I think the most troublesome aspect of the contract arrangements for red light cameras is the per-event royalty -- in effect, the private contractor gets a piece of each fine. There have been stories in the press about artificially short yellow lights that catch too many drivers. It would be better if the city/county didn't have to share the revenue. Best would be if there were no incentive to play games with it. Unduly short yellow lights are themselves a safety hazard.

Other cities are getting rid of theirs. Multiple problems with them and the whole set-up. Portland is being run by a bunch of retards.

Hmm, time for Tri-Met to start budgeting for the tickets their busses will aquire.

Ah, but who am I kidding, I'm sure they've already arranged immunity.

-Plead not guilty.
-At the last minute req a change in the trial date.
-Req a copy of the police report.

This

1. Increases the cost of prosecuting you so the govt LOSES money-if everyone or even a lot of people did that the govt would not be able to afford to continue with this.

2. Increases the chance you will beat the rap; the cop may not show esp if you get a reset in the trial date.

People: please help get those spendthrift maniacs in city hall off of the bank accounts. How's that recall comin'? Step it up!

mike, I like your train of thought..........

Most "short yellow light" problems are lights set to the posted speed limit rather then what people actually drive. Which when you think of it is how it ought to be. Slow down and you'll be fine.

Get clear plastic covers for your license plates. When the flash goes off it obscurs your plate number like a flash would in a mirror. So as a result it doesn't show up on the pictures. No license plate no place to send the ticket.

I believe putting anything over your plates, including clear plastic plate covers is illegal in Oregon. You would be driving around with automatic probable cause to be pulled over by pd.

Beaverton is known to play games with photo radar and photo red light tickets so maybe PDX is trying to catch a clue. Now if they could figure out how to have a traffic court as corrupt as Beaverton's has been in the past, the cha ching would be constant.

your train of thought

Would that be the Green Line or the Yellow Line?

Didn't Myth Busters debunk all the license plate covers re: photo radar? They don't work.

license plate covers

You can remove your front plate, but the Portland Parking Enforcement folks will give you a $35 ticket if they find you parked without one.

I'm happy they're run by a private business. I'd be willing to bet we save a TON of our tax dollars by contracting it out instead of running it in-house.

Here is a crazy thought...how about stopping at a red light rather than whine about the red light camera? Everyday I am waiting at a green light while people routinely ignore the red light and keep going through the intersection. I hate govt like the next person but come on people, stop at the red light and guess what...you wont get a ticket. Is that so hard to do?

You guys have it easy. In DC speed cameras set up inbound, just inside the borders, in places like an interstate 395 where the speed limit is 40 MPH and an arterial at 30 MPH. I guess it's Adrian Fenty's way of bringing small town America to the nation's Capital. Welcome tourists!

1. License plate covers aren't only illegal in Oregon, but don't work. Because the camera is on the curb, anything that reflects the light will be hit at an angle rather than straight-on, and reflect the light somewhere besides the camera lens.

2. Oregon law requires both a front and back license plate. No, this doesn't mean you can have it on your dash board either, it has to be on the bumper.

3. By far, the best way to beat any "automated enforcement" that I've found, is the following combination: a location-aware smartphone (iPhone, some Blackberries), this app running on it, and a quality radar detector (legal everywhere except W. Virginia and in the cab of a vehicle which requires a CDL to operate). This combo works incredibly well for when police are lurking in wait too.

Obey the law though. Think of the children.

I agree with Jack. The more miscreants captured running red lights the better. Does this system nail bicyclists as well? I am afraid that if we had the city managing the system everyone would be complaining about the bureaucracy and its incompetence. With a private company managing it we can winge about the evil corporate takeover. I don't care who manages it, it helps save lives. Hurrah for Big Brother!

And, like the earlier commenter, what about Tri-Met? I sit at a window along 5th Avenue, near a corner, and can watch the buses run the light hourly - plus downtown one takes one's life in their own hands if you expect a bus to stop when the light turns yellow or red. Gotta make that schedule. There's a story for WW - find out if any Tri-Met drivers have ever received tickets.

There's a story for WW - find out if any Tri-Met drivers have ever received tickets.

Of course some TRIMET drivers have received tickets!

SO ******* WHAT?

This blog is about RED LIGHT CAMERA'S NOT TRIMET!

For crying out loud, you anti TRIMET people really take the cake.

And TRIMET does NOT pay for tickets that the drivers get while on duty!