Photo tickets in Colorado for red-light runners

[COBEL]

It looks like Boulder has this system running and Aurora (big suburb of Denver) is about to follow suit to automatically catch folks running red lights. Does anyone know if this system installed and managed by integrator ACS of Dallas TX is triggered by laser or radar? Personally I am in favor of bringing the hammer down on red-light runners, a dangerous practice that seems to be growing in Colorado.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3531247,00.html

[marlinspike]

I was pretty sure it was triggered by a wire just beneath the surface of the road, no? I remember it was a big deal on DC local news when ome guy got a ticket for running a red light, but infact he had stopped with his front wheels on top of the white strip that tells you were to stop, and DC law just says you can't stop after that. There was a whole big thing on the news about how these cameras are giving innocent people tickets and what all (and they do). I wouldn't mind them so much since I don't run red if it weren't for two things

1 - If I'm coming up on a light that turns yellow when I get close, instead of safely going through, I just slam on my brakes because I'm afraid of the ticket

2 - they are frequently wrong, and I don't think they satisfy burden of proof nor due process.

The only problem is in my home state license plate covers are illegal (I had a friend get ticketed...I also had a friend get ticketed cause his tint was 5% too much...but it was only because there was factory tint and so the legal amount of after tint was too much, so the officer said I'll let you go with a warning, go take it off), so I can't block the camera's view.

Richard

[SETITOFF]

Marlinspike, you're in NC right? What part of NC enforces the license plate cover restriction that tough? Let me know so I never go there.

BTW- I think VEIL advertises a clear plate cover. Thinking about getting one myself...rear plate only. No front vanity.

[marlinspike]

I'm in NC for college, my homestate is Maryland.
Richard

[SETITOFF]

So, you're running up and down I-95 about as much as I am.

[marlinspike]

I make 12 trips a year (not round trips, but trips) from I-85 down near Charlotte (well, about 20-30 miles north of charlotte) to I-95, to I-395, to some non-highway roads, to home in Bethesda, MD.
Richard

[SETITOFF]

Where are you attending? UNC-Charlotte?

[marlinspike]

Davidson College (not to be confused with Davidson Community College, you wouldn't believe the people who ask me if it's a community college, but then again they're all northerners who don't know the Princeton of the South...well you know, Princeton without grade inflation of the South).
Richard

[marlinspike]

Oh, and in case anyone's curious, my money was initially going towards a new camera body or lens, but after my last trip home when I saw 20 cops clocking cars in NC and VA alone, I decided it was time to get a detector.
Richard

[SETITOFF]

Yeah, I've been down that way a couple times. As for the RD vs. camera, I understand. Just be carefull running it in VA. I'd rather not get a ticket for having the RD as much as I'd rather not get a ticket for speeding...lol

[marlinspike]

It's 40 bucks for having a radar detector, and unless they're running Spectre III's they aren't going to detect your detector untill you're withing like 150 feet if you have a V1, so I'd just shut off my detector every time I get a warning I think.
Richard