6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit
March 26th, 2008 Posted in Red-Light Cameras, Yellow Light Duration
Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection.
Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead.
Here are some of the cities that have been caught with short yellow light times over the past few years:
Important note: These news stories were collected from the archives of TheNewspaper.com, an excellent resource for anyone interested in traffic laws and other motorist issues. If you subscribe to TheNewspaper.com’s feed, you’ll never miss the latest news. It makes an excellent complement to this blog.
1) Chattanooga, Tennessee
The city of Chattanooga was forced refund $8800 in red light cameras tickets issued to motorists trapped by an illegally short yellow time. The refund only occurred after a motorist challenged his citation by insisting that the yellow light time of 3.0 seconds was too short. LaserCraft, the private vendor that runs the camera program in return for a cut of the profits, provided the judge with a computer database that asserted the yellow was 3.8 seconds at that location.
The judge then personally checked the intersection in question was timed at three seconds while other nearby locations had about four seconds of yellow warning. City traffic engineer John Van Winkle told Bean that “a mix up with the turn arrow” was responsible and that the bare minimum for the light should be 3.9 seconds.
2) Dallas, Texas
An investigation by KDFW-TV, a local TV station, found that of the ten cameras that issued the greatest number of tickets in the city, seven were located at intersections where the yellow duration is shorter than the bare minimum recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The city’s second highest revenue producing camera, for example, was located at the intersection of Greenville Avenue and Mockingbird Lane. It issued 9407 tickets worth $705,525 between January 1 and August 31, 2007. At the intersections on Greenville Avenue leading up to the camera intersection, however, yellows are at least 3.5 or 4.0 seconds in duration, but the ticket-producing intersection’s yellow stands at just 3.15 seconds. That is 0.35 seconds shorter than TxDOT’s recommended bare minimum. Dallas likewise installed the cameras at locations with existing short yellow times. A total of twenty-one camera intersections in Dallas had yellow times below TxDOT’s bare minimum recommended amount.
The ticket camera program in Dallas made the news recently for shutting down some of its cameras because they were no longer profitable.
3) Springfield, Missouri
The city of Springfield, Missouri prepared for the installation of a red light camera system in 2007 by slashing the yellow warning time by one second at 105 state-owned intersection signals across the city.
The city defended its effort to the Springfield News-Leader by claiming it was “standardizing” and had increased the yellow time at 136 city-operated lights to meet national standards. During the city council meeting last October where the red light camera ordinance was approved, however, Assistant Director of Public Works Earl Newman gave a different explanation for the reduction. Newman said he was, “concerned that many individuals run the light if the light remained yellow too long.”
4) Lubbock, Texas
KBCD, a local television station, exposed the city’s short timing of yellow lights at eight of the twelve intersections where the devices were to be installed.
Prior to the news investigation, Lubbock City Engineer Jere Hart assured city council members that he would not increase yellow times. According to the city council’s traffic commission minutes of September 19, 2006, Jere said, “if [the red light camera program is] implemented, the public would prefer to have an increased amber cycle,” but he stated that, “the program will not adjust the amber/yellow time.”
Shortly after the investigation became public, red-light cameras were installed in Lubbock. However, after they proved to be both unprofitable (due in part to a new state law giving 50% of the ticket camera profit to the state) and unsafe (accidents increased where the cameras were installed), they were taken down.
5)Nashville, Tennessee
Even without red light cameras, police in Nashville, Tennessee have been earning hundreds of thousands in revenue by trapping motorists in conventional ticket traps at city intersections with the shortest yellow warning time.
In 2006, Nashville resident Joe Savage obtained the data on every red light running ticket issued on Broadway street since 2000. He said that yellow lights are longer at intersections along Broadway until the areas where police are issuing tickets. At those locations, Savage clocked the yellow signal time at less than 3 seconds, in violation of both state law and federal regulations. A local newspaper, The Nashville Scene, then confirmed his findings.
6) Union City, California
In 2005, Union City, California was caught trapping motorists with a yellow signal time 1.3 seconds below the minimum established by state law. As a result, the city was forced to refund more than $1 million in red light camera fines.
The city’s violation came to light after Dave Goodson, an engineer, received a ticket and realized that he did not have sufficient time to stop before the light had turned red. As a result of his inquiries, Union City’s traffic engineers admitted that they had set the yellow signal time at Union City Boulevard and Lowry Road at 3 seconds, despite the state law mandating the time be 4.3 seconds or greater.
Authorities said that the yellow was too short long before the cameras were installed, but that no effective system was in place to verify the timing of the traffic signals despite their direct impact on safety.
Closing Notes:
These are only the cities that have been caught; it’s likely that this happens much more than the general public has been led to believe. Many cities avoid the bad publicity involved with shortening yellow lights by installing the cameras at intersections with inadequate yellow light times from the beginning.
If you or a family member receive an unjustified red-light violation ticket, it may be worth your time to check the yellow light duration at the intersection where the ticket was given out.
Also, if you know of any city currently shortening yellow lights in your area, let everyone know by posting it the comments of this post.
Image Credit: jaqian
Other Related Articles
- Increased Yellow Light Times Make Ticket Cameras Unnecessary
- Short Yellow Light Times No Longer Going Unnoticed
- Help Us Stop Short Yellow Lights
- 9 Ways To Improve Traffic Safety That The Government Will Ignore Because They Are Too Busy Ticketing You
- Red-Light Cameras Do Not Reduce Right Angle Crashes
[...] Dunkin could be a moron but it's pretty clear Avenge is one. <3 second yellow lights only exist to fleece more money from citizens. 6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit [...]
Here’s the complete link to the YouTube video of the 3-second yellow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_ipKwTYZw
I now can add more info about the intersection with the short yellow that I mentioned above. It is at the corner of Tatum @ McDonald in Paradise Valley, AZ.
Now here’s the good part. I videotaped the evidence and confirmed the yellow is 3 sec @ 40mph. I also videotaped three other intersections along the same road within 1-2 miles of that intersection (all of which were no larger intersections than the one where I was ticketed, none of which had cameras), and guess what? They were ALL 4 sec.
It gets better. I inquired about this intersection with the city of PV, and one official I spoke to told me that the yellow SHOULD HAVE BEEN 4.3 SEC at that intersection, so he was on my side. But he told me that he isn’t responsible for actually setting the duration, he only specs it out and it’s a different department that actually sets the timing. So I contacted that department and left a voice message. Then, magically, within a DAY of my inquiry, the yellow is now 4.3 sec!
If you go to YouTube and look for “Tatum Blvd Red Light Camera CHEATS!!!” or my account there p27159, you can see the video evidence (at least the “before” part). I think I may have cost some people an awful lot of money!
Sounds like it is time for a class action lawsuit against Paradise Valley.
You may want to contact the TV stations and see if they want to do an investigation against PV. I know 12 won’t since they are the same as the AZ Repugnant and have a Redflex employee sitting on the news review board.
At least this will open up the eyes of the camera haters.
Another legal placard to fight these cameras:
It’s simple Don’t waste your time and money in court. It’s legal.
Get a piece of white poster board (about 3′ X 4′) and a black magic marker.
Make the following sign in letters big enough to be seen by motorists up to 70′ away:
“WARNING ! Extremely SHORT yellow light traffic signal ahead; next intersection”
This legal sign alone, will give most motorists the hint that a camera is there giving
out tickets. When they know that, they will stop when the yellow light appears.
Stand with your sign at a stop intersection immediately before the ticketing camera one.
Make sure the sign is held high enough for the thru lane drivers to see. (poster attached
to a hand-held stick)
There is nothing illegal about telling motorists what you believe are the FACTS. If you
received a ticket as a result of the camera, you also have a right to advertise that fact !
You can add to your sign: “I got a $125 ticket !!”
You’ll find that others who have received red light tickets will come up and congratulate
you for your action. Some will even offer to work a shift at holding their own sign.
misterfact@yahoo.com
I am not so sure it’s legal. Let’s just say I’ve got an insider on my side and a certain governmental agency has been notified by that insider, and if it was legal, why would they mysteriously change the timing of the yellow within a DAY of when I inquired about it. I am SO glad now that I was hesitant to reveal any of this info to anyone until I had a chance to videotape the evidence myself!
Ok, I have my evidence now, so I can give more info. The city is Paradise Valley, AZ, and the intersection is Tatum Blvd and McDonald Dr. I videotaped the light at that intersection, as well as lights at 3 similar intersections along Tatum Blvd (the road I was driving on when I got the ticket in the mail). I found the light with the traffic camera had a 3-second yellow, while ALL THREE other similar intersections (same speed limit, similar grading, and even SMALLER intersections) had a FOUR second yellow. Coincidence? I think NOT.
By the way, I found the table on this site that shows the recommended yellow light durations, and it appears that there are no requirements in the state of Arizona. However, I think the fact that there’s a full second discrepancy, plus the fact that the 4-second yellow lights everywhere else conform to the table, while the one intersection with the camera does not, should be looked upon as an unfair traffic trap. A driver becomes used to the standard yellow light duration and becomes trained to know pretty much how far from an intersection he can be and still safely make it into the intersection before it turns red. By deliberately having a signal not conform to the standard, it is clear that drivers are being tricked.
Now, in regards to the article I am commenting, it says that 6 cities have been caught doing this, but it appears the courts so far have only ruled against three of them. The one in Nashville said the case was still pending in 2006, but I haven’t been able to find what the resolution was. As for the 3 cities that the courts ruled the fines had to be returned, how can I find the SPECIFIC court case number so I can present these as legal precedent for my court case? If anyone has any info, please post it here.
I know of a city that’s doing this, but I don’t want to make it public knowledge yet until I have a chance to videotape it as evidence in court. I’ll report back later after my court case.
Question: for a 40 mph road, I seem to recall seeing that the minimum yellow light duration should be 3.9 sec. I can’t seem to find that OFFICIAL info anywhere that I can bring with me to court. Does anyone have the info I’m looking for? The intersection where I was ticketed has a yellow duration of approx 3 sec (give or take the 0.1 sec reaction time for me to start/stop a stopwatch). I was shown to be entering the intersection only 0.17 sec after the red, so I think I have a good case. I also noted that every single light within a 4-mile radius of this particular intersection has a 4-sec yellow duration, and none of those intersections have cameras. Coincidence? I think NOT!
[...] OK, here’s an organization you can trust. Six cities fined for shortening yellow lights for profit [...]
[...] Times Free Press | One, two, three … red light 6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit Sorry for the cut and paste. Cann’t get the insert links to work for me. [+] Rate this post [...]
After reading this article, I started paying more attention and timing the yellow lights around north Seattle. They’re all 3 seconds!
Lynnwood, WA. 196th St SW & Alderwood Pkwy. Got a ticket for a right turn through a red light. The video shows it’s a 3-second yellow light for a 35 mph intersection. From what I can find, 4 seconds is the recommended length and will go argue in court and see what happens…
why is the duration of a yellow light never an issue? even after a traffic fatality? why aren’t news agencies out there w/ stop watches? are we really 3rd world? i really want to know!
Chicago got me too. The evidence actually shows in the upper left-hand corner:
“AMBER :3.04″ — simply not enough time to stop in a safe and controlled manner. I checked the video they provide online and it checks out with the notation in the picture. Now I need to find out if the state of Illinois has a standard length for a yellow/amber light.
http://www.gpsdetector.com This is the site where to find the Red light camera & speed camera detectors. If you travel….you should check this out……
If you are mailed a Ticket….There is no “Proof” that you ever received the ticket….Make Law enforcement personnaly deliver the ticket to your home. Don’t make it easy for these… $$$ Money grabbing crooks $$$.
New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and Gretna Louisiana are fleeceing motorist with Red light & Speed cameras. Five more were just added in New Orleans. Go to Cheetah.com and you can purchase a device that alerts you to every Red light and Speed camera in the USA. It is gps based and can be updated from your computer. Cost is about $175. Cheeper than a most tickets. A must for traveling,
A Seattle intersection of southbound Broadway at East Pine St. appears to be very close to a 3 second count for ‘yellow’. A magistrate judge lowered my fine from $124 to $74 and said that the yellow light times varied throughout the city. I may start the investigation process.
Just demand to cross examine the witness against you in court. If they do not produce the actual camera, or if it refuses to answer your questions, you have a case of lack of due process.
Bloomington IN has both a too short yellow, at 2 seconds, and an intersection with a combined yellow and red clear of 11 seconds (to give drivers at a stop sign downstream time to cross). Both violate the MUTCD.
Our state does not authorize red light cameras.
I received a ticket in which the time frame of the yellow light was shy of 3 sec in Chicago and tried to fight it with no prevail. When I disputed I discussed the fact that its time was way shorter than other cameras in the area for similar speed limits. I am telling you the light was yellow just for a flash. With all that a driver needs to pay attention to while coming up to an intersection, 3 seconds is not enough time to not safely react. It is not like you are going to be staring at the light, you need to watch your surroundings and stop in a safe enough manner to not injure your neck or from slamming on your breaks but there is also the issue of a car behind you crashing into the rear of your car! I guess when a city is broke and needs revenue safety and ethics goes out the door. I want standardization and safe time limits and a class action law suit!
What if we all start posting the names, adresses (business and home) and phone numbers of the TRAFFIC ENGINEERS who actually shortened the yellow light!?
These people need to be confronted
Maybe if more of them knew they would have to answer PERSONALLY, for their dastardly deeds- they would ORGANIZE for the purpose of refusing to comply with the illegal orders of those who oversee them.
Those who refuse to comply would certainly have the legal system behind them if they are threatened or fired .
All this legal mumbo jumbo and complaining on this board needs to cease.
It’s time for ACTION.
Mike
misterfact@yahoo.com
Tom,
I think most, like myself, are happy to beat the system prior to court by proving that the citation was illegal. If I had gone to court then I would have sought compensation. What really needs to be done is for the insurance companies to be invovled and a law suit [unfortunately through someones misfortune of being rear-ended and sustain injury] against the city. Since studies have clearly shown that if an amber light time period is INCREASED by 1 second then accident rates FALL by upto 40%. Obviously, the converse is true, therefore any shortening of the time [Especially below the State Law], is literally blood money. I am really surprised no insurance company has used the information on this site to file a claim against cities for damages. If towns like Union City CA, had to pay back $1 million in fines alone, imagine how much a town or city would have to pay to insurance companies. That would soon make this means of entrapment non viable! It would also keep our insurance premiums from going up [Insurance companies would never reduce them]. This is thus a win/win situation. My suggestion is to anyone who has had an actual vehicle accident at a suspect light junction is to refer your insurance company to this site and to do their own research on the amber timing of the light. Who knows, a $1,000 fender bender could net them millons and help us all!
Steve
Has anyone filed a RICO suit against any of the cities and companys that are doing this dastardly deed? While the law was written to be used against Organized Crime, what is this? It has been used in other applications of racketeering.
I had the misfortune of a mailed ticket today. I was in a right turn lane and cars were turning right on the other side of the road. At a speed of 35 mph only 2 cars made the turn and I was turning when the light quickly turned red. Due to sites like this and other national groups I have gain enough insight to want to go back and time the yellow light.
However, in light of all the corruption that has taken our country down this issue
should be shouting DANGER! I find it dangerous to read of a police department being allowed to keep revenue from red light ticketing. Or cities saying the program would stop people from running red lights, when national engineers say rear end accidents increase. That sounds like the quick stop was unexpected.
They also said that lengthing yellow light is safest approach. But the most disturbing is the how easy it is for a city to accept the sale pitch when increased revenue is involved which increases more with every succeeding year. If this increased safety, wouldn’t the number of tickets decrease. The companies running and selling the camera ticket system are”for profit” private business. If these companies have some computer genius, couldn’t they manipulate the shots and data of cars running red lights or the car speed? But than again perhaps corruption wouldn’t happen in a company where increased profits is the goal. Do you think? I think we have seen enough corruption in this country and we really don’t need absent landlords in our police departments nor in our city council’s fund raising programs. If safety is the real goal, than the engineeers dealing with traffic safety at the national level should be calling the shots, based on their research on for car safety. Sorry, I would have trouble with experts at the local level, who may be concerned about remaining employed. All the city council members who are concerned with public safety especially when extra income is envolved could be hard to oppose in this current job climate. Please check out this site it is a lawyers opinion on combating this:
http://www.adrenalinelimit.com/Articles_Pages/Photo_Radar.html
shofly
Folks, enough is enough. It’s time for a little civil disobedience.
Josh,
You’re saying exactly what I want to hear. I didn’t think there was anyone out there that would say this. I agree with you. I also think that “people should not fear their government, government should fear its people.” A great place to start is with placing paint in a small container that will burst on impact and aim for the protective glass that encases the camera. I would also like to hear suggestions about objects that can inflict damage that is more permanent, something that will shatter the thick glass.
Boulder CO,
On highway 36 near Valmont road. I am not a local so this location is from memory. I drove through that intersection last week and the light turned yellow when I was 1 car length from the crosswalk. It went red when I was in the middle of the intersection. This is a 35 mph zone so there is no way I could have stopped from 35 in one car length.
I assume you received a ticket.
If I had the time I would go back to that intersection with a big sign:
“WARNING: I got a ticket going through the next YELLOW light!”
I’de hold it along the side of the road about 100 yards before the light. I’de make the letters big enough so it could be read by traffic going 35mph.
You could spend hours TRYING to convince officials to remedy the situation-or you can spend a minute notifying them of your proposed sign. I’ll bet they will take you seriously if you go the sign route.
Mike
[...] United States has also been involved in such racketeering schemes. Whether it is legal or not to shorten yellow lights, it is highly dangerous and can cause deadly [...]
My one and only cross with a RLC was when I entered a large intersection in the middle lane, realizing too late that this was where I wanted to turn left, and also saw the no left signs. Though the light was green, in hesitation I tapped the break. The citation sent to me had the pix, but the data bar at the bottom showed the light had been red for about .4 seconds. I argued that the composition had been manipulated, also pointing out that it showed that on-coming traffic was flowing, plus, timing the yellow light showed about a 1/2 second variation in the length it was on. Of course I did not prevail, but the process showed how honest authorities can be…
National yellow traffic light proposal
If ALL yellow lights were of the same. adequate.safe MINIMUM duration NATIONALLY (regardless of the speed limit)- drivers would be conditioned to that duration and would be able to make a “stop” or “go” decision- quicker and easier, and SAFER. I would suggest 4.5 seconds.(even on 25mph streets) An extra second or two of YELLOW on every traffic light isn’t going to get you to work or grandma’s house that much later! You can always increase that minimum duration on fast highways.
Mike Korman
copy this and/or send your comments to the MUTCD. They have national jurisdiction over traffic signal changes. They already have acted to elimiate the red blinking light in favor of the yellow blinking light. They certainly can act on a standard duration of the yellow light.
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
[...] traffic engineers are acutely aware of it, as evidenced by the fact that several cities have been exposed for actually shortening yellow light durations at camera-monitored intersections, willingly [...]
This happened about 4 years ago in Kansas City. But, I worked near a really bad intersection where they experimented with red light cameras. I went through this light 2-4 times a day for years. When the cameras came in, it was obvious that the light times had been shortened, in my opinion dangerously as I found myself having to get on the brakes hard to keep from getting caught in an intersection.
I live in Chattanooga and I know this problem firsthand. It certainly doesn’t help when a city is rife with corruption such as Chattanooga. From the Hamilton County Sheriff who was a cocaine trafficker to no less than 10 City Council members being accused of improprieties in the last 3 years alone. Chatt. Police Officers being accused of and convicted of murder, rape, beatings, maimings and stalking. School Board Sup. and members on the take. My city is still caught in the good ole boy, redneck heyday of yesteryear. This has got to end. There is corruption at every level of government in this town.
I appreciate the honest efforts of the good citizens that are bringing this to our attention. These kind are efforts prove we are a true democracy. Thanks.
An officer who reads camer videos and stil pics had to tell the judge that the light color in the video was yellow, because video was unclear at my hearing. She added that there was 3 seconds for my Suburban to stop at 21 miles per hour. This was for a “Failure to stop an a red light” in Avondale, AZ. I contested the yellow time was too short to stop on and inaccurately timed, because there was only 15 feet to slam on the breaks. I did not fail to stop on a red, ” it was yellow!” He ruled I should pay $215. WHERE’s JUSTICE??? Should I appeal or is it a waste of time?
I am an attorney for 40 years. The yellow light times with regard to the red light camera violation issue arises to a constitutional level. Due process requires sufficent notice be provided to any defendant in a criminal or quasi criminal case such as a red light ticket. The burden of proof is upon the state or police to prove a violation beyond a reasonable doubt and not just merely by a preponderance of the evidence as is used in civil cases. The salient feature of a defense to a red light camera charge revolves around the science of distance, speed, weight of the vehicle and road conditions such as wet, slippery and slope of the highway. It seems the general scientific rules of a minimum of three seconds and then one second for each ten miles per hour road permitted speed should be rule of thumb. This could vary because of road slope. So if a speed limit is 45 MPH the amber which is at law the due process warning of an imminent violation should be a minimum of 4.5 seconds and for driver error 5 seconds would be most prudent which no doubt would avoid accidents. Hope this helps with any court arguments.
It sure appears to me that if the yellow light duration is shorter than the safe duration for a particular traffic signal-
one is entirely within his rights to notify the public of that FACT:
Therefore, standing 200′ before the signal , on the side of the road, with a sign reading:
“ILLEGAL SHORT YELLOW CAUTION LIGHT AHEAD”
illegal ticket camera and police trap ahead!”
Of course, you would be safe to time the yellow light and record the timing process on videotape first.
Mike
misterfact@yahoo.com