Speed cameras in the canyons

[silvah_gsx]

I saw a thread on SoCalEvo.net (can't locate now but I'll post link when I find it) about the Forest Service (or parks or whatever they call themselves) putting speed cameras on some canyon roads...mobile speed cameras.

Would anyone happen to know where these cameras have been set up, or have any info on them?

Thanks, I'll see if I can find the thread in the meantime.

 

[SilverMitsu]

that should slow you awd twistie junkies down a bit eh?

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Just take your license plates off when you go through the canyons and then when you come to the end of the canyon put them back on.

 

[1gcrazy]

Yeah just dont run into any cops....

 

[silvah_gsx]

that should slow you awd twistie junkies down a bit eh?

Haha the guy who invented the speed camera probably got owned in a canyon and started making those things to level the playing field.

Here's the thread on SoCalEvo:
http://www.socalevo.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=37&topic=40826.0

California: Push for Speed Cameras Violates Law
Exclusive: Speed cameras are coming to California roads, even though the devices are forbidden by the legislature.

A little-known California governmental agency is quietly planning to install speed cameras on a number of popular routes later this year, even though state law explicitly forbids the use of photo radar. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MCRA) signed a contract with Australian camera vendor Redflex on March 22 allowing the company to operate a network of thirteen speed and red light cameras. MCRA is an agency of the state government with jurisdiction over 50,000 acres of public lands between Santa Monica and Simi Valley.

The five-year contract provides for two fixed and one mobile speed camera, plus ten red light cameras (which will also be used at stop signs). The first cameras would be installed at Franklin Canyon in the heart of Los Angeles, located off of Mulholland Drive. Another speed and red light camera will be installed at the top of Reseda. The remaining red light cameras will be located at the top of Topanga, the Temescal Canyon front lot -- off Sunset Boulevard -- and the Hollywood Bowl Overlook.

In 2000, the California legislature banned photo radar with a statute clarifying that although it authorized the use of red light cameras, the legislature, "does not authorize the use of photo radar for speed enforcement purposes by any jurisdiction." (CVC 21455.6) The legislature also rejected several bills that would have authorized automated speeding ticket programs.

MCRA officials claim the provision banning photo radar does not apply to them as the agency has independent authority to enforce its own ordinances. Several Santa Clara County Court rulings rejected the same reasoning when used by the city of San Jose to protect the photo radar system it had operated since 1996. The city was forced to drop its photo radar program last month, and it now faces the prospect of millions in refunds for illegally collected fines.

The agency will face additional legal challenges. MCRA's contract specifies that Redflex will keep $20 for every fixed camera citation it is able to issue and $40 for every mobile speed camera ticket. Both amounts will increase yearly, adjusted for inflation. This form of compensation is specifically forbidden by California law.

"A contract between a governmental agency and a manufacturer or supplier of automated enforcement equipment may not include provision for the payment or compensation to the manufacturer or supplier based on the number of citations generated," California Vehicle Code section 21455.5 states.

The contract provides details on just how much control over the program Redflex will have. At no point do MCRA park rangers play an important role in the operation of the system. Redflex will even "interact with court and judicial personnel" to ensure the maximum number of violations are processed and provide "public relations resources" and "expert witnesses" to defend the tickets in court. Redflex will also mail out citations to motorists using regular first-class postal mail.

For their own correspondence, however, MCRA and Redflex do not consider first-class mail to be "reputable." Instead, correspondence between the ticket company and agency can only be made through an overnight courier service or registered mail.

The Franklin Canyon cameras are scheduled to be installed within sixty days of a public "kickoff meeting" whose date has yet to be announced.

 

[Defiant]

Hm. I don't know what police powers a private organization or business may have over speed limits on its own property. I'll ask around and see if anyone knows. But for the most part, CVC doesn't apply on private property, with the exception of things such as DUI, and hit-and-run. "Speeding" in a trailer park, for example, isn't something police departments will help with in most cases. Parking lots get strange, and from what I know are subject to city codes and the like.
Then there are situations like the Golden Gate Bridge, which is a State highway on private property.
Military bases and the like do their own enforcement, and they have teeth. Something like speed cameras on private roads may just depend on most people not having the sense to ignore them. Not that I'd ever suggest every goddamned robot enforcement device should be subject to high-power rifle fire, or anything like that. Ever.

You may find it interesting that red light cameras are operated by private companies who profit from it, and are allowed to do so by local authorities who get a cut of their take.
http://www.highwayrobbery.net/

 

[CPHunter]

i know theres one on Box Canyon, there used to be one on Stunt Road, and Topanga Cyn isn't a good place to put one in there. theres so much traffic going threw there, no one can go passed 40

 

[Project2G]

Just take your license plates off when you go through the canyons and then when you come to the end of the canyon put them back on.

Problem Solved

 

[silvah_gsx]

Haha well not if there's an officer sitting by the camera...or anywhere near it for that matter.

 

[Defiant]

Bring on some more creative thinking, and see how long this thread lasts.

We're here for information, not bullshit. Nor for hints on how to break the law.

 

[eagle4life]

Bring on some more creative thinking, and see how long this thread lasts.

We're here for information, not bullshit. Nor for hints on how to break the law.

WTF ok.......

 

[Talesin]

Er... even if it turns into a list of where these blatantly illegal speedtrap cameras are located?

After all, at that point it just becomes a list of where the local municipalities are going against CVC. And a number of the roads that they propose to install the cameras on (as noted from the article above) are not private roads. It isn't a business parking lot (private property with general public use implied/permitted), it's public land and streets, maintained by the State of California government. Hell, it's a government agency proposing to do the illegal installations.

At that point, is it really against the law (much less the spirit of the law) to note where the local bureaucrats are making another personal pocket-stuffing attempt, at the expense of those who enjoy driving more than a straight line, and likely have modified their vehicles to suit safely?

 

[Raph]

Hint from me in Speed camera country

If you get flashed in a curve or on a road with gaurdrails (those reflect the radar) the trapped speed will be wrong

you cant set up a speed camera in the middle of a curve.. (well,not accuratley) no matter what anyone says.

 

[DSM JDM]

Has anyone seen these cameras yet or know were their installed?

 

[Talesin]

I haven't seen any yet, up along Angeles Crest or any of the roads that branch off of it.

And I must destroy your name. Yarglediediedie.