Traffic Enforcement Cameras

[runawayjim]

If we do get speeding cameras, one area on the East Side I guarantee will get it is Gano Street across from the Dunkin Donuts. They not infrequently have squad cars watching speeding near the park there and they've had those "Your speed is..." trailers there several times.

Again, as Brick says, no one has proven these devices do anything beneficial for safely except generate revenue. If they promise to put the revenue exclusively towards increased enforcement, fixing sidewalks, and better traffic planning, then maybe I could swallow that pill better, but that's certainly not going to happen...

-Garris

they need to stop puttnig those "your speed is" trailers places and start using actual cops to just pull people over. they had one of those trailers on my street, which isn't very wide (you can barely get 2 cars down it when only one car is parked on the side of the road). those trailers are only effective in getting people to see how fast they can go.

[monsoon]

Again, as Brick says, no one has proven these devices do anything beneficial for safely except generate revenue. If they promise to put the revenue exclusively towards increased enforcement, fixing sidewalks, and better traffic planning, then maybe I could swallow that pill better, but that's certainly not going to happen...

-Garris

Actually, since the program started here, there have been a dramatic drop in accidents in intersections where the redlight cameras are installed in Charlotte. It's something like a 40% drop.

http://www.stopredlightrunning.com/html/ne...ease_011905.htm

[Dan]

they need to stop puttnig those "your speed is" trailers places ... those trailers are only effective in getting people to see how fast they can go.

Is this true? Or if your speed is: SPEEDING do you risk getting a ticket. My friend from E.P. believes you can but I think its just a suggestion to obey the speed limit.

[runawayjim]

Actually, since the program started here, there have been a dramatic drop in accidents in intersections where the redlight cameras are installed in Charlotte. It's something like a 40% drop.

http://www.stopredlightrunning.com/html/ne...ease_011905.htm

they'd have to fix a lot of our red lights before they were to really fully enact something like this... a lot of them still immediately turn green the moment the other turns red. there's no delay. i can't tell you how many near accidents i've been in because of this. they've fixed some of them, but others have yet to be fixed. also, something i think needs to be done before more of these get installed is to switch the lights over from being on a timer to being on a sensor. there are too many timed lights in this city at intersections where one road is significantly busier than the cross road. i sit at too many lights on smith street for this exact reason.

[brick]

those trailers are only effective in getting people to see how fast they can go.

There is one that the PPD put on Elmgrove right before it merges with Blackstone Blvd. Since that is one of my bike routes, I always crank it up to see how fast I can go. Of course, it only "reads" me about half the time.

[runawayjim]

Is this true? Or if your speed is: SPEEDING do you risk getting a ticket. My friend from E.P. believes you can but I think its just a suggestion to obey the speed limit.

there's no camera on these things. they just simply tell you how fast you're going. honestly, i don't even understand why these things exist in the first place. they really just take up street parking (or make driving on a street like mine more difficult and dangerous, especially at night when you can barely see the tires sticking out the sides of them).

the problem with them is that they don't even work to give the cops a sense of how fast people are driving. you can't take an average speed with those things because from far away it doesn't get your speed well enough and shows you at something below the speed limit.

it really comes down to one thing... speed limits do good only when enforced... i see people doing around 40 down my street, a residential street with lots of children and elderly people... fairly narrow and always cars parked on the street (many times including my car).

[matt]

there's no camera on these things. they just simply tell you how fast you're going. honestly, i don't even understand why these things exist in the first place. they really just take up street parking (or make driving on a street like mine more difficult and dangerous, especially at night when you can barely see the tires sticking out the sides of them).

the problem with them is that they don't even work to give the cops a sense of how fast people are driving. you can't take an average speed with those things because from far away it doesn't get your speed well enough and shows you at something below the speed limit.

it really comes down to one thing... speed limits do good only when enforced... i see people doing around 40 down my street, a residential street with lots of children and elderly people... fairly narrow and always cars parked on the street (many times including my car).

I don't think they are completely useless. When they say the speed limit is this and your speed is THIS, it at least forces the driver to acknowledge that they are speeding. Whether they do anything about it certainly depends on the driver.

[runawayjim]

I don't think they are completely useless. When they say the speed limit is this and your speed is THIS, it at least forces the driver to acknowledge that they are speeding. Whether they do anything about it certainly depends on the driver.

most drivers i know already know they're most likely speeding... remember, almost all drivers believe that the legal speed limit is actually ~10mph above the posted limit. the fun ones are the ones that change from an amber color to flashing red when you're >10mph over the posted limit.

[matt]

most drivers i know already know they're most likely speeding...

True, but how many drivers have you seen and thought, is this guy even paying attention? I see so many people doing such foolish things on the road that I'm not putting anything past anybody anymore.

[MikeR]

Good ProJo article on these traffic cameras!! - obey traffic laws, or face a $75 ticket!

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20...24.1d4dde9.html

[runawayjim]

Good ProJo article on these traffic cameras!! - obey traffic laws, or face a $75 ticket!

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20...24.1d4dde9.html

i saw this on the news last night... there are camers at huxley and eaton, raymond and chalkston, and oakland and chalkstone... all activated now. however, oakland and raymond are the same street, but i think they have cameras pointing both directions at that intersection. the one on eaton only gets you if you run the light driving down eaton street.

a funny coincidence... one of my workers came in today and told me that the light at eaton and huxley froze today. luckily, it benefited me, but he saw me drive in and about 5 min later the light was still red for him. so it was a solid red for people on huxley and a solid green for people on eaton... and it wasn't changing. i wonder if the camera could have screwed it up...

[Cotuit]

Providence starts red light camera photo system [Providence Business News]

[Garris]

I wonder if the camera could have screwed it up...

This is about the start I expected, unfortunately...

- Garris

[Cotuit]

I don't understand the sign on Steeple Street. None of the articles have mentioned it, and from my random looking up in the sky as walking by, I haven't seen a camera.

[runawayjim]

This is about the start I expected, unfortunately...

- Garris

amusingly enough, the lights are now flashing and they're working on the camera.

I don't understand the sign on Steeple Street. None of the articles have mentioned it, and from my random looking up in the sky as walking by, I haven't seen a camera.

i think the article in projo said there's one in the works for steeple/canal.

[Cotuit]

i think the article in projo said there's one in the works for steeple/canal.

Ah, I didn't read through the whole thing carefully, PBN and ProJo both bullet-pointed locations that did not include Steeple Street.

Can they put one at Atwells and Dean? Please.

[Frankie811]

Can they put one at Atwells and Dean? Please.

Forget a camera at that intersection. You need a cop there.

[runawayjim]

so another update on the camera at huxley and eaton... it's down for the count. the lights were still flashing last night. nothing like being excited about a new program and having it cause so many problems... that's a tough intersection, too, because ripta uses it and it's got a decent amount of traffic from PC kids and employees.

i haven't been down oakland at all... i wonder what the state of that camera is...

[mod134]

On my way into PC this morning the lights on the Eaton St. part of the intersection w/ Huxley Ave. were flashing. Just as an update to RunawayJim's post. Those new lights work great

[Shawn_PVD]

The state passed a law last year. These things need to be watched very closely...

Wrote this about it around a year ago.

(For about a year now we've had a traffic engineer with real credentials for the first time in like 20 years.)

I really like the column you wrote for the ProJo.

Where online could I find the final law that was passed? I'm curious about how many of your recommendations they used.

[TheAnk]

I'm a Civil Liberties absolutist, but... when it comes to traffic enforcement I think everyone in Rhode Island is guilty until proven innocent. I've lived in urban settings all my adult life and have never felt as maligned and endanged as a pedestrian as I do in Providence.

On the topic of the sign specifically, it's HUGE! It's directly in front of one of the city's most historic buildings telling people what they should already know, "stop when the light's red or you'll get a ticket." Annoying.

What is with RI and its bizarro rules of driving walking? People I think for the most part do exactly the opposite in Providence of what the laws/rules of right of way entail.. Its not just annoying, its dangerous..

[Gusterfell]

What is with RI and its bizarro rules of driving walking? People I think for the most part do exactly the opposite in Providence of what the laws/rules of right of way entail.. Its not just annoying, its dangerous..

A couple years ago, I was crossing Memorial Boulevard, in a crosswalk, and this guy in a commercial van screeches to a stop in front of me... blocking the crosswalk... He rolls down the window and yells "I ain't stopping!"

Before he sped off, I had just enough time to respond "you just did."

[TheAnk]

A couple years ago, I was crossing Memorial Boulevard, in a crosswalk, and this guy in a commercial van screeches to a stop in front of me... blocking the crosswalk... He rolls down the window and yells "I ain't stopping!"

Before he sped off, I had just enough time to respond "you just did."

Perfect example..

I personally love the "pull out into oncoming traffic and block one lane completely, and wait until the traffic going the other way flashes you to go" deal.. Completely stopping progress on the entire street for one non-right of way having car.. Really works wonders on Atwells flow..

Or like your situation, the "stop in the middle of ongoing traffic to let a car on the other side who is trying to make a turn accross your lane go" move.. Once again, stopping the entire flow of right of way traffic for one car to turn..

Or how about the infamous "j-walk really slow accross a street, not in a cross walk.. And then stare down any car that stops for you.. And walk even slower" move..

We don't need traffic light cameras.. We just need an entire new stock of drivers..

[Garris]

I personally love the "pull out into oncoming traffic and block one lane completely, and wait until the traffic going the other way flashes you to go" deal...

I've only seen this in Boston and Providence, nowhere else... And you're right, Atwells is the worst offender here (although Gano is bad sometimes too...).

Let's not talk about turn signals (which, for New Englanders not understanding that reference, is the stalk coming out from the steering column you move up or down to signal left or right turns)...

- Garris

[Jerseyman4]

Let's not talk about turn signals

The main focus of turn signals is all about using them properly. Turning the blinker on before you turn are what most motorists dont do. At the turn, the signal comes on soooooo late, its pointless of using it by then because you already slowed down traffic for not being courteious to other motorists around you. New Jersey to me is the capital of the worst turn signal improper usage and the capital of using their turn signals the most. Im not anal retentive on people NOT using turn signals but IF YOUR gonna use them, use them properly!