Comments on: Reader says the law is the law any way you slice it http://www.fortbendstar.com/2013/02/22/reader-says-the-law-is-the-law-any-way-you-slice-it/ Local News, Classifieds, Real Estate for Sugar Land, Richmond, Stafford, Missouri City, Katy Thu, 09 May 2013 22:48:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: H. F. Van Der Grinten http://www.fortbendstar.com/2013/02/22/reader-says-the-law-is-the-law-any-way-you-slice-it/#comment-3409 H. F. Van Der Grinten Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:14:32 +0000 http://www.fortbendstar.com/?p=28195#comment-3409 Rochelle Hite strongly supports red light cameras and will actively campaign in favor of them. But, where is she coming from? Her residence is not disclosed and she is not a registered voter in Fort Bend County. Revenue inspired law enforcement is an abuse of authority that needs to be exposed and opposed because it is not only unfair but it is plainly unjust. This is unfortunately true about red light cameras in Sugar Land. I have never gotten a red light camera ticket. If I did get one, and felt that I was caught fair-and- square, I would pay the $75 fine. But, there are three reasons I would refuse to pay. 1. The ticket is sent to the vehicle owner, not the driver. The owner is automatically assumed to be guilty and must prove his or her innocence to avoid the fine. That is not how it’s supposed to be in this country. The ticket arrives many days after the violation so if there was any doubt in my mind as to who was driving at the time of the violation, I would refuse to pay. 2. If I violated the red light by less than one second, and the ticket indicates how long the red light was illuminated when the violation occurred, I would refuse to pay. The city knows full well that increasing the yellow time by just one second dramatically reduces the number of violations and my request that this measure be implemented has been denied. 3. Rolling stop violations on a right turn during a red light account for 60% of the tickets issued by these red light cameras. If I got caught for this I would offer to pay $7.50 because this violation is only one tenth as likely to be the cause of an accident as a straight-through or left turn violation and the fine should reflect the seriousness of the violation. Since that offer would not be accepted I would pay nothing. The fact that paying red light camera fines is virtually voluntary is a secret well-kept by the city. There are no consequences for refusal to pay. Vehicle registrations are not denied, credit bureaus are not notified, and no notations are entered into the police criminal data bases for driver or license plate numbers. The claims of reducing accidents and saving lives made by red light camera advocates are false. This is proven by nineteen independent studies which are available here: http://www.motorists.org/red-light-cameras/studies As a ship captain I have never enforced my lawful commands without compassion and a willingness to consider extenuating circumstances. Not so for Ms. Hite who strikes me as being someone who would be quite happy in a world that is ruled by those with the mindset of the Taliban. Rochelle Hite strongly supports red light cameras and will actively campaign in favor of them. But, where is she coming from? Her residence is not disclosed and she is not a registered voter in Fort Bend County.

Revenue inspired law enforcement is an abuse of authority that needs to be exposed and opposed because it is not only unfair but it is plainly unjust. This is unfortunately true about red light cameras in Sugar Land.

I have never gotten a red light camera ticket. If I did get one, and felt that I was caught fair-and- square, I would pay the $75 fine. But, there are three reasons I would refuse to pay.
1. The ticket is sent to the vehicle owner, not the driver. The owner is automatically assumed to be guilty and must prove his or her innocence to avoid the fine. That is not how it’s supposed to be in this country. The ticket arrives many days after the violation so if there was any doubt in my mind as to who was driving at the time of the violation, I would refuse to pay.
2. If I violated the red light by less than one second, and the ticket indicates how long the red light was illuminated when the violation occurred, I would refuse to pay. The city knows full well that increasing the yellow time by just one second dramatically reduces the number of violations and my request that this measure be implemented has been denied.
3. Rolling stop violations on a right turn during a red light account for 60% of the tickets issued by these red light cameras. If I got caught for this I would offer to pay $7.50 because this violation is only one tenth as likely to be the cause of an accident as a straight-through or left turn violation and the fine should reflect the seriousness of the violation. Since that offer would not be accepted I would pay nothing.

The fact that paying red light camera fines is virtually voluntary is a secret well-kept by the city. There are no consequences for refusal to pay. Vehicle registrations are not denied, credit bureaus are not notified, and no notations are entered into the police criminal data bases for driver or license plate numbers.

The claims of reducing accidents and saving lives made by red light camera advocates are false. This is proven by nineteen independent studies which are available here:

http://www.motorists.org/red-light-cameras/studies

As a ship captain I have never enforced my lawful commands without compassion and a willingness to consider extenuating circumstances. Not so for Ms. Hite who strikes me as being someone who would be quite happy in a world that is ruled by those with the mindset of the Taliban.

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