Why I'll No Longer Make a Right-on-Red

Recently, Suffolk County began installing "red light cameras" at certain intersections; primarily those where drivers were prone to speeding up and blowing past red lights. In many cases, there's a need for this sort of behavior -- these are busy intersections with plenty of cars, and one person blowing through the intersection could truly cause some damage.

But, make no mistake, these cameras are effectively just a way to raise revenue for the county. The cameras cost a pretty penny to install; but -- now -- you no longer need to man those intersections with police officers (so, apparently, they can do more important things -- like random stops for DWI infractors -- oh, wait, we don't do that either (which is probably why there were three major driver-going-the-wrong-way-on-a-major-highway accidents in the past week)... but I digress).

Anyway, I received a "citation" in the mail today. I was flabbergasted, because, although I am known to exceed the speed limit on major highways (effectively, keeping up with traffic), I have NEVER blown through a red light; and, even less likely to do so now.

There's a video of my infraction online, so I went to look at it. Effectively, what happened, was this:

The light was red, I pulled up to the light. There's a white line to "stop" and then, you are able to make a right on red. In the video, you can see me pulling up, and my brake lights are on. However, rather than stopping at the white line, I go past that line to begin my turn, and THEN stop (effectively, so I can see oncoming traffic). Evidently, that is my infraction.

Technically, they're right. The laws of the road say I should stop at the white line, then creep forward. In practice, no one does this. So, I'm now on the hook for a $50 citation -- my charitable contribution to the county.

However, this has now taught me that these cameras are non-discerning. Ultimately, I *did* stop at the light, yet, I'm still cited (and, there's absolutely no reason for me to fight it; as anyone who's done that knows, the courts basically operate in a manner LEAST welcoming to individuals -- court cases on a Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving, where your case could be called anywhere between 9am and 5pm - you would be hard-pressed to find another culture where normal, law-abiding citizens are treated like such dreck for minor infractions...).

So, effective immediately, I will treat EVERY red light as though it's a "No Turn on Red." I'm sure this will generate some honking at me. I welcome that :) -- the ability to turn on red was intended to continue the flow of traffic; but it's never been mandatory (see school buses, for example); it's always been a "you MAY turn on red." From now on, I simply will choose not to.