Dear Baltimore, please, please, check the car

[glhs837]

Here we go again. Been almost a year since the last speed camera ticket I got. Only problem last time was that I was here in SOMD, not in Baltimore, oh and the fact that the tag they cited belongs to a tiny yellow Geo Storm.
And the vehicle in the pictures triggering the cameras is a dark colored stepside pickup. That took I think a month and a half to clear, I had received on piece pf mail from the MVA threatening to flag that plate and not renew it unless I paid the fine and a $25 fine in top before they finally cleared it.

Fast forward to today. What do I get in the mail? An envelope from Charm City. Oddly enough, it's a speed camera ticket. And again, oddly enough, neither I nor the car in question have been within 90 miles of Baltimore. And, oddly enough, its the exact SAME DAMN stepside pickup they mistook it for. You think there might be a flag on the Geos tag in the system. Evidently not.

So, yet again, I will be spending my valuable time and cell phone minutes clearing up the same damn mistake they made a year ago. Yeah automated enforcement.

 

[bcp]

 

[glhs837]

Which part are you calling BS on? The fact that it wasnt me? Or what?

Heres the website, pull it up.

Lockheed Martin IMS -- Photo Enforcement Group

citation number : 16124232 Pin number : 301500491

Thats a pickup, of which I own none. I'll post a pic later of the front end of the the yellow Geo.

Same exact truck they got me confused with lst time, the key is what looks a lot like an M on that truck is actually an H. You might think they check the make and model, but they dont.

 

[daylily]

That sucks! We never realized there were any speed cameras in somd until about a month ago. Hubby's boss asked him if we had fun in Waldorf the Sunday before. Hubby asked how he knew we went there. Boss handed him a ticket that they received because hubby was driving a company vehicle. Oops!

Boss was cool about it, asked where on Rte 5 the camera was so he didn't get ticketed also. We had no clue. I happened to go to Waldorf last week and looked for/found it so we don't get nailed again.

 

[bcp]

Which part are you calling BS on? The fact that it wasnt me? Or what?

Heres the website, pull it up.

Lockheed Martin IMS -- Photo Enforcement Group

citation number : 16124232 Pin number : 301500491

Thats a pickup, of which I own none. I'll post a pic later of the front end of the the yellow Geo.

Same exact truck they got me confused with lst time, the key is what looks a lot like an M on that truck is actually an H. You might think they check the make and model, but they dont.

I just find it hard to believe that you, one who is seriously against any enforcement, would have this keep happening to you where others, that really dont care about the enforcement have never had any problem.
I got one red light ticket, (riva at rt 50) but I knew I did it just as soon as I did it. So I was expecting it. Cant complain about that one at all.

 

[glhs837]

Believebcp;4987266]I just find it hard to believe that you, one who is seriously against any enforcement, would have this keep happening to you where others, that really dont care about the enforcement have never had any problem.
I got one red light ticket, (riva at rt 50) but I knew I did it just as soon as I did it. So I was expecting it. Cant complain about that one at all.[/QUOTE]

Believe me the irony isn't lost on me. This one pickup has a plate that is one letter off. Even in the pics it looks like A M, not AH. So i understand why it happens. But after the first time you world think it would be flagged.

 

[glhs837]

Heres the pics.......

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Looks more like "AH" than "AM" to me.

 

[glhs837]

You, Sir, have a bright future in plate recognition. Of course, after a few thousand tickets reviewed (one city reviewing officer in an MD small town was gone for two weeks and developed a +2,900 ticket backlog) you too might be tempted to just hit the "Reviewed, Issue Citation" button. Easy Peasy,as they say.

 

[RPMDAD]

glhs, just came across this. Love how they talk about the Public Safety issue in this article. Oh me bad all they talk about is the loss of revenue

Fewer Than Half of Md. Speeders Caught on Camera Get Tickets.

only 44 percent of violators that were photographed got tickets. The rest were thrown out ``due to reliability and readability issues.'' As a result, the state brought in $850,000 less than the contractor had estimated.

Fewer Than Half of Md. Speeders Caught on Camera Get Tickets | NBC4 Washington

 

[glhs837]

glhs, just came across this. Love how they talk about the Public Safety issue in this article. Oh me bad all they talk about is the loss of revenue

Fewer Than Half of Md. Speeders Caught on Camera Get Tickets.

only 44 percent of violators that were photographed got tickets. The rest were thrown out ``due to reliability and readability issues.'' As a result, the state brought in $850,000 less than the contractor had estimated.

Fewer Than Half of Md. Speeders Caught on Camera Get Tickets | NBC4 Washington

Well of course they dont talk about the safety gains. Hard to explain gains when you go from nothing and end up with nothing. Here's an article discussing highway worker fatalities.

Highway worker killed in late-night hit-and-run in Maryland

I cant make sense of this line though? Article published in 2010. So, were seven killed in 2005?

It apparently was the first death of a highway worker in Maryland since 2006 and brought to eight the number killed in the past five years.

In any case article mentions that 700 people were killed in highway workzone crashes in 2008. And that %90 of those were drivers and passengers. Which leaves us with a national number for highway workers killed in workzones that year of 70. I cant find it right now, but I did read that over %95 of highway workzone worker fatalities were caused by the jobsite itself, dump truck, materials falling over, that sort of thing. So that leaves us with a number of about three to four highway workers killed by drivers nationally. Hell, I'll be we lose more to slippery bathtubs than speeding drivers. And that doesnt even mention how many of those accidents are really speed, and not inattention.

So, in summary, as always, it's about the money, and nothing else. One last bit, the SHA released stats showing how well they have reduced work zone crashes since inplementing Speed Zones. Anyone want to bet what an overlay with the general drop in accidents would look like? the same, I'll bet.

 

[GURPS]

clear up this indecent, then pay 5 bucks at DMV and get replacements - tell them the old ones were stolen

 

[Vince]

I just find it hard to believe that you, one who is seriously against any enforcement, would have this keep happening to you where others, that really dont care about the enforcement have never had any problem.
I got one red light ticket, (riva at rt 50) but I knew I did it just as soon as I did it. So I was expecting it. Cant complain about that one at all.

I have had it happen twice also. Once on my old truck, a Red Ford Ranger. The truck in the photo was a white Ford F-150. Had to send photos of my truck with the plates. Took 6 months to clear it up. Next happened to my new Toyota Tacoma and this was another computer misinterpretation of the license plates with a Commercial panel Pipe Fitting Truck. Took about a year to clear this one up. In fact I just got the letter back saying that it was taken care of. And it what amazed me is that they actually thought I was going to drive up there and show up in court to clear it up. Told them you want me to drive to Baltimore to go to court to clear up a photo ticket that is not mine?!!

 

[glhs837]

clear up this indecent, then pay 5 bucks at DMV and get replacements - tell them the old ones were stolen

And might they ask for a police report number? Not that I really want to be lying to the DMV about plates anyway, it's not a huge deal, so far. Now, come the day I cant get stuff done at the MVA because of one of these, then it will be a bigger deal.

 

[GURPS]

And might they ask for a police report number? - I think 99% of people never report 'missing' plates, I never did

Not that I really want to be lying to the DMV about plates anyway, it's not a huge deal, so far.

lost / stolen ..... I have not had to get replacements in yrs, but it was a painless process ....

 

[SoMDGirl42]

lost / stolen ..... I have not had to get replacements in yrs, but it was a painless process ....

I did have my plates stolen. I was pissed enough that they stole my plates, but I was even more pissed that I had to pay to replace my STOLEN plates. It's not like I asked someone to steal them. I feel that victims of crime are usually victimized twice. It sucks.

 

[jazz lady]

Accurate you say?

Baltimore issued speed camera ticket to car stopped at red light - baltimoresun.com

The Baltimore City speed camera ticket alleged that the four-door Mazda wagon was going 38 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone — and that owner Daniel Doty owed $40 for the infraction.

But the Mazda wasn't speeding.

It wasn't even moving.

The two photos printed on the citation as evidence of speeding show the car was idling at a red light with its brake lights illuminated. A three-second video clip also offered as evidence shows the car motionless, as traffic flows by on a cross street.

The camera that wrongly ticketed Doty on April 24 is in Northeast Baltimore in the 1700 block of E. Cold Spring Lane, at the intersection with Hillen Road. It is the seventh city speed camera that The Baltimore Sun has shown to have produced inaccurate citations bearing erroneous speed readings.

Doty's is the first case in which the vehicle was clearly stationary. City officials gave no explanation for how it happened.