Fans Going thru Cedar Rapids

GrandpaHawk

GrandpaHawk

Well-Known Member
Just to let all of you know that CR has speed cameras when you hit the 55mph speed limits going North and another in a couple weeks going South.They also have a red 4x4 they park along the shoulder that's set up with a camera to nail speeders.Make sure you go the speed limit thru CR and you'll be fine.Go Hawks
 
They also have the set up on the curves on I-380 that go into downtown when coming from the south. Good thing to be aware of for sure.
 
And they ticket everyone!! They are not biased on who gets the tickets. If someone else is driving your car YOU get the ticket.
 
People should be able to drive as fast as they want to the games. Just another example of the man trying to ruin the fun of football. They're intentionally trying to kill the atmosphere of game day.
 
When did those cameras on 380 Northbound go live? I recieved a $75 ticket the other day and was pretty angry. Wish they would have given the two weeks of warning citations like they did when the others went live.

Or maybe they have been live for awhile. I don't speed too often. I definitely didn't know they had them set up before you reached downtown.
 
raspberrytea said:
When did those cameras on 380 Northbound go live? I recieved a $75 ticket the other day and was pretty angry. Wish they would have given the two weeks of warning citations like they did when the others went live.

Or maybe they have been live for awhile. I don't speed too often. I definitely didn't know they had them set up before you reached downtown.
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The camera went live about three months ago. The first month, they sent out warning tickets. Now, anything over 5 mph results in a ticket. As said above, there is no bias. The person who the car is registered to will get the ticket.

The permanent cameras are located:
I-380 North bound--at the Diagonal Drive exit.
I-380 North bound--within the next couple of weeks, they will have another camera at the H-Ave exit. The two cameras on the north bound lanes will time your car to determine if you are speeding between the two cameras.
I-380 South bound--when they install the north bound camera at H-Ave, they will also install a camera on the south bound side of H-Ave.

The red 4x4 is actually a Jeep Cherokee. It is parked throughout the city. Lately has been parked near the curves north of Quaker Oats.
 
Cedar Rapids which once held the nickname of "the parlor city" is now the Orwellian City. :mad:
 
Welcome to the Socialist People's Republic of Cedar Rapids---the Speed Trap Capital of the Midwest.

The candidates who vow to get rid of these speed cameras during election time have my vote. Time to clean house in Cedar Rapids.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Welcome to the Socialist People's Republic of Cedar Rapids---the Speed Trap Capital of the Midwest.

The candidates who vow to get rid of these speed cameras during election time have my vote. Time to clean house in Cedar Rapids.
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Good luck getting rid of them - I saw something to the effect of 14k tickets since they've been put up, and didn't have a single police officer involved in writing one = big money for CR ($1,050,000). These are a cash cow, and in tight city budgets, they are just extra money.
 
I know it is sick. They are just a bunch of money hungry crooks looking anyway to get more money out of the people here.

Don't get me wrong, running red lights and excessive speeding certainly is not a good thing to do. But, the idea behind these cameras (or so the city officials/police say) is prevention and not to raise revenue for the city. That might as well say they have swamp land for sale. These cameras have done nothing to prevent people from speeding and there have been many repeat offenders from the posted lists online (CR Gazette).

With this latest addition about timing and distance in relation to speed to determine if someone gets a ticket or not might be the most crooked policy of them all.

Leave speeding ticket violations to qualified police officers who can determine if motorists are being a risk to the road and not some camera that can't subjectively determine the traffic conditions on the roads and interstates.

I thing what this council women from Waterloo was right on the money with what she said.


"Council member Carolyn Cole had a different view.
“I’m totally opposed to it,” Cole said. “I don’t think there’s a quicker way to (upset) your residents any more than this. It’s a shameless grab for revenue.”
 
You guys do know how to avoid speeding tickets don't you? It isn't very hard at all. All you have to do is drive at or below the speed limit. You can even go slightly above and you won't get a ticket.

I really don't understand the whining.
 
I live in SW MO. They had a big deal on Springfield tv the other day about the cameras in Springfield. They had been doing the same thing, sending out tickets to people running red lights. Some big timer fought it and won, they no longer have those cameras in town. Can't give specifics, been too long ago. Don't know if it would apply either. Somebody who has money could check it out.......
 
It is not as simple as that HawkeyeDug. I don't speed either. I am against the whole principle of these cameras.

-Besides being revenue raisers these tickets will:

-Lead to increases in rear end collisions because of inattentive drivers slamming on their breaks when entering the speed trap zones (Winter time in Cedar Rapids should be a lot of fun on I-380).

-Distracted drivers when looking at the Red Speed Trap Car parked along the interstate. More accidents in the making here.

-The tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle regardless of who is driving. So, say someone takes off for a joy ride in your car on the interstate and goes 30 over in one of these zones. You pay the ticket, not the driver driving your car in these zones.

-These tickets will not stop people from speeding or running red lights. We can already see evidence for this.

-Private companies are profiting from law-enforcement. For every speeding ticket is collected the private company makes 30% off of the ticket.

Take this for example. It would be like putting a camera in an alley recording someone selling drugs and then send a 325 dollar ticket to the drug dealer. The city keeps 70% of the profit and the private company gets 30%. The drug dealer gets to keep selling drugs. Way to keep the city safe and get the drug dealers off the streets.

-A qualified police officer can at least pull over the speeding offender. A camera can't do this.

-A camera can not judge if motorists are a risk to the road or not like a qualified police officer can.

"No taxation without representation."
 
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So if you are found to be speeding at both of the North bound cameras, do you get two tickets? What I don't like about this is that you don't know for days or weeks before you get the ticket. If you get pulled over by an officer, you are more likely to adjust your speeds. By the time the camera ticket comes, you may have several more tickets on the way.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
It is not as simple as that HawkeyeDug. I don't speed either. I am against the whole principle of these cameras.

-Besides being revenue raisers these tickets will:

-Lead to increases in rear end collisions because of inattentive drivers slamming on their breaks when entering the speed trap zones (Winter time in Cedar Rapids should be a lot of fun on I-380).

I don't think this will make much difference, it doesn't matter where you are, you can't drive while texting or whatever you are doing. At least they should know they are entering a speed trap zone, versus coming up on a cop sitting in the median who is a surprise.

-Distracted drivers when looking at the Red Speed Trap Car parked along the interstate. More accidents in the making here.

-The tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle regardless of who is driving. So, say someone takes off for a joy ride in your car on the interstate and goes 30 over in one of these zones. You pay the ticket, not the driver driving your car in these zones.
I typically know who is driving my car, this is a non issue. If the car was stolen I'm pretty sure you can get out of it.

-These tickets will not stop people from speeding or running red lights. We can already see evidence for this.

It has definitely stopped some, and will stop more as they find a ticket in their mailbox.

-Private companies are profiting from law-enforcement. For every speeding ticket is collected the private company makes 30% off of the ticket.

Take this for example. It would be like putting a camera in an alley recording someone selling drugs and then send a 325 dollar ticket to the drug dealer. The city keeps 70% of the profit and the private company gets 30%. The drug dealer gets to keep selling drugs. Way to keep the city safe and get the drug dealers off the streets.

-A qualified police officer can at least pull over the speeding offender. A camera can't do this.

What difference does it make if the car is pulled over or not, the ticket is still issued. If the car is pulled over there is only another hazard created on the road.

-A camera can not judge if motorists are a risk to the road or not like a qualified police officer can.

The camera can judge the speed of the car. The limit is predetermined, what is the problem?

"No taxation without representation."
Click to expand...
 
It is not as simple as that HawkeyeDug. I don't speed either. I am against the whole principle of these cameras.

-Besides being revenue raisers these tickets will:

-Lead to increases in rear end collisions because of inattentive drivers slamming on their breaks when entering the speed trap zones (Winter time in Cedar Rapids should be a lot of fun on I-380).

I don't think this will make much difference, it doesn't matter where you are, you can't drive while texting or whatever you are doing. At least they should know they are entering a speed trap zone, versus coming up on a cop sitting in the median who is a surprise.

The problem is, it does cause more rear end collisions. Look up some statistics from states and other countries who have had them installed. They are not to hard to find.

Such as
Rear End Accidents Prove Deadly

-Distracted drivers when looking at the Red Speed Trap Car parked along the interstate. More accidents in the making here.

-The tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle regardless of who is driving. So, say someone takes off for a joy ride in your car on the interstate and goes 30 over in one of these zones. You pay the ticket, not the driver driving your car in these zones.
I typically know who is driving my car, this is a non issue. If the car was stolen I'm pretty sure you can get out of it.

Don't just think in terms if your car is stolen. If your son or daughter takes off in your car, you will pay the fine under the law. If you wife gets nailed in your car, you pay the fine. That is great you know who is driving your car, but it only takes one time speeding in these zones for you to get ticketed. This is unjust. At least a qualified police officer can determine who is driving the car. A camera can not. There is no due process here at all.

-These tickets will not stop people from speeding or running red lights. We can already see evidence for this.

It has definitely stopped some, and will stop more as they find a ticket in their mailbox.

There have been multiple repeat offenders. The city is getting a consistent stream of revenue each week from repeat and new offenders. This is not making the streets any safer.

-Private companies are profiting from law-enforcement. For every speeding ticket is collected the private company makes 30% off of the ticket.

Take this for example. It would be like putting a camera in an alley recording someone selling drugs and then send a 325 dollar ticket to the drug dealer. The city keeps 70% of the profit and the private company gets 30%. The drug dealer gets to keep selling drugs. Way to keep the city safe and get the drug dealers off the streets.

-A qualified police officer can at least pull over the speeding offender. A camera can't do this.

What difference does it make if the car is pulled over or not, the ticket is still issued. If the car is pulled over there is only another hazard created on the road.

At least the police officer can pull over a person out of control. I would rather have the police officer stop the offender than have them speeding down the road and presenting a greater danger. A camera can not do this.

-A camera can not judge if motorists are a risk to the road or not like a qualified police officer can.

The camera can judge the speed of the car. The limit is predetermined, what is the problem?

A camera can not adjust for normal driving conditions. A camera can only do what is it programmed to do. I know some police officers in the city. They allow some flexibility in increased speed to allow for passing and to allow the rate of traffic to flow better. A camera can not think for itself and can not subjectively distinguish between a genuine threat on the road from what a qualified police officer can do.

However, Police are suppose to review the tapes to make a determination if a law was broken-------which I personally think is a waste of time if police have to go back and look at all of these camera pictures anyway. In many cases, they will be reviewed weeks after the alleged offense was committed and wasting considerable police time (and receiving a ticket for alleged offense weeks after the fact seems to be very inefficient). If we need police to review the cameras (days if not weeks after the fact), why do we have the cameras in the first place?

The Speed Cameras are just a crooked and "shameless way" to raise money on the citizens of the city.

"No taxation without representation."
 
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I have noticed that the speed cams really slow down the rate of traffic, and even if you are trying to speed you are often unable to. There have been times that I am late for work and have been limited to 3-4 mph over the speed limit (probably why I never had a ticket until now). Usually not a problem, but what if it was an emergency and I was trying to get to a hospital for myself or another?

Also, if these speed cameras are unbiased why aren't they ticketing people 0-5 over? If they are going to knock those offenders down to no ticket why aren't they reducing the level of offense for all drivers? Maybe nit-picky, but it is a valid question.
 
Good point on the emergency situations raspberrytea. Just another way the camera can't distinguish between those situations.

Just posted on the Gazette website

Police Chief: No ?Speed Zone? in Cedar Rapids for now | GazetteOnline.com

Looks like the police are backing off for now on the speed trap for distance covered in relation to your speed between the two cameras on I-380 Northbound. Sounds like somebody has been listening to the outcries of people in the town.
 
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