Red light cameras?

On 4/24/2011 9:54 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Apr 24, 12:26 pm, wrote:
Per Phil W Lee:

Amber - Stop if you safely can.

I think "Safely" could be a departure point for some reasonable
arguments.

If I see a yellow light, my reflex is to take my foot off the gas
and look in the rear view mirror.

If there's nothing there, I continue the sequence and apply the
brakes.

OTOH, if there's somebody there, I have to make the decision as
to whether they expect me to brake or not.

Dangerous situations arise when somebody feels constrained to
stand on the brakes as soon as they see a yellow light - and that
constraint would, IMHO, be introduced for a lot of drivers once
they know cameras are in place.... and especially once somebody
starts shortening the yellow light times.

Seems to me that danger in that situation is caused by the guy in
back. One should maintain a two second gap, which should give plenty
of stopping distance unless the guy in back is on his cell phone etc.
I have absolutely no sympathy for tailgaters or distracted drivers.

butbutbut, rear firing cannons [1] to deal with tailgaters are not allowed.

Next time I get hit from behind, I hope I am driving my truck with its
Class III hitch and tow ball installed, and not my car.

[1] 40-mm Bofors should work.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

T◊m Sherm∂n wrote:

Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:

Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".

I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.

Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Visit New Orleans, or Austin. Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.
Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?

Chalo

On 4/24/2011 11:35 PM, Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:
T◊m Sherm∂n wrote:

Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:

Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".

I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.

Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Uh, I actually worked in Texas for a while.

Visit New Orleans, or Austin.

What about Houston and Dallas? They are certainly more representative
of large cities.

Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.

What would those places tell me about large cities?

Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

In my experience upper Midwesterners generally are on a fundamental
level. More taciturn by far than southerners, but that is a plus, not a
minus. Plus they are much less preachy. People trying to shove their
religion down one's throat gets tiresome in a hurry.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?

Very little violence related to it. And drunks are more uncivil that
the users of any other mood altering substances.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:47:02 -0500, Tºm Shermªn™ °_°
" wrote:

On 4/22/2011 12:33 PM, A. Muzi wrote:
[...]
And as with many issues regarding police, the innocent get ticketed
along with the guilty. Good luck with that once your plate is imaged. I
had a passenger witness to my cash toll payments on Illinois Northwest
Tollway, got four camera images with toll violation notices a week later.

Do you not have an I-Pass because every time you go through a toll the
time and location is stored somewhere on a Illinois Tollway Authority
server?

In the pre-I-Pass days, I used to pre-count pennys and use them at the
toll booths.

Considering our cell phones track where we are all the time, an
occasional tracking of my car going though a tollbooth hardly rates.

On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 07:43:03 -0500, Tºm Shermªn™ °_°
" wrote:

On 4/24/2011 3:36 AM, Jym Dyer wrote:
Who's in favor of red light cameras? Who's against?

=v= I favor use of the technology because a major factor
in motorist misbehavior is the presumption of anonymity.
Thwarting that and -- *gasp!* -- actually holding someone
responsible for their actions is a *good* thing.

=v= I'm not too fond of the privatization of deployment,
though. See below.

... and setting up revenue-enhancement situations ...

=v= The phrase "revenue-enhancement" has been used over and
over, decades before this technology existed. The notion
seems to hinge on the bizarre notion that speeding doesn't
actually have any financial impact. In fact about 30% of
the budgets of police, fire, and emergency services are
caused by cars, most of that by speeding. "Enhancement"
is thoroughly the wrong word to describe those at fault.

=v= Fines should go to the municipalities that have these
very real costs, though, not to Lockheed Martin.
_Jym_

Speeding never hurt anyone. It is the high rates of
deceleration/acceleration that cause the damage.

There is a currrent campaign in NYC stating that hitting someone at 30
mph gives them an 80% chance of living, hitting them at 40 mph gives
them a 30% chance of living. The numbers might be slightly off but
that extra 10 mph means over 50% increase in the number of dead
"accident" victims.

Chalo wrote:
T◊m Sherm∂n wrote:
Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:
Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".
I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.
Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Visit New Orleans, or Austin. Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.
Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?


Mostly in Iowa.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

In article , AMuzi
wrote:

Chalo wrote:
Tâ—Sˇm Sherm∂n wrote:
Çhâlõ ÇÃ3lîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:
Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".
I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.
Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Visit New Orleans, or Austin. Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.
Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?

Mostly in Iowa.

Everywhere. San Bernardino County, and Pierce County for two.

--
Michael Press

On 4/25/2011 10:07 AM, dgk wrote:
On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:47:02 -0500, Tºm Shermªn™ °_°
" wrote:

On 4/22/2011 12:33 PM, A. Muzi wrote:
[...]
And as with many issues regarding police, the innocent get ticketed
along with the guilty. Good luck with that once your plate is imaged. I
had a passenger witness to my cash toll payments on Illinois Northwest
Tollway, got four camera images with toll violation notices a week later.

Do you not have an I-Pass because every time you go through a toll the
time and location is stored somewhere on a Illinois Tollway Authority
server?

In the pre-I-Pass days, I used to pre-count pennys and use them at the
toll booths.

Considering our cell phones track where we are all the time, an
occasional tracking of my car going though a tollbooth hardly rates.

Not if you wrap your phone in metal foil.

When delivering I-Pass transponders to a branch office, I had them
wrapped in aluminium foil, to keep from getting charged for multiple
vehicles at every toll.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On 4/25/2011 4:42 PM, A. Muzi wrote:
Chalo wrote:
Tâ—Å*m Sherm∂n wrote:
Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:
Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".
I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.
Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Visit New Orleans, or Austin. Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.
Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?


Mostly in Iowa.

Actually, we just crack the top 15:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/stateMeth/stateMeth.htm.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On Apr 25, 5:38Â*pm, Tºm Shermªnâ„¢ °_° ""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
$southslope.net" wrote:
On 4/25/2011 4:42 PM, A. Muzi wrote:





Chalo wrote:
Tâ—Å*m Sherm∂n wrote:
Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:

T0m Sherm4n wrote:
Of course, if one lives in a civilized place, traffic is never dense
enough to "block the box".
I think you mean a place that has not yet been civilized, or one that
once was civilized but has since become derelict and abandoned.
Overcrowding leads to a decline in civility, as can be seen by visiting
any large city.

Haven't spent much time in the South, have we?

Visit New Orleans, or Austin. Visit some little burgs of population
under-50,000 a couple of hundred miles from New Orleans or Austin.
Bring your feet-first bike, your spandex, and your leftist banter.
Then tell me Bum****ians are more civil.

Methamphetamine leads to a decline in civility, for sure. Where's
that stuff cooking, pardner?

Mostly in Iowa.

Actually, we just crack the top 15:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/stateMeth/stateMeth.htm.

We're slipping in the ranks because pseudoephedrine was made a
prescription medication. The tweekers can't steal Claritin D off the
shelves, and the labs are starting to dry up. Really though, its wet
and cold so much of the year -- who wouldn't want to warm themselves
in a lab filled with caustic chemicals? -- Jay Beattie.