they just got through installing them in school zones in my town and are in process of voting on it in a nearby town also read this is happening in other parts of my state........I highly suspect that these camera companys are making sizable campaign contributions(legalized bribes) to city and county commissioners.....anybody got any inside knowledge of this?
everybody wants kids to be safe but in my area of the country,kids don't walk to school anymore,they ride the bus or their parents drop them off...schools are not built on busy streets anymore,they are located in large tracts with a drive through lane off of main streets/highway for parents and buses...end result is most instances kids are not exposed to traffic and there really isn't a need for the 1/2 mile long/25 mph speed zones....again everybody wants kids to be safe but these camera installations seem to be more about the revenue than they are making things safer....

Profit or not... I bet suckas stop speeding.

I see people quite often zipping through school zones, on their phones, oblivious as to why everyone else is going so slow.

You'd think they would learn after the whole red light camera fiasco.

Wonder how they get past the constitutional aspect that got the red light cameras taken away.
I believe you have the right to face your accuser in court

The ones I hated were in Germany. They were portable ones. They would put reduced "construction" speed zone signs with speed trap cameras on them just over hilltops with no warning. You come flying over the hill that you have taken countless times and flash, you just got your picture taken. They mail the ticket to the base and you have no way to fight it. Cameras at long held school zones? Don't consider those speed trap cameras. Just an enforcement tool. But you better have your clock/watch set to the same time the city does on the cameras. Back in the 70's I was driving through a school zone with an officer driving right behind me. My car clock said it was 5 minutes before the school zone time kicked it from 30 down to 20. Drove all the way through the school zone before the officer lit me up. Ticket stated it was 1 minute after the speed change time. Tried to argue that one in court. Judge was nice and said it was basically the cops word against mine, but that cop should have just issued a warning. He dropped the fine portion but let the ticket stand.

I'm really tired of people clustered in the city and suburbs making dumb comments about how things are these days. My kids school and many many more are located on state highways. People blow right through school zones now because the state troopers were sent away. I'll welcome any cameras looking for idiots.

Maybe schools should not be built on state highways.
Seems there may be a better way

When they were all the rage they were being marketed as revenue generators, not as safety equipment. The cities / counties I know of that bought them paid an annual base fee to the company, then a percentage of the fines. They were coached to make the citations civil violations; the registered owner of the vehicle was liable for the fine regardless of who committed the offense, and making it a civil ciolation made it a case where the government was not required to prove guilt; the violator was required to prove innocense.

Detractors claimed that they don’t work, but most of the cities / counties who bought in began losing money after the first year or two; many weren’t raking in enough fines to pay the base fee once people learned to stop for the cameras. Voters voting the cameras out gave the cities / counties an excuse to break their contracts. Some entities (nowhere near as many as the detractors claimed) reset their traffic lights’ timing to shorten the duration of the amber lights, creating more violations. Many times they were improperly programmed; a legal stop, then right turn at a red light would result in a violation summons. Detractors claimed that they cause an increase in collisions, but what we saw was that those collisions were usually a case of a car stopping when the habitual red light runner behind him wanted (and expected the car in front of him) to run the light.

The city I worked for rejected the cameras; they were turned off by the company marketing them as revenue generators rather than safety devices. Although we don’t have a lot of traffic lights, the city’s rejection of the lights was a point of pride for the PD. I think the cameras could be a useful safety enhancer, but they should be used for that, and not to add money to the coffers for greedy petty politicians.

It's just a scam

I got a red light Camera ticket in Dallas a few years ago, I wasn't even in the USA. I sent in my passport stamps showing I wasn't even in the USA when the infraction occured

Only way I could not pay was to drive to Dallas for a court hearing, which wasn't worth my time.

Nothing but a scam and money maker

I can tell you that the cameras on the School buses are the real thing. I got popped about 6 years ago. It was 7:00 pm at night and I was coming home from working late. It was a 3 lane road (Audelia). This bus was in the far right lane stopped. I didn't expect a school bus at 7:00 pm at night to be dropping off kids. Not thinking, still in work brain mode, I went in the far left lane and went by it. 2 weeks later, I got the ticket in the mail. It was a hefty fine $240 or so, with a nice pic of my truck license plates and me driving past it with its lights and sign out. If I didn't contest it, they said, it wouldn't go on my driving record. I didn't, paid it and that was it. An expensive lesson to pay the hell attention to school buses.

The cameras provided evidence, not an accusation. If a homicide is recorded on a aurveillance video, should the State dismiss the charge? Should the video be inadmissible? There is a whooooole lot of case law to refute your assertion that video evidence is unconstitutional. I understand that it iwas a popular objection to the cameras, but that doesn’t validate it.

Maybe not but they are there and not moving. A lot of the schools in rural areas have been there since the 70's and even earlier. Bonds don't pass out here so nothing will change. Let's just agree to keep our kids safe

We had them in Houston for a while. One got me for running a stoplight. I turned right on red, ticket in the mail few days later. Cost me just south of 100 bucks. I tried to get out of it ,but couldn’t. One of the answers I got was don’t turn right on a red light, which is not against the law. Pretty soon after they all came down.

Yep, Houston city council was all over them for the revenue. So was Montgomery County. Conroe had ‘em too. Conroe, Montgomery County, and the City of Houston have long histories of greedy administrations.

Conroe had another little scam going that’s probably still active. All around the courthouse and the DA’s office is angled parking. The standard width (which no one is required to adhere to; it’s just a standard in the code) for an angled parking space is 9’-0”. Conroe’s are 7’-5” wide; I measured a bunch of them. Their ordinances state that vehicles must be parked completely within the space. Like their red light camera violations, they made the parking violations civil violations. I had to run up to the DA’s office and I parked my unmarked truck in the angled parking, rather than the lot where I usually parked. My wheels were all well inside the lines and I was pulled all the way up to the curb; I’d heard that the city had a parking Nazi who was ultra picky. I got a citation. The fine was $25, due within 15 days.. In order to fight it one was (is?) required to appear at the Conroe Municipal Court at 2:00 pm on a Tuesday or Thursday. Apparently they figure most folks will pay the $25 rather than take off from work. Anyway, I went to their courthouse — which had no public restrooms and no water fountain, but it did have an ATM prominently located in the lobby — and was granted an audience with their “Hearing Officer” assigned to parking violations. She told me unequivocally, “If you received a citation you’re guilty.” I told her someone was going to have to show me proof of guilt, since all of my tires were inside the lines. She then told me that the parking violation officer wrote too many tickets to recall every one, and if I wish to contest rhe citation I need to pay the fine as an “appearance bond” (along with filing fees) and request a court date. I told her that I wasn’t paying anybody anything until someone showed me how I was in violation. She then asked me what I was driving, and I told her I was in a half ton Dodge pickup. She then informed me that the mirrors on my truck are wider than the parking space; therefore I was in violation. When I told her how absurd that was she finally admitted that she was just following the City Council’s orders.. Sure enough, I neasured and it was 8’ between the outer edges of the mirrors. My city manager was worried that Conroe was going to boot my (actually the PD’s) truck, and she didn’t want it to turn into a war between us and Conroe. Several Conroe officers I know told me that if I had told them I was a cop it would have been dismissed immediately. That really rubbed me wrong; my lieutenant and the chief agreed; being a cop shouldn’t make a difference. It’s a money-grubbing scam. Four days later (nearly a week before my 15 days to pay had expired), we got a letter from the City of Conroe stating that a warrant for my arrest had been issued. Naturally, the wife freaked out. Meanwhile, I sent a certified letter to the Conroe City Council, which they naturally never replied to. I waited until the last hour to pay them their $25. I don’t know if they are still doing that; I never parked in the angled parking after that.

Lucky you, they build the schools here on the busiest fricking roads, then it causes massive traffic jams.