Red-light cameras once again greenlighted for Va. Beach intersections

They already shortened the light @ Rosemont and Holland. This further proves it's about revenue, and not about safety. They couldn't even wait until the cameras were installed.

Archie's response is typical of a "communist society" shut up and take it for the good of society as a whole. With his concept's we would not have had a war of independence!!! We have a right to boycott these red light camers's if we feel they are unfair to our rights. Just don't pay the ticket's. Sign the waiver as "I was not driving the vehicle"... this will flush out the "lies they are using" when they say they are not taking pictures of the drivers face".. They are taking your picture!!! It's all a con job... If you believe they are not then you live in the "Archie and Aalto" fantasy club for idiots... Just don't pay....throw the tea back in the harbour....we are still Virginia a "southern state" send the northern radicals back to washington!!!!!

johnh31265 gave the perfect sociopathic response, so I have to assume he was just trying to get a rise out of us. If not, he will soon be a guest of the commonwealth for a few years.

As for the rest of us, it is as simple as defensive driving, slow, don't speed for yellow lights. If you can't do it in time, it means you are also speeding, another violation for which you should pay. If you hit the car in front of you, it means you were either too close or not paying attention, another violation for which you should pay.

Those against the cameras are simply against good order and lawful operation of a motor vehicle.

Mr. Perfect,
If we lived in a perfect world we would not need a red light camera. Not everyone agrees with using them. I have a right to my opinion as well as you do without the name calling or accusations of spelling errors (how childish). As far as my driving record I would match it to yours any day!!! These cameras do not take into account someone in front of you slowing down allowing you to be caught when the light turns red. You have no choice but to proceed. There are many other problems with these systems. They are not accurate. They are just money makers for the companies that run them. So like someone said its not if your guilty or not guilt it's who's sitting next to you in the courtroom. It's all a game!! Life's not perfect. You need to get one Alto......

Citizens like myself are not against prosecuting red light runners. The problem is with the method and the tricks already involved in law enforcement. Many intersections where red light running is a huge problem could be fixed by properly timing the lights. It would be simple and much cheaper, but it wouldn't collect extra ticket revenue. Another issue is that, like in many other parts of the country where red light cameras have become popular revenue generators, we could end up with yellow light cycles shortened to intentionally incriminate more safe drivers. Those who say "if you don't run lights, it won't effect you" just have too much trust in local law enforcement and government in general.

I stop at every red light and have never once been rear ended. Also, I have never given the cameras an opportunity to snap my picture, thus avoiding the violation my civil rights that you paranoid nitwits moan about every time this topic comes up.

Follow the law and you'll have nothing to worry about.

Thanks John. You prove the point. Scoff-laws like you are why insurance rates are so high, and people die. You make the case. Run those lights, we need the profit. I only hope that you or any of your family never has to ever deal with a loved one stuck in a hospital due to some idiot that felt like you. And for your information, when you are trying to lie your way out of a ticket, it is a notary public not a "notary republic".

You have the right not to drive.
You have the right to walk.
You have the right to take public transportation.
You have the right to ride a bicycle.
You have the right to avoid the intersections with cameras installed.
Anymore questions about your rights?
Conform, or suck up the fine and stop whining.

You open the door and it is a police chaplain. He is there to tell you your wife and kids have just been killed by a person that just ran a Red Light. Come on people!! You see it every day, jerks running red lights! The only people against this are the fools that do it every day! Stop the nonsense, and do every thing you can to prevent these murderers from taking away the life of so many of your loved ones!

Jw Burns

Owners of vehicles are not responsible for "moving Violations" from other drivers using thier vehicle!!!! The key here is "moving violation" versus "parking ticket" ... So I heavily advise all just to "Not pay", I repeat "Do Not Pay these $50 dollar tickets... "Just say I was not the driver" ... It's that easy!!! Go to the bank or where ever you can get a "free Notary Republic" fill out your form that says you were not the driver. I did it all the time!!!! It's easy.... Don't loose sleep over these stupid redlight camera's. If no one pays they will go away... City loses and we the people win.... The only reason the camera's work is "Fear"!!! People "fear" the city will catch you in a lie!!! Wrong!!! They can't prove it!!! Just say i was not the driver and send it in with no money!!! Trust me it works and the city will be out of the red light business!!!

Despite all the huffing and puffing by the red light runners, the cameras will legally be installed in the near future. I frequently pass through the intersection of Indian River Road and Kempsville, and I can vouch for the fact that it was the #1 intersection for red light runners when the cameras were previously installed, and it's even worse since the cameras came down. I can also vouch for the fact that on two occasions I entered the intersection on a yellow, as it wasn't possible to stop in one car length, and I did not receive a ticket. However, I did see a complete moron whip around me and zip into the intersection on red, and the camera took a picture of his license plate. Maybe it was one of these huffers and puffers. I just chuckled.

I sit at that light every morning, turning left from Princess Anne Rd. onto Witchduck at Kempsville. There can be two thoughts... 1) if enough cars run the left turning red light, you don't sit through as many cycles. OR... if the cars on Kempsville going straight to Witchduck wouldn't run the red, the left-turning lane would allow more cars to go through, because they aren't waiting for the red light-runners to go. But I just bet you, if NO ONE runs the red light, traffic would flow as it should.

And the theories regarding the increase in rear-end collisions? Stop on RED, and they won't happen. Go ahead, flame me. ;)

These people lamenting that red light cameras will result in more rear-end collisions are ridiculous. No rear-end collisions occur unless some one (most likely the following vehicle operator) is driving unsafely and recklessly. Red light or no red light, you shouldn't tailgate.

I for one am glad to see red light cameras being re-introduced.

As far as I knew there was a legal limit for each yellow light to last at least 3.9 minutes. Most of VB's yellow lights are shorter. Are they going to re-time each light?

Glad they're coming back, wish there were more. Princess Anne and Dam Neck needs one in every direction.

If you don't run red lights you have nothing to fear from red light cameras.

jmo

No violation of privacy, you are driving on a PUBLIC street. The people against the cameras are the red light runners. If you are afraid of rear-ending a law abiding citizen who STOPS at red lights then I suggest you slow it down a little bit and do not tailgate. Now if we could only get those reckless drivers fees back on the books.

I can sympathize, especially at intersections where the green light runs for 30 seconds, the yellow for 15 and the red for 3 minutes. An intersection famous for this is the left hand turn lane from Princess Ann road onto Kempsville road at Witchduct. Another is at Tidewater and E. Little Creek road. However, that does not give people the right to run the light. I cannot say I am innocent, for I have on occasion run through the light, especially when I'm stuck behind a semi and can't see over the top to catch the color of the light. There are even times when the light turns Yellow with almost no time for me to slow down before I've entered the intersection. Sometimes that happens and you have to make a split decision. The heavier the vehicle the longer it takes to stop. I do NOT however RUN a light just because I'm tired of sitting and waiting for the light to turn. On average about 4 cars blow through the red light at Kempsville and Princess Ann road and that is PER cycle. I can easily see how the system will pay for itself over time. As this is also in public, there can be no expectation of privacy.

at 4th. View and Ocean View Ave, even though Norfolk placed bright neon "no turn on red" light up. Officers are still at that intersection routinely probably costing the city untold amounts of money having to "police" this location. Blocking the intersection is daily during afternoon hours. Virginia Beach Blvd. and Independence is insane in the afternoons as is Witchduck and Virginia Beach Blvd. Chesapeake has areas not much better, so this is much needed all around.

It's about time!!

Don't run the red light and you won't have a problem. Now if only we could use these camera's to ticket the idiots who do not know what a turn signal is..

BTW, I just love the negative comments about this. Just goes to show you how many people run red lights.

What problems? All this silly hype about big brother and violation of privacy? It's a public street! There is no expectation of privacy when on a public street! Do the cameras at the mall violate privacy? What about the cameras on the interstate? At the ATM? Waterside? The airport? The boardwalk? Cameras are everywhere. Tell you what you do. If you don't want the police to take your picture at the intersection, just stop. If you want to stick it to the city, cut into their profit, just stop. I was out earlier today and stopped at 10 red lights. I figure I just cost the city $500 bucks! Think I'll go drive around some more and reduce the city profit again.

while va beach will get some revenue out of this, many people involved in these accidents will bear the costs with so many uninsured drivers and increased insurance premiums. Even those not at fault.

Yellow lights are already too long, that is why so many people run them all the time. Not only should they be doing this, but should increase the penalties to the people who run yellow/red (same thing, you should not go through an intersection for either) lights and then cause crashes that result in injury or death (like that poor baby in VB a few years back). The whole argument about rear-end crashes boils down to this too: if you were not following too closely, there would be no reason to rear-end someone. MUCH of our regional congestion could be alleviated by spending extra $$ to buy traffic cameras, add more police officers and crack down on all these out of control drivers.

I hope they incorporate what the courts in the St. Louis area say and do.
In their courts the fines are $75-$100 depending on the city. Also they cannot use the excuse, "Your Honor, I wasn't driving my car at that time." There the judge then asks, "Are you the registered owner of this vehicle in the video and photo you received?" When the owner says, "Yes." The judge then says your fine is $$$, and you now go to the person who WAS driving "your car" and get $$$, the fine from them. Next case. Glad to see the cameras are coming back, but the aforementioned excuse should not be accepted. Registered owners whether they are driving their vehicle are not, They ARE Responsible for that car and what might occur. Can they the owners use that excuse when they get a parking ticket. I doubt it. As the ticket is sent to the registered owner.

Being from the dc area where cameras have been around for awhile in MD and DC accident rates have increased quite a bit. Anne Arundel county alone in a five yr span made 2.85 million with a 40% increase in rear-end accidents. One camera in duluth,GA is forecast to produce 1 million at years end and has seen a 21% increase in accidents. However, one poster was correct that some areas have seen a decrease in serious accidents. a study from university of virginia studied 13 different locations with increases in accidents at 10 of them. Someone mentioned well u should'nt be tailgaiting, I am not the one doing so if I am the one stopping at the light getting rear ended.

I'd like to see these cameras everywhere. People who run red lights (or tailgate, or speed, or otherwise drive aggressively and endanger the lives of others) are nothing more than self-important idiots. They don't deserve "privacy," they deserve far more punishment than they ever get now!

My first rule of ranting and yelling is you have to be right. A lot of posters are ranting but are not right. I went to a presentation on the red light cameras and a lot of what is posted is vastly wrong. Maybe the Police Dept can publish the info from that presentation so people will know the facts. The cameras only photograph cars that ENTER the intersection when the light is red. The presentation produced a graph of the intersection of Rosemont Road and Holland Road showing the nu8mber of violations before the cameras, while the cameras were in place, and after the cameras were removed. On to guess how the violations responded. I am strongly anti big brother, but there are enough protections here to satisfy me.

Why don't they just install speed cameras while their at it. The ones yapping "if you stop at a light, you have nothing to worry about", let's see what you have to say about that. Installing the cameras is just going to cause more accidents, because you are going to have people locking up their brakes just because the light turns yellow. Not everybody who complains about the cameras are the law breakers. When I approach an intersection and the light turns yellow, there is something called the point of no return. I'm not going to lock up my brakes and risk a rear end collision just to stop a light that is not even red yet. The drivers who see the light turn RED a half a block down and still go through the intersection are the ones who need to be taken off the road, not the ones who enter the intersection a millisecond before the light turns red.

Why not increase yellow light intervals. It has been proven by several studies to reduce intersection accidents by 90 percent. I believe the police officer in charge of this program is wrong. It is about revenue, not citizen safety. Another exuse to take your hard earned money. Supporters of this plan should not complain when the city and contractors of these cameras reduce yellow light intervals to increase their revenues.

Y

Let's do the math: $1.6 million projected dollars/ year divided by $50/ ticket = 32,000 citations / year - or, if you prefer 2,667 tickets / month. Do we really have 2,667 red-light violations per month?

The constitutional issues aside (and these cameras will be shot down on appeal to a court that actually recognizes the constitutional problems with such a system), red light cameras are not the answer to the problem. Proper (read again, PROPER) enforcement is the answer! This is a law enforcement concern, but I suppose the police are too busy with the myriad things we see them doing daily that does NOT involve law enforcement.

Taking the lazy approach with cameras is expensive and probably will result in more crashes. However, as with most all driving issues, it is incumbent upon a driver entering any roadway or intersection to ensure that THEIR way is clear in all directions before proceeding whether from a red light, green light, stop sign, yield sign, etc. Why would you enter ANY intersection/roadway without ensuring the way is clear first??? It's pathetically ignorant to be so lazy that you would rely on a green light/red light system to begin with instead of Drivers' Educ 101...

As for council, I've about given up trying to figure out how those clowns make any decision they make - few make ANY sense whatsoever folks. Vote them out!