Happens all the time there, Mtnbkr.
Happens all the time at the intersection of 7 and Westpark/Gosnell.
Happens all the time at the intersection of 123 and Gosnell/Old Courthouse.
Happens all the time all over this skankassed town.
"Nothing calms the buttmunches down better than a cruiser with the party lights on."
For about 30 seconds, until the party lights go off and the cop goes on his way to do something else.
"If the redlight cameras were really about public saftey, well, they really missed the boat on placement in my neighborhood."
No, it's likely that they didn't, they simply had far too many choices of intersections and had to choose what their traffic studies said were the worst.
Here's why more of these cameras haven't been employed...
Back in 1995 (IIRC) when the Virginia legislature magnamiously "gave" communities the right to install these cameras, it only adopted the measure on an ad hoc, or temporary "study" basis. With the program subject to being shut down at any time, no community is going to invest in these cameras wholesale -- they're going to put them at the intersections that are the most logical candidates.
I'm trying to get some hard data for the cameras in Fairfax County to see just how effective they were at reducing redlight violations at the intersections where they were installed. Hopefully I should be able to get that in the next couple of days.
Within six months of these cameras being gone I predict that we're going to be in even worse shape than we were when they were initially placed as far as accidents at these intersections go.
Why?
Because road congestion has only gotten markedly WORSE since many of these cameras were installed.
This evening as I was going out for some dinner, I also witness not one, not two, but THREE people, traveling eastbound on 50 at Draper Drive, violate the red light, the last one a good 5 seconds AFTER I had the green.
If I had my way, these cameras would be sprouting up like daffodils in Northern Virginia, and would come with a few more conditions... The first offense is $50 fine, the second is $75, the third is $150, and the fourth is $500. Unfortunately, that's probably not possible, but a guy can dream. Either that, or I'm going to mount a recoiless rifle on top of my car.
