photo radar lastnight 10-20-08

[chris]

I was passing a camera yesterday on south bound 101 about Mc Dowel Rd going to get on I -10 west doing 55 mph following the car in front of me when i got into the middle of the cameras A big flash. was it me or one of the other 2 lanes of traffic?? The flash was so bright it blinded me for about 10 seconds before I did not see spots. I also felt the heat from the flash on my face through the windshield.

[allyoops]

I was passing a camera yesterday on south bound 101 about Mc Dowel Rd going to get on I -10 west doing 55 mph following the car in front of me when i got into the middle of the cameras A big flash. was it me or one of the other 2 lanes of traffic?? The flash was so bright it blinded me for about 10 seconds before I did not see spots. I also felt the heat from the flash on my face through the windshield.

Who was driving faster?

If you were only doing 55 you'll be fine - trigger level is supposed to be 10 over.


What I find ridiculous in Arizona is that they are still using basic "White" flashes for forward facing cameras. It has to be a safety hazard. No forward facing camera in the UK is even allowed to be installed unless it uses an infra-red "no-flash" flash unit.

I'm amazed there has not been a wreck because of it.

[chris]

well the flash startled me and i jerked the steering wheel.

[allyoops]

Speed limit at that location is 65 - trigger point is 75. If you were only doing 55, sounds to me like they are still shooting off test shots to get the focus of the camera right. (they can do that by lowering the speed threshold remotely to get lots of photos for test purposes.)

[zr1]

I hear the new batch of 60 fixed cameras are supposed to be similar in technology to the ones that were ran in Scottsdale's 101 for years. If that's the case, then each camera housing is actually a bank of cameras. For example, if there's three lanes, then there's three cameras inside the housing, each pointing at a specific lane. The flash serves all the cameras, but only the specific lane is supposed to trigger the specific camera.

Either way, if a notice shows up in the mail, don't respond to it and don't believe the statements written on it as they aren't true. Wait until (or if) you get served in person.

[Whistler1]

Chris,

That flash in your face is a real safety hazard to your driving, espeically if your blinded for a period of 10 seconds. I think I would consider contacting a lawyer and file a class action law suit to force the city to shut down those cameras or force them to change the flash units to infared flash units. This is absolute bs in my book when these flash units become a contributor to unsafe driving conditions.

Whistler1

[gpracer1]

Someone with a car that they do not want anymore (with airbags) , please let the flash go off in your face at night and then procede to smash said car into the guard rail and sue the cameras out of operation.

Ps. Dont mention this thread.

[zr1]

This morning on the Northbound 51 while I'm looking at the camera construction in the Southbound lanes....I'm interrupted by K-band...turns out there's a mobile unit near Bethany Home covering the Northbound lanes.

It's time to start swinging away at some politicians!