Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Midwesterners "stop fully" for right-on-reds here too- and they stay stopped until it turns green  I mean, right-on-red has only been the law of the land for the last 99 years so I guess I shouldn't expect everyone to know about it.  |
For about a year now we've had the novelty of red light cameras in our county. They are making so much money on them they now want to balance the entire county budget on it by doubling their number. (I say why stop there? Why not put one on every corner?)
By now virtually everyone living here has gotten an automated ticket ($50 fine, with no record incurred if you pay it - but with an additional $20 court fee, "adding insult to injury" if you challenge it and you absolutely
will lose your case, because the judge's attitude is that "the machine is always right".
But the worst part is that now drivers are scared s---less of moving at all while at the light, including making a
legal right turn on red after a full stop. I was behind one the other day in my convertible. After screaming at the guy in front of me "GO! It's LEGAL!" he finally did after about a two minute wait. Some others will just sit there interminably, until the light turns green. This is a good example of the so-called "chilling effect"; AKA the psychological phenomenon of 'learned helplessness'. Ignorance of the law may be no excuse, but the end result here illustrates how ignorant many drivers really are.