]

If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection

Like I said, in most states you can't run a yellow. In Oregon it is possible, but just being in the intersection on the yellow, or even entering when yellow, is not an infraction. I believe Oregon is one of just six states where it is possible to "run a yellow".

In Calif. if any part of your car is in the intersection during yellow you have the right of way through the intersection even after the light turns red. You did not run the red. (The only exception is the anti-gridlock laws; you have to have somewhere to go on the other side of the intersection and that applies even if the light is green.)

[1958Fury]

Some friends of mine have a red light camera near their house. It gives you a ticket when you turn right on red if you don't stop first, but you have to stay stopped for three full seconds for it to count as stopping. I wonder if the "three seconds" thing is an actual traffic law, or if that's just how the computer works.

[RichardM]

The three second rule seems to be just a 'standard' adopted by various police officers. It is not codified that I know of. Others will and should correct me if I am wrong.

[Latiam]

Originally Posted by 1958Fury

Some friends of mine have a red light camera near their house. It gives you a ticket when you turn right on red if you don't stop first, but you have to stay stopped for three full seconds for it to count as stopping. I wonder if the "three seconds" thing is an actual traffic law, or if that's just how the computer works.

That explains something. I was trying to turn right on the red and had come to a full stop before proceeding partially into the intersection so I could see. Once I did, the camera kept taking pictures of me, but I didn't get a ticket. I had to wait so it took about 6 pictures before I went. They're quite a bright flash.

[Talleyrand]

Sounds more like a safety issue than a practicality (?) issue. How do you avoid slowing down too much once you're already in the intersection? Forget the traffic that would soon start travelling perpendicular to you, what about the drivers behind you who always assume that the car ahead is going to cross the yellow light and that they'll be able to also (as with many Markham drivers), but are confused over what you're trying to do with your brakes?

[Troberg]

I've seen a neat solution to the "Couldn't stop"-problem in some countries. They simply paint a small mark on the curb. If you have passed the mark when the light swith to yellow, drive on, if not, stop.

Simple to understand, simple to control without having to resort to some imprecise personal judgement.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

When I lived in Connecticut, running a yellow light was penalized the same as running a red light. Grant you, that was more than 20 years ago.

Seaboe

[BoxCar]

When your car approaches an intersection with a light, a decision point can
occur wherein when the YELLOW light comes on, at that singular point in time you have to decide whether to hit the brakes or continue to accelerate
IF you car is inside the SOLID White Lines, then continue on, but IF your car is not yet within the SOLID White Lines, you best get on the brakes
I've used this Rule of Thumb since the 1950s and have yet to run a red light

[Darth Credence]

Originally Posted by RichardM

The three second rule seems to be just a 'standard' adopted by various police officers. It is not codified that I know of. Others will and should correct me if I am wrong.

When I last took a traffic safety class, this was brought up. The instructor, a long time police officer, laughed when someone said they thought the stop had to be three seconds. He said he had no idea where the "three second stop rule" came from, but it had somehow become ingrained in peoples minds even though no one ever followed it. In Utah, you must stop. No time limit, just a complete cessation of forward movement.

This was also the time someone asked how long yellow lights stayed yellow, thinking it was around 30 seconds. He made several comments about drivers not really grasping just how long a second is.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by BoxCar

When your car approaches an intersection with a light, a decision point can
occur wherein when the YELLOW light comes on, at that singular point in time you have to decide whether to hit the brakes or continue to accelerate
IF you car is inside the SOLID White Lines, then continue on, but IF your car is not yet within the SOLID White Lines, you best get on the brakes
I've used this Rule of Thumb since the 1950s and have yet to run a red light

Seems to me like there are a couple thing wrong there.

By "SOLID white line" I assume you mean the line (which is often not there) marking the official beginning of the intersection, that is, the line you are supposed to stop behind.

A. Why are you "accelerating" in or before an intersection? Safety would dictate that you are maintaining speed or better yet slowing down at a dangerous place like and intersection, not accelerating.

B. If you car is within the "SOLID White lines" (and got their during a green light) then in many jurisdictions you are already in the intersection and have the right-of-way through the intersection regardless of the changing color of the light. Certainly if you are in the intersection when the light goes to yellow you'll clear the intersection long before it goes red.

C. If your car is tens of feet before the "SOLID White Line" and the light goes yellow you are going to have to lock up the brakes and will end of sliding into the intersection. That is extremely unsafe since you loose steering control. (I'm ignoring modern cars with anti-lock and anti-skid capabilities since these laws were all written well before any such technologies were available.)




To me, the tricky part has always been that the driver often has to make two decisions: (1) Can/should I try to stop for the yellow light and (2) if I do will the driver behind me do the same? If I hit the brakes and the car behind me hits the accelerator bad things tend to happen.

[Chloe]

Welcome, BoxCar!

[Hero_Mike]

Unless, of course, the third-party running the red light cameras has made a contract with the city, whereby the yellow light times have been reduced below that which was designed and backed up by traffic studies. The purpose of that is to increase the number of red-light runners and thus maintain a minimum revenue stream for the third party. This has happened in many places, and it's unfortunate that traffic studies also prove out that increasing yellow light time is one of the best ways to decrease people from running red lights. Some intersections are monstrous and have a very long traverse time - add in reaction time and you cannot traverse the intersection under a yellow.