Red Light Cameras

[greenacc]

How do red light cameras work ?
Like which line do you have to be past when the light goes red and where are the sensors ? I know one of the poles is the camera and the other i guess is the sensor but how do they work ?

[FstStig]

I think its either the first 2 wheels over the first line while the light is still amber you are safe. The sensors will be underneath the line and just after the line.

[Jezza]

when i got a red arrow fine a few years back the sensor was the first pedestrian line after thick white the stopping line

[JMP]

Yep just past the white line is where it picks you up from. It takes 2 pictures the second picture is about a sec after the first and if you just creep over the line by accident then you wont get fined but if the second pic shows you kept going through the lights then you'll get done.

[greenacc]

OK, so Sydney's new 'Safety Cameras' ....which i think should be called danger cameras , do they flash or are they infra Red ? The one i'm thinking of didn't flash so I either made it before the red or they don't flash ?

[Maxxiz]

They dont always flash.
They work by having a sensor in the road (similar to the regular ones at traffic lights), which is about half a metre in front of the line. If either your front OR back wheels are on it when the light turns red you will get done. If your on it while its orange you'll be ok. It doesnt matter if your still in the intersection when its red, as long as you passed the sensor in time.

[Stressball]

They use an induction loop laid underneath the road surface. Basically it's got multiple wire rectangles under the road, with a power source and a voltage meter. It acts like an electromagnet, and when a large metal object like a car moves over the rectangles, the voltage changes. The voltage is constantly being compared to a standard deviation to record traffic motion over the intersection, and compared to the current light signal that's being displayed.

If it is showing red and has been showing red for more than half a second, and the voltage changes significantly on the loop, the camera is triggered and a photo is taken. A second photo is taken shortly afterward to confirm that the car continued through the intersection, and did not stop jut inside the magnetic field.

</mystery>

[ShadowMyst86]

In Queensland, if you even creep over the line on a red light and stop, you get a photo taken. My brother got one when he stopped at a red light and put the front wheels over the line. Regardless of whether you continue, you've entered the intersection.

[Stressball]

In Queensland, if you even creep over the line on a red light and stop, you get a photo taken. My brother got one when he stopped at a red light and put the front wheels over the line. Regardless of whether you continue, you've entered the intersection.

Must have stopped pretty far forward then. There's no shortage of red light cameras in brisbane and I am yet to see a single camera flash without someone running the light properly, I myself have stopped over the line a few times and got nothing.

[trenooo]

how about the speed camera vans, do they always flash even in the day time?

[calais24/7]

Pretty sure they don't. Since were on the topic of the vans, are they manually operated or all done automatically while the driver looks at a porno?

[DevilDRake]

All the speed cameras i've seen all flash unless it's a hand held.

[dirt drifter]

how about the speed camera vans, do they always flash even in the day time?

as far as im aware yes, i got done a while back by a patrol 4X4 in the arvo and it flashed

[mwb235]

How do red light cameras work ?
Like which line do you have to be past when the light goes red and where are the sensors ? I know one of the poles is the camera and the other i guess is the sensor but how do they work ?

AFAIK (in NSW at least) red light cameras take two pics of cars going past on red. If in the 2nd pic, the car is further ahead than the 1st pic, then they'll fine you (like JMP said in post #4). That prevents people stuck at intersections (due to heavy traffic/accidents etc) getting fined - same for those drivers who've gone over the line but realise their mistake and either completely stop or reverse back. I could be wrong but.

Pretty sure they don't. Since were on the topic of the vans, are they manually operated or all done automatically while the driver reads a porno?

...the driver reads a porno? I knew i was missing something after just looking all these years!

All the speed cameras i've seen all flash unless it's a hand held.

Hehe, "flash" and "hand held" and "porno" do go together well...

[calais24/7]

Hahah edited now thanks mate

[ausrs]

evidently the more bankrupt your state is the more forceful they are collecting fines .I was told today that in California all you have to do is cross the first line ,even if you stop at that point you WILL receive a fine in the mail !

[paulhauser]

Hi, I think I got flashed turning right the other day but am a bit confused. The camera wasn't placed behind me when I was turning but was on the other part of the crossroad. I was about to turn right, a car coming straight ahead jumped into the intersection, I hesitated, it stopped, I went through. The camera is installed at facing up the road I was turning into, not the road I was turning from. Can one facing that way catch me?

Thanks for any replies. I'm on 10 points and a bit nervous.

[Notorious_Matt]

My sister a while back got done for running a red light and it took 5 consecutive photos 3 before she even got past the cameras and 2 of her making a left hand turn into the adjacent street, she also recieved a speeding fine with the red light fine (2 points for speeding and 3 points for the red light). The pole camera's have 2 seperate boxes on 2 poles, the one at the rear is your camera and the one at the front is the flash/sensor/speed sensor.