Red Light Cameras

[nadina]

Yesterday I ran a red light at macleod and 12th avenue it flashed so I think i will recieve a ticket.

But today i went back to the same intersection and noticed that the red light camera was a little bit different then i have ever seen any where else, it only had a flash and not the box underneath it.

Does this mean it just flashed but didnt take a picture?

Also, how long does it take in the mail to recieve these tickets.

Thanks,

[ctruo]

Not to sure about the entire box thing. I do know that some red light cameras are switch on and off on a regular basis. So you really don't know which ones were working or not. But possible expect a 300 dollar ticket within 2 weeks.

[lbrowne]

Pretty sure you'll get a ticket and pretty sure you'll have to pay almost $300. I've noticed some smaller camera/flash units around.

If its anything like Fort Mac they move the camera to different intersections because its costly to have them at every major intersection.

Don't run red lights.

[Hemi RT]

Actually it's a different type of camera, the lens is in the middle of the flash, reports are they are more accurate. Takes 4-10 days for you to receive the ticket, just pay it as there aren't any points as the owner, not the driver, gets the ticket. You don't report photo tickets to the insurance company when/if they ask if you had any tickets.

[l8braker]

That one is deadly :whipped:

[TorqueDog]

The worst is the red light camera at MacLeod Tr. and 7th Ave SW... right at the C-Train tracks.

Not because I run red lights, I would especially not run a red light where there are C-Train tracks, I don't feel like becoming street pizza.

However, it seems that every idiot brakes and goes 10 KM/H over those stupid tracks, like their car is going to fall apart if they go a reasonable speed. I was going through the intersection on a stale green, idiot in front of me hits his brakes to go 10 KM/H over the tracks as the light turns yellow, and the took long enough that the light turned red while I was in the intersection. Flash flash, but I never ended up getting a ticket.

[benyl]

You have to enter the intersection after it turns red. If it is yellow when you cross the stop line, you will not get a ticket.

[ken-gsr]

^ good to know.

[TorqueDog]

Benyl, that doesn't explain why it flashed then.

There are two sensors. One at the stop line, and one in the middle of the intersection. If you cross the middle sensor when the light is red, it will flash (because that is, by law, running a red light). Thanks to the knob in front of me, he took long enough to go through the intersection that it flashed.

Like I said, I lucked out and didn't get a ticket.

I agree wholeheartedly with there being a camera there (I mean, a train DOES go through the intersection when it's red), but it's moreso the drivers who think their bone-stock Mazda has the same ground clearance as a Formula One car, and baby it over the tracks, and can cause the scenario I mentioned.

[Doozer]

Originally posted by benyl
You have to enter the intersection after it turns red. If it is yellow when you cross the stop line, you will not get a ticket.

QFT.

The reason it flashed is because the camera automatically goes off whenever someone crosses underneath a red. But if there's not the accompanying proof of a red light BEFORE hitting the stopline, then CPS never sends you the ticket.

They need to be able to prove that the light was red when you both entered, and exited, the intersection.

Unfortunately, I'm one of the few who's had the misfortune of receiving one of these tickets, and they include 3 pictures, all in crystal clarity:
1 - your car before entering the intersection, with the red light visible.
2 - your car in the middle of the intersection, with the red light still visible
3 - close-up zoom of your plate.

The pictures are so good it's like you're standing on the corner watching the whole thing. And leaves very little room to argue. My mistake was that I was following a bus, and obviously not watching the light as well as I could've. The bus probably went through an orange, and was safe, but I hit the red.

[TorqueDog]

Ahh. That makes more sense. My bad.

[Jay911]

Hey Doozer -

Do you (or anyone else) know if they can shoot other directions than the one the camera is facing? For example let's say the one at 10th x 16 Av NW .. the box and flash look into the intersection from the SW corner, near the SAIT property, looking more or less eastwards. Can it only catch one direction (eastbound on 16th), two directions (eastbound on 16th and northbound on 10th), or any direction? I am suspecting maybe option #2, if they have a wide lens. I'm all but convinced option #3 is impossible in Alberta due to the lack of front plates.

The other thing I can impart on this subject: There are, last I heard, 24 red cameras. There are way more than 24 poles and housings erected in the city. Some of the housings/boxes are empty, and the cameras are moved to various locations from time to time.

And not to make this sound like a cliche, but of course I don't condone red light running. I'm in this conversation more for the technical side of things.

[Doozer]

You know, I've wondered that myself. As I look at my pictures, it seems pretty safe to assume that they can only get the traffic going in 1 direction, since (at least from these pictures) they second possibility is still too tight of an angle based on the distance from the intersection.

There's actually part of either the city's or CPS website that lists the number of cameras, and the POSSIBLE locations, but I can't recall what it is right now. I'm sure it wouldn't take long to find it though.

EDIT: Yup, took about 5 seconds ... on the CPS website: http://www.calgarypolice.ca/sections/traffic/redlight_locations.html#redlightcamera

Quote: "...the Red Light Camera program has grown, incorporating 44 camera-ready intersections. These camera-ready intersections will facilitate the use of 36 Red Light Cameras on a rotating basis."

It then goes on to list the sites.

[mjt]

I agree wholeheartedly with there being a camera there (I mean, a train DOES go through the intersection when it's red), but it's moreso the drivers who think their bone-stock Mazda has the same ground clearance as a Formula One car, and baby it over the tracks, and can cause the scenario I mentioned.

As a c-train driver, I can tell you for sure that there is no way a c-train can run a red light in that particular intersection or any other. That instersection at Mcleod Tr. and 7 Ave has what is known as a 'train dump' installed so that if a train were to go through a red light it would automatically being stopped and shutdown by the system. The driver would probably have to do some major paperwork, possibly be suspended and maybe even lose his job and even worse. Trains have their own rules and basically to do something like that you have to break about 3 or 4 of them along with running the light. Usually when you cross the 3st E. lights whether you are coming from the NE or from South and heading w.b. the Mcleod Tr. light is in sequence. The only time a train even needs to stop there is because some idiot in a car is stuck in the intersection, blocking the train or there is a slow down in trains and there's a train sitting at olympic plaza. One train cannot enter a block on 7th until it is free from all trains no matter how many lights you have to wait. Coming eastbound, after leaving Center street station the Mcleod Tr light is again in sequence and if the driver doesn't wait for the light to turn green and goes over the 2 painted white X's, the train will be shutdown. There is a slight delay going E.B. on that light for safety reason so that cars don't hang in the intersection, but time and time again they still do. It is not just the tracks that have to be clear, but there is an area with a markings on both sides that have to be clear before the train is allowed to even enter the intersection. If the front end of the c-train enters on a green light, they have the same vehicular rights as cars to 'clear the intersection' as a car. That is not running a light. Running a light is entering on a red or yellow. Keep in mind that a c-train with weight of passengers is about 130 tonnes.


Red light cameras are designed to punish those who run red lights and only work when a car actually enters when there is a red light.

[derek123]

Originally posted by Doozer
The bus probably went through an orange, and was safe, but I hit the red.


I think I see your problem


;)

[Doozer]

Originally posted by derek123

I think I see your problem


Amen. It was actually quite an eye-opener. Speeding is one thing, but red lights aren't something that anyone should make a habit of running. Hopefully that will be the first and last for me!

[canuckcarguy]

Originally posted by mjt


As a c-train driver, I can tell you for sure that there is no way a c-train can run a red light in that particular intersection or any other.

I think the original poster meant that the c-train crosses this intersection when the traffic lights (for cars) are red. I don't think he was suggesting that the c-trains were violating the lights, but actually supporting being careful in this intersection because there was a c-train crossing.