Why do I use dash cameras?

[Zooks527]

This is why.




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[vanquishvzla]

Well technically it turned red right in the middle of the turn… driving a mustang that’s 100% a tickets just because it’s a mustang…

many many many years ago i was driving a loud mach 1 and i was in the middle lane surrounded by 5-6 cars… we all were going at the same speed… i was in the fking middle…. Cars in the front, the back and both sides… guess who got a speeding ticket??? All the other cars were regular family sedans and mini vans… let’s stop the loud mustang…

 

[MidnightStars]

And that's only for one out of an infinite number of possibilities. I'm currently in the process of getting an all around "Tesla cam" setup developed for my car, running all around the car, with its own dedicated battery setup.

 

[Zooks527]

Well technically it turned red right in the middle of the turn… driving a mustang that’s 100% a tickets just because it’s a mustang…

Yes, it turns red 2.2 seconds after I entered the intersection just as the light exits the FOV of the camera to the right. I never saw the red because I was looking left up the street I was turning onto.

The light went yellow 2.07 seconds (97 feet at the 32 mph shown on the display) before I entered the intersection. Assuming a reasonable reaction time to the yellow, there was no way I was going to stop net of a panic stop. That would have been an invite to a ticket for not "stopping safely".

In any event, it clearly doesn't match the cop's statement that he "saw [me] come in, looked at the arrow and it was bright red", unless his reaction time to look up was over 2 seconds, which implies my reaction time to brake would reasonably have been longer than I allowed above.

many many many years ago i was driving a loud mach 1 and i was in the middle lane surrounded by 5-6 cars… we all were going at the same speed… i was in the fking middle…. Cars in the front, the back and both sides… guess who got a speeding ticket??? All the other cars were regular family sedans and mini vans… let’s stop the loud mustang…

Many years ago I was driving a Corvette up a highway towards a place where there was ALWAYS a radar trap. I slowed down just as a crested the hill before the trap. A VW rabbit came flying up from my left, blew by me, saw the cop at the bottom of the hill, and jammed on his brakes. I passed him as he dropped waaay below the limit. The cop clocked him, but guess who he pulled over.

No ticket that time. I think he realized what had happened and let me off.

 

[Prodigal]

Lol. Karma for sure. Ha ha.

 

[Nightmonkey]

What state are you from?
Yellow is in many jurisdictions the indicator that you already must stop if it can be done safely.
As in this case, still entering the intersection can be a violation even if it was still yellow and not yet red.
(Neither does anyone here, but can be sanctioned if you run into a nitpicker).

 

[ARAMP1]

I feel safer already knowing we have dedicated civil servants out risking their lives in the pursuit of rounding up lawlessness like this.

 

[noac]

I wish he would go fight crime, but that would require some actual work.

 

[Zooks527]

What state are you from?
Yellow is in many jurisdictions the indicator that you already must stop if it can be done safely.
As in this case, still entering the intersection can be a violation even if it was still yellow and not yet red.

This is in Massachusetts, which does have the "if you can stop safely" conditional.

Timing the event it by frame count (30 frames / second) on the raw video feed:

• I enter the intersection at 32 mph 2.07 seconds after the light changed, measured by the stop line going under the bumper.
• The light turned red just before going out of view, 1.93 seconds after I entered the intersection and 4.00 seconds after it went yellow.

I was going 32 mph at the time the light changed (bottom display in the video). Assume it would have taken me one second to react, because I was looking at the area and traffic around me and not just focusing on the light. That means I would have hit the brakes 1.07 seconds before crossing the stop line, which would have placed me about 50 feet before the stop line. Going from 32 mph to zero in 50 feet is just about anyone's definition of a panic stop (Stopping (Braking) Distance Calculator). That kind of stop wasn't warranted and likely wouldn't be considered "stopping safely".

 

[PoCoBob]

Where I live that would be an infraction. When the light changed from green to amber you had plenty of time to safely stop without needing to jump on the brakes. But having said that I doubt any normal cop would give it a second look, everyone squirts through the intersection if it's still safe. Cop was being a dick.

 

[Nightmonkey]

I feel safer already knowing we have dedicated civil servants out risking their lives in the pursuit of rounding up lawlessness like this.

Perhaps the reason was just a pretense, because the vehicle fits for a typical clientele.
That's something we have quite often over here.
The sheriff may ask than for a warning triangle and first-aid kit (is mandatory over here), to take a look in the trunk, and that's it.
Kind of fishing in muddy waters.

 

[Prodigal]

Perhaps the reason was just a pretense, because the vehicle fits for a typical clientele.
That's something we have quite often over here.
The sheriff may ask than for a warning triangle and first-aid kit (is mandatory over here), to take a look in the trunk, and that's it.
Kind of fishing in muddy waters.

Holy crap nothing muddy about it. A first aid kit and warning triangle to get a peek in the trunk huh? Yeah that’s crazy. Our friends at the ACLU would have a field day with that here. Might as well ask to see the spare tire. A fishing expedition of sure!
I do think the stop in question here was questionable and probably used as a pretense to check out the driver. Sadly, it’s pretty much self inflicted. In my AO it seems 90% of Mustang owners leaves their car in track mode all the time many with very loud exhausts and feel the need to flog it regularly. My office window looks out on a major intersection and I can identify at least a half dozen regulars without even looking up simply by the sound and their adolescent behavior.

 

[67six]

Glad you didn’t get a summons, that officer was wrong.
Which dash cam is that?

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Saturday evening after dinner, yellow light left turn, let's pull him over and see if I smell alcohol or if the driver is impaired otherwise says Officer Smith.

Looks like a cop doing his job to me. And, yes, I would be a bit annoyed also about being stopped on such a pretense. However, there have been a lot of intoxicated and felonious people put in jail for by such stops.

I will also say that there is not one thing wrong with having a dash cam or recording a traffic stop. Unfortunately, there are less than ethical law enforcement officers on patrol. I would like to think that PD's and SO's want to find out about their Officers or Deputies that are not enforcing the laws equally, ethically, and fairly.

Job well done OP. Keep up the good work. And watch those yellow lights!

 

[Zooks527]

Glad you didn’t get a summons, that officer was wrong.
Which dash cam is that?

That's an old Lukas LK7900. My current preferred model is a Qvia QR790-S 2 channel (front and back).

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