Red-light cameras certainly are legal in some cities
Q. Recently my friend received a “courtesy notice” from the Garden Grove Police Department. Enclosed were a few photos of his vehicle at an intersection. It stated they want him to make an appointment to view the video of his vehicle going 15 mph through a red light. Are photo-enforcement pictures allowed as a way of giving someone a traffic citation? Is this legal to do at intersections?
– Gayle Brierly, Los Angeles
A. Honk wishes he didn’t know so much about red-light runners caught on camera – but he was cited years ago in a different town after receiving a photo or two in the mail and had to cut back on his intake of pretzels and soda for a while to pay off the fine. The yellow had snuck up on him and he made a quick, expensive decision.
Sounds like your friend was cited. He can fight the citation or pay it off. Or, if he wants, he can set up a time to view a video of the incident along with a police officer – that is likely the reference to it being a “courtesy notice.”
The officer would consider any reason that he should not have a citation, Lt. Carl Whitney said, and a dismissal could be recommended to a supervisor at the Garden Grove Police Department.
The lieutenant provided examples of when the officer could be persuaded: Perhaps the person cited actually sold the car, has paperwork to prove it, and doesn’t look like the driver captured by the camera. Or maybe the motorist was taking someone to the hospital for an emergency and possibly that should be weighed.
“We take things into consideration,” Whitney said.
Years ago, more cities had red-light cameras dotting intersections, but for various reasons some municipalities have since ditched them.
Q. I just saw an 18-wheeler going east in the 91 FasTrak lanes just past the 55 Freeway. Is it legal for such a vehicle to be in those lanes even with a transponder? If the weigh station off of the regular freeway lanes is open, how does that 18-wheeler get over there and get weighed? Or is it exempt? Or do the semi-truck drivers know when the weigh station is closed and then can just take the FasTrak lanes?
– Lance Kane, Orange
A. Trailers and campers aren’t supposed to be out there on the 91 Express Lanes, whether pulled by a big rig or a sedan.
Any vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds can’t use the tollway that rolls along the median of the 91 Freeway in Orange and Riverside counties, either.
The cited reason is the wear and tear of the lanes, although you bring up a good point of how would truckers get to the truck scales?
“Most commercial haulers know the rules, and so we don’t see a major problem with commercial trucks in the lanes, but (violators) would be subject to a citation,” said Eric Carpenter, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the 91 Express Lanes.
Several times a month, Carpenter said, a motorist gets cited by the California Highway Patrol along the Orange County stretch for being behind the wheel of an over-sized vehicle on the Express Lanes.
Honkin’ fact: The Department of Motor Vehicles reversed course this week, The Associated Press reported, and decided it will give Jonathan Kotler the vanity license plate he wanted: “COYW,” which stands for “Come On You Whites.”
That is the rallying cry of his beloved Fulham soccer team, based in London, which wears white jerseys. The DMV initially declined his request, saying it sounded kinda offensive.
Well, Kotler fired back with a free speech lawsuit. He is an associate professor of journalism at USC and a lawyer, and has taught a fine media law class, Honk can attest, as he sat in his classroom decades ago.
U.S. District Judge George Wu rejected the DMV’s contention that license plates are actually the government’s words, saying he doubted most of us “perceive the government as speaking through personalized vanity plates.”
True enough, and the DMV decided the plates should not have been turned down in the first place and settled the case by ensuring Kotler would get his new plates soon.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.