Yellow Light Too Short
Each state mandates the amount of time a traffic light must stay a certain color, yellow for example. That amount of time is based on the speed limit of the road, given that it takes longer to stop at higher speeds.
Every ticket generated by red-light enforcement cameras in Union City before last Saturday will be dismissed due to a snafu — letting thousands of red-light runners off the hook and costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipated revenue.
Police officials and city engineers discovered last week that the yellow-light duration at every one of its camera-enforced intersections was too short — in some cases by more than a second. The city began using cameras in the summer at five intersections along Alvarado-Niles Road and Union City Boulevard.
Since then, about 3,000 people have been photographed driving through red lights. With the city getting $136 for each conviction, dismissing every ticket means the city now will not receive more than $400,000 that would have gone into its general fund. Adding to the impact are the costs incurred in processing all of those tickets that now will be dismissed.
Source: The Oakland Tribune.
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