Red light running and front license plates

[Gene Brown <simigene@domain.elided>]

A few years ago here in Simi Valley there was an accident at a light
controlled intersection. A woman was exiting the freeway and stopped for
the light. A vehicle on the cross street entered the intersection just
as his light turned yellow. According to California law the second
driver had the right of way. Before he cleared the intersection the
woman pulled out in front of him and was hit and killed. There was no
dispute about the second driver having entered the intersection on the
yellow and having the right of way. The driver was not cited. The
woman's family, however, successfully sued the city because the yellow
light was slightly shorter that the state law requires. The fact that
she failed to yield the right of way was ignored by the jury. I guess
that they figure that the city should pay the this woman's impatience.

For those who must run red lights at intersections that have cameras
there is a license plate cover you can buy that allows you plate to be
clearly read when directly viewed but becomes opaque when viewed from
the angle of the overhead cameras. The also raised the fine for running
a red light to $271 last January. Since most people are not aware as to
the cost of some of these fines it would probably accomplish more if
they would publish the price for the more expensive fines. But then if
people stopped running red lights they the city/county/state would just
have to find another way to raise revenue.

I carry my front license plate in my trunk and if I were to get stopped
I would just tell the officer that it was falling off and I need to get
some more bolts to hold it on. It just might work.

Gene Brown
78 Spider
Looking for a Montreal

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