Last November the voters of Houston overwhelmingly voted for the city to cease and desist its Red Light Camera program. This was the only opportunity the citizens of Houston have had to speak in a direct and significant way to their representative since the initiation of the program was not done with the consent of the voters. But instead was done behind closed doors out of the sight of the taxpayers, and in hindsight was done with the single purpose of raising revenue. Which the city’s leader and ATS after months of claiming it was about safety have all but admitted.
Now 10 months later after the cameras were initially turned off, after Mayor Parker promised they would not be turned back on and after a laughable lawsuit which the city tanked like a prizefighter owned by the mob, the cameras are back on, and the city is issuing tickets and planning on expanding the program. (If Mayor Parker and ATS were in charge after the Civil War one wonders if they would not have said “The civil war is over, the nation endures. Let’s expand slavery, because we need the money”).
So what are the citizens left to do? Does democracy matter? If we can hold an election and the city and private business can subvert and ignore the result of the vote because it affects their bottom line is it fair to ask why bother? What do the governed owe a government that has broken that bond of trust and respect?
I believe we owe the government nothing, but owe ourselves and our history the obligation to act. And to act in a real and substantive way.
Throughout the history of America, civil disobedience has been one of the defining acts of true patriots and lovers of freedom. From the Boston Tea Party, to Martin Luther King , from The Stonewall riots and the Pro-Life movement there has been a time when the people have said NO, this will not stand, I will NOT remain silent. Those men and women, heroes of our nation were not criminals but they did chose to ignore laws which they felt violated the principles of freedom and liberty which our nation holds dear.
And so it is time for us to act in a likewise manner. It’s time to completely ignore these so called Red Light Camera violations. We should trash them and send a message that the real violation is the city’s intent to ignore the will of the people. And unlike those patriots who have gone before us, by acting we risk only a small bit of inconvenience when it comes time to register our vehicles. Instead of going online we might have to take a few extra minutes when we go shopping or make the effort to drive to one of many Harris County offices where we have always been able to register our vehicles in person despite the scare tactics of ATS.
Let me be clear, I am not, and NO ONE associated with the Citizens Against Red Light Cameras are calling for anyone to run red lights. That would risk your life and safety and those of your fellow citizens. That is not the act or patriots. Instead it is time to just say enough is enough and break the city's will. When the profits disappear so will the Red Light Cameras.
You do not have to be a resident of Houston to act. In the State of Texas vehicles are registered through the counties. As long as your vehicle is registered in Harris County you can re-register your vehicle regardless of where you receive a Red Light Camera ticket.
"I repeat again for absolute clarity there is NOTHING any city in Harris County can do to a car owner or driver who receives a red light camera violation notice to keep them from registering their vehicle if your vehicle is registered in Harris County: not Houston, or Humble, or Jersey Village, or Port Lavaca or any other city or town anywhere in Texas."
However, your registration can be blocked if your car is not registered in Harris County. For instance, if your car is registered in Fort Bend County then Houston can suspend your registration. However if you are a taxpayer in Ft. Bend you can call for a policy change and ask them to allow the registration of vehicles regardless of Red Light Camera Violations.
State Law which supersedes any city law makes this fact absolutely clear. The simple fact that ATS and the city ignore State law in the issuance of the violations themselves is enough evidence to indicate the profiteers know that once the citizens learn the truth, the cameras cease to be profitable.
It is not often that we are given the opportunity to affect real change on our communities. This is that opportunity. It is not simply about red light cameras although they are an egregious and selfish act of the part of ATS and any government that employs them, no instead this is much bigger and yet much simpler issue than just traffic enforcement. This is about The American ideal of Democracy. This is about the result of a justly and legally called election in which both sides made their case and the people made a choice. And now the losers of that election seek to deny that choice and enforce their will. This is about who will rule our nation: the people or the politicians.
NOTE*
And if you have not received a notice of violation and wish to act, please join us at Houston City Hall on Tuesday Aug 2 at 1pm and be heard. We intend to overwhelm city hall and call for City Council to end the practice of using red light cameras as a revenue source. And instead respect the voters and honor the election results and respect the taxpayers and do their sworn duty and manage the budget better.
(Philip Owens is the Chief Strategist and Campaign Manager Citizens against Red Light Cameras)
ALYCEBGOOD says
Parker is a progressive communist and she needs to be kicked out of Office and replace her ass with Fernando Herrera who running for Mayor in Houston…
byron schirmbeck says
You can read the law about how these "tickets" are not enforceable at http://www.trashyourticket.com
EricPWJohnson says
I think its a really good idea to not run a red light, first its wildly unsafe, second you could save not only your life but some cash as well.
The argument over who gets the enforcement cash is a clever diversion from the issue and as if where the enforcementcash goes and who fines you is a determinate on whether someone can morally? break the law
there could be a stronger arguments I guess
Darren says
"And so it is time for us to act in a likewise manner. It’s time to completely ignore these so called Red Light Camera violations. We should trash them and send a message that the real violation is the city’s intent to ignore the will of the people."
Not a bad idea and is it guaranteed that nothng more than being able to reregister online will be prohibited? No further fines, jail, or anything of the sort? When the cameras were initially set up I was hoping the legal system would be overun as to favor disassembling them.
Now, wasn't it a court order somewhere that reinitiated the cameras?
byron schirmbeck says
@ Eric. Of course not running a red light is a good idea. Who says otherwise? This isn't about letting people run a red light it is about a corrupt money grab that was sold as a safety program. A program that we know increased accidents and decriminalized red light running.
@Darren. If you would go to http://www.trashyourticket.com you can see the law on this matter. Nothing happens if you do not pay the illegal camera tickets. And there was no court order to turn the cameras back on.
Alvin Walker says
It just ain't right! The people voted, end of discussion.The RLC deal is no different than the deal they make with Coke or whoever to put in soda machines. The one that gets the deal is the one that offers the biggest KICK BACK or as they call it a commission. If O.C.P. from Detroit (for you RoboCop fans) came in with a "sweeter" deal ATS would be out so quick it would make your head spin. They found themselves a "friendly Federal" judge and now they're back in business! Phil is 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} correct on this one.
Madam Mayor turn off those cameras!
Simple Simon says
I am a little confused here. If you stay within the law and do not run any Red Lights, as there is no legal justification that I know for running a light and putting others at risk for serious injury.
Then how are you going to get one of the photo tickets unless you (or someone driving your car) break the law. Please do not give me the "Sons of Liberty" line. They were protesting not having a say in how they were taxed…not whether the tax was needed or not. Why don't you just be HONEST and say, "I want to break the law by running red lights and do not want to accept responsibility for my actions.".
Personally, I like the lights. We have a problem at IH-10 @ Uvalde, Normandy, & Maxey Road with 18 wheelers running the lights at near warp factor 2. I noticed that the numbers of high speed massive objects running the lights decreased.
I don't especially like the city administering this program, but the state legislature had their bite of the apple in this regard and they chose to block it.
Simple
Byron Schirmbeck says
Simon, I don't run red lights and have only gotten 2 or 3 tickets (none for running a red light) in my 25 or so years of driving, never caused an accident and I oppose the cameras. Obeying the law doesn't mean you won't get a ticket. And when you devise a system that makes you guilty until you prove your innocent thers is something wrogn when something happens like the numerous examples we can point to like the license plate being misread sending the ticket to a completely different vehicle than what is in the pictures, the city illegally shortens the yellow lights and profits from the extra revenue while making the streets less safe, and other examples we can point to like a funeral procession getting ticketed even though they had a police escort in the video. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of these violations are for slow rolling rights on red or violations of fractions of a second that aren't even visible to the naked eye they aren't punishing the ones that really cause the accidents, someone that will deliberately run the red light long after it is red with cross traffic generally has no regard for their life and prooperty or others, so how is sending them a $75 ticket in the mail with no penalty for not paying going to change their habits? Judging by the numbers it doesn't. There were more tickets issued in 2010 in the first 11 months before the cameras were turned off than any other year since the program started. There is also no demonstrable safety effect. Accidents went up when the cameras were installed and down when they were turned off. They simply don't do anything they say they will do except get the money rolling in. It should be offensive to anyone that has respect for the law to abuse law abiding citizens while lowering the penalty for the worst drivers while decreasing safety in the name of making more money.
EricPWJohnson says
Byron,
I've found out that the best way to keep my money out of the hands of corrupt communistic evil baby killing red light operators and to preserve my God given rights to life liberty and jello is to not sail through intersections when the light is red
Just sayin
byron schirmbeck says
Well that just says to me you don't understand how the system works. The only way to be sure to avoid a ticket is to not have a vehicle registered in your name. Thousands of people who never ran a red light get ticketed by these cameras every day, that is how they are designed to work. Throw out a large net and hope most of them just pay instead of fighting it.