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Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

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Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#11

[flagged]

Yeah my policy now is to go 20 if I see a sign regardless of whether it’s flashing. In my home state the places that use these demand that you incriminate someone else as a condition of eliminating the fine which looks illegal on its face because the state law governing their use only requires a statement that you weren’t driving.

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Schools next to a stroad really aren't that unheard of in the United States.

Yes so slow em down.

The previous context was, "Why on earth would there be a 40mph road next to a school"

The surrounding context was a comment about how the flashing light WASN'T on and how the speed limit was, per the sign, only enforced when the flashing light is on.

So, "why would it be 40mph?" because it's a stroad - a main thoroughfare through a town that's like maybe 5 or more lanes wide (including both directions and the 'turning lane'.

There's value in asking the question why there's such a wild variance in speeds between "normal" speed and "school open/close" hours, and that's a useful question to ask and likely comes down to the car-centric politics that filled the United States for well over 50 years, and will take a very long time (and a lot of political clout) to fix.

Depending on the size of the town, that may also, literally, be "the only road" that makes sense for that school to be on, so you have conflicting interests of a major, high-speed arterial road as well as the safety of children during particular hours.

And to add *even more* to that, if you're going 40 and expect the speed limit to be 40 and everyone around you also expects the speed limit to be 40 (because that's the posted speed limit, and the sign isn't flashing), then you going 20 creates a 20mph differential between you and the rest of the traffic around you and now you're *going* to cause an accident.

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Schools next to a stroad really aren't that unheard of in the United States.

Yes so slow em down.

Have you seen modern US schools? They're basically setup like prison yards because of all the school shootings. There's no way the kids are going to run into the street without first going through a parking lot (and, often, a line of bollards).

On the bright side, there's zero reason to slow cars down when kids aren't being actively picked up or dropped off.

(Not that there was a reason to slow the cars down during off hours in the past, since the law has always been "When children are present" in places I've lived, which is good enough.)

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#15
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes so slow em down.

Have you seen modern US schools? They're basically setup like prison yards because of all the school shootings. There's no way the kids are going to run into the street without first going through a parking lot (and, often, a line of bollards). On the bright side, there's zero reason to slow cars down when kids aren't being actively picked up or dropped off. (Not that there was a reason to slow the cars down during o…

To be fair, US schools have been very 'shaped like a castle with walls' for longer than school shootings. When I was in school, there was no way to get to the road, outside of entering and exiting the whole compound.

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#16

After 3 decades living in WestCentral FL counties, I learned something about local police departments. You can measure the ethics of the police chief (and to a lesser degree, county commissioners), by whether they embrace or refuse revenue-generating traffic cameras. a school speed zone camera caught him going 38 mph when he thought the speed limit was 40mph because the school speed zone sign wasn’t flashing when he…

> According to state law, all the money collected by local governments through paid fines can only be used for public safety initiatives like crossing guards and police training.

Should the broken flashing lights be fixed? Of course, and "school" times in regard to community safety zones should also be standardised state-wide.

What's the incentive for implementing misleading automated ticketing cameras if the revenue generated can only be used to do what the cameras already do? The purpose of the cameras is to improve safety. The money isn't going to Christmas bonuses so the police chief can buy a boat.

> “It’s violator-funded. If you don't want to pay $100, it is a very simple hack—don't speed in school zones and you won't get a citation.”

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#17
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes so slow em down.

Have you seen modern US schools? They're basically setup like prison yards because of all the school shootings. There's no way the kids are going to run into the street without first going through a parking lot (and, often, a line of bollards). On the bright side, there's zero reason to slow cars down when kids aren't being actively picked up or dropped off. (Not that there was a reason to slow the cars down during o…

Your comment seems to imply that parking lots around schools are somehow strategically positioned to prevent school shootings? I'm not from the US but I'm intrigued by how that would work.

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#18

After 3 decades living in WestCentral FL counties, I learned something about local police departments. You can measure the ethics of the police chief (and to a lesser degree, county commissioners), by whether they embrace or refuse revenue-generating traffic cameras. a school speed zone camera caught him going 38 mph when he thought the speed limit was 40mph because the school speed zone sign wasn’t flashing when he…

> According to state law, all the money collected by local governments through paid fines can only be used for public safety initiatives like crossing guards and police training. Should the broken flashing lights be fixed? Of course, and "school" times in regard to community safety zones should also be standardised state-wide. What's the incentive for implementing misleading automated ticketing cameras if the revenue…

Of course the police chief won't buy a boat, but he will need police training on the specifics of the implementing a speed boat enforcement division, preferably over Labor Day weekend.

Re: Drivers who appeal school speed zone camera fines almost guaranteed to lose

#19
post #10

> the signage requirements for school speed zones only require signs to designate when the school zone is in effect. So even if a school speed zone sign states that drivers must slow down “when [the light is] flashing,” that light doesn’t have to actually be flashing for a driver to get cited. I'm a little confused. If the light isn't flashing, doesn't that mean that the school zone isn't in effect? I don't understan…

This is the very thing that happened to me. I didn't pay it, and refuse to pay it (The infraction occurred during COVID lockdowns) and my credit got docked for maybe one kr two points in the 850's. Fuck them. The day they impose it on my street we can talk.
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