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  1. #1

    Default Photo Enforcement for a Red Light Violation

    My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington

    Hello all!

    I received a red light violation via photo enforcement program in Spokane County, WA.

    Photo A shows my vehicle with its break lights on at or near a stopping line. It is unclear where the stopping line is because the photograph is very dark. The light is red, and the speed is 18. RTime is 0.2. Time is 10:21:52.7

    Photo B shows my vehicle making a right hand turn, with its turn signal on. The vehicle is approximately half way through the right turn. The light is red, and the speed is 18 RTime is 1.8.

    1. What is RTime?

    2. Do I have a case to contest, or mitigate?

    Here are my current thoughts:
    1. I need to convince the court that I stopped (completely) between pictures A and B. Speed was 18mph in picture A and 18mph in picture B. However, since no significant figures are given, that 18mph could be 17.5 mph. What happened between A and B is unknown.

    I propose that my vehicle stopped, and then accelerated to 17.5 mph between pictures A and B. Now, 1.6 seconds elapsed between the two on paper. Again, no significant figures are given, so the time difference could be upwards of 1.69999999 seconds. Let's call that 1.7 seconds. In order to stop in half of that time, 0.85 seconds, I would have to decelerate at a rate of 20.58 mph per second. The same number is true for accelerating to 17.5 mph after a complete stop.

    2. Since my vehicle is turning, I could suggest calculated speed in picture B is inaccurate.

    Any criticism and suggestions are welcome.

    Thank you!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    193

    Default Re: Photo Enforcement: Red Light Violation

    There are issues with your math. Stopping distance (not including reaction time since your foot is already on the brake) for 20-0 mph is about 20 feet, one car length. If you were at/near the limit line doing 18 mph, you would be one car length beyond it when you stopped. You ran the light. Now if you accelerate at 20 mph per second, that gives a 3 second 0-60 time with constant acceleration. Unless you are driving a super high performance car, not happening. At a constant 18 mph you would have covered about 40 feet in 1.6 seconds, about 2 car lengths. I am willing to bet the front of your car in the second photo is about 1.5-2 car lengths from where it was in the first photo without looking at the pictures.
    For item 2, don't go there. If the turn is affecting the speed measurement, this would be due to the well known Cosine effect. Without going into details, this always makes the measured speed lower than the actual speed. So if this affected your speed measurement during the turn, you were going faster than 18 mph, the exact difference would depend on the angle of motion relative the SMD.

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