After being caught ticketing drivers with illegal signal timing in 2015, the County initially resisted adopting the Maryland-required yellow light time of 3.5 seconds. It then promised to correct the problem. However, the OIG report - based on MCDOT data not confirmed by an independent audit - found that 13% of signals countywide are still illegally timed.
When asked by the OIG for a schedule for correction of those 105 remaining signals, MCDOT refused to produce one. And while MCDOT insists that there are no red light cameras at the out-of-compliance intersections, the OIG noted that "We did not test or verify the accuracy of the information provided by MCDOT."
"Improper timing of traffic signals at locations with red light cameras goes to the heart of the confidence people can have in their government," Korman wrote in his letter to Leggett.
Montgomery County responded to the OIG report with a one-sentence promise to create a schedule for signal correction, but did not say when such a schedule would be released. Once again, Montgomery County seems unable to deliver the basic functions of government - collecting the trash, clearing snow from sidewalks along its properties (sometimes as long as a month(!) after the snowstorm ended), plowing roads, providing 911 service or completing construction projects on-schedule (with the Wheaton Library being the latest, now a year-and-a-half behind-schedule).
You don't get a camera ticket unless you enter the intersection when the light is already red. So the timing of the yellow does not really play a role.
ReplyDeleteSlow down, Dyer. We don't want you to run down other drivers, pedestrians or cyclists.
Wrong! If a driver anticipates the legal standard of 3.5 seconds, they will accelerate and then get caught illegally-early by the red light, and wrongly receive a ticket.
ReplyDeleteAs we've seen at MCPS this spring, and elsewhere in the county, the refusal to obey the law at the top of the organization trickles down to county employees - and ultimately citizens.
Laws must be obeyed. If you don't like a law, change it. But until then, you must obey it. You can't expect citizens to keep obeying the law with a lawless government.
I'm not convinced that any of these signals are "illegally timed." According to the memo (thank you for providing a link!), the director of the state's Office of Traffic and Safety stated that "the State’s contract with the County does not specifically require that the County comply with State regulation." So while the timing may not be in line with guidelines or state standards, it's not clear that there's anything illegal, per se. It's also important to note that the State Highway Administration "is generally satisfied with
ReplyDeleteMCDOT’s efforts to bring County traffic signals into compliance."
Korman's suggestion for an outside audit is a good one, provided MCDOT can contract the service for a reasonable fee.
Moscow NIMBYs protest replacement of Soviet-style housing blocks:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/plan-to-relocate-16-million-muscovites-turns-middle-class-russians-into-protesters/2017/06/10/724021c6-49e2-11e7-b69d-c158df3149e9_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_russiaprotest919pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
"In March 2003, SHA issued a policy stating that the 'minimum yellow interval should be 3.5 seconds.' However, neither MCDOT nor SHA could provide any record verifying that the policy was officially shared with MCDOT. The SHA Office of Traffic and Safety (OOTS) Director believed that some members of MCDOT had been informally notified, as they had participated in meetings with SHA during which the policy was discussed, but acknowledged that the information could have “slipped through the cracks” through employee attrition, retirement, etc. He also stated that while the shorter (3 second) interval utilized at some County intersections was not unsafe and met the national standard, SHA believed that the extra half of a second was of benefit."
ReplyDelete9:24: As Marc Korman noted in his letter, ignorance of the law is no excuse. The other statements you are quoting are merely the opinions of the MCDOT employee, and are contradicted elsewhere.
DeleteAlso, some yellow lights were recorded at even lower than 3 seconds, such as 2.7 seconds at a light in Silver Spring that issued thousands of illegal tickets.
It's not a "law" and it's not "illegal".
ReplyDelete"Laws must be obeyed. If you don't like a law, change it. But until then, you must obey it."
ReplyDeleteOh no I'm GUILTY! Anyone else owning up?
Sec. 13-53. Profanity; violation of section declared misdemeanor.
(a) A person may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street, sidewalk or highway within the hearing of persons passing by, upon or along such street, sidewalk or highway.
(b) A person may not act in a disorderly manner by profanely cursing, swearing or using obscene language.
(c) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Laws of Rockville, Ch. 12, � 12-1.00)
Cross references: Punishment for misdemeanors, � 1-10.
State law references: Profanity, Anno. Code of Md., Art. 27, �� 121, 122.
I'm pretty sure that threatening to bodyslam someone through a glass coffee table is illegal.
ReplyDeleteAnd possession of brass knuckles is definitely illegal.
If a red-light camera is on a traffic light that has a yellow light with an interval of less than 3.5 seconds, but the camera catches a violator who enters the intersection AFTER the 3.5-second interval, would that camera ticket then be "legal"?
ReplyDeleteI want to see Robert Dyer's video review of those chocolate chip cookies!
ReplyDeleteThere are some red light cameras that appear to take photos at every light cycle, such as at Wisconsin Ave & Montgomery, on River Road, etc. At least, I assume they're taking a photo because of the flash I see.
ReplyDeleteIs that a malfunction or is that they way they work?
I'm often intimidated by drivers tailgating me to go through changing lights. If only I were a stronger man...
ReplyDeleteThis is not a well run government. Remarkable considering the cost.
ReplyDelete@Tim, I saw a report on the local news that they are supposed to function that way. They store energy so that they're ready to flash when needed. Every so often they discharge that energy in the form of a flash. I've also read that it's a warning flash (if you're approaching the intersection too fast) or that they set it flash more frequently soon after installation (to call attention to its presence). As long as you don't run the light there shouldn't be any need to worry.
ReplyDeleteRobert Dyer is wringing his hands over policies (yellow light duration) so that he can get away with breaking the law (blowing through red lights).
ReplyDeleteRemember when Montgomery County was the best managed jurisdiction in the DC area? Had the gold standard services. It feels like so long ago.
ReplyDelete8:49 = #UnsignedDyer
ReplyDelete9:37 PM Nope, I'm not Dyer.
ReplyDeleteWhat's it like to see Robert Dyer everywhere you look?
Shortening of yellow lights to is both unsafe and deceitful. Even assuming everyone followed the speed limit, cars still need a safe amount of time to react and stop. As it is, red light cameras have been shown to cause more fender-benders due to people who will slam on the breaks out of an abundance of caution. Giving MoCo the benefit of the doubt that these cameras are intended primarily for safety and not revenue, there shouldn't be any objection to increasing the length of the yellow light at least to the minimum guidelines.
ReplyDeleteRobert Dyer at 7:37 said...
ReplyDeleteWrong! If a driver anticipates the legal standard of 3.5 seconds, they will accelerate and then get caught illegally-early by the red light, and wrongly receive a ticket.
State law does not encourage drivers to accelerate when they see a yellow light, in fact it explicitly discourages it and it is illegal. It is also unsafe. Someone who accelerates though a yellow light is not wrongly receiving a ticket, he/she deserves it.
Sincerely, Officer Krupke!
PS: Robert, in your zeal to go after Dems, you seem to be encouraging illegal & dangerous actions.
8:57am often, it has to be a judgement call if the light is changing.
DeleteIf someone is on your tail, I wouldn't recommend slamming the breaks at a yellow. You could easily be rear ended.
Delaying corrections to lights and refunds on illegal tickets is NOT a mistake. It is a deliberate part of MoCo's predatory for-profit ticket camera rackets that take money mostly from safe drivers who endangered no one. MoCo's ticket cameras have NEVER been about safety, only money. Speed limits are deliberately and maliciously set lower than the safest levels to enhance speed camera loot. Traffic lights are deliberately and maliciously mis-engineered for more red light camera loot.
ReplyDeleteNo one should support the ticket camera rackets in Montgomery County.
James C. Walker, National Motorists Association