OriginalTexan, police are not getting rich, but their pay is more than nominal. Starting salaries are in the mid-40's with the potential of going into the 90's with years, top performance and if there are opportunities.

Add to that a couple of nights a week a few months a year overtime attending sporting events and special events and you can make $50,000+ annually your first year. Not bad for no college.

If you have a spouse making about the same, the family is +/- $100,000 a year, which is not chunk-change.

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Just saw six cars blatantly run that light. Message hasn't sunk in yet.

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Just went through earlier today and counted just to see.

Yall are right. 4 vehicles sped through AFTER our light was green. that is pretty damn bad by any cities standard. Thankfully I don't frequent that route often.

I spend lots of hours driving every week, and see this constantly. It can be infuriating to see 4+ cars run a light after it has turned red each and every time.
I see two ways to solve the problem. First, run a two-man team with one officer as a spotter and one doing the stop. Put the spotter where he can see the light and the violators. Put him in plain clothes. Not sure how the process works in court, but I would think the spotter could testify.
Next, and I hate to bring it up, would be to install the cameras at the problem intersections. I voted against them before, but I have had a change of heart after seeing what goes on each day. I would be receptive to having them again with some changes to the program. The city should buy, install, and maintain the system. No private companies allowed. There should be an independent review for the violations instead of an officer, or at least an independent review for contested violations.

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Next, and I hate to bring it up, would be to install the cameras at the problem intersections. I voted against them before, but I have had a change of heart after seeing what goes on each day. I would be receptive to having them again with some changes to the program. The city should buy, install, and maintain the system. No private companies allowed. There should be an independent review for the violations instead of an officer, or at least an independent review for contested violations.

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The problem is that idea violates a few Texas statutes.

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Next, and I hate to bring it up, would be to install the cameras at the problem intersections. I voted against them before, but I have had a change of heart after seeing what goes on each day. I would be receptive to having them again with some changes to the program. The city should buy, install, and maintain the system. No private companies allowed. There should be an independent review for the violations instead of an officer, or at least an independent review for contested violations.

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The problem is that idea violates a few Texas statutes.

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Yeah. If only we could force people to bend to our will.

But seriously, I've heard this session may outlaw RLCs in Texas. Sure hope so. They're wrong on so many levels, starting with the lack of due process.

What's your solution for dealing with the red light runners, techno? I agree about the due process issue re the cameras, but the cameras are at least an effort to address the problem. Curious how you think this should be dealt with. I assume you have some preferred policy to address something that could lead to some horrible front page stories and a lot of T&P focused threads. I admit I don't know myself, other than more LEOs and more draconian penalties.

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OriginalTexan, police are not getting rich, but their pay is more than nominal. Starting salaries are in the mid-40's with the potential of going into the 90's with years, top performance and if there are opportunities.

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In this town, you would have to be an Assistant Chief of Police or the Chief of Police to make over 90k. Between BPD and CSPD, there are only 7 of those positions.

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Add to that a couple of nights a week a few months a year overtime attending sporting events and special events and you can make $50,000+ annually your first year. Not bad for no college.

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College may not be required per se but you would be hard pressed to find new officers in this town without at least some college hours, if not actual degrees.

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First, run a two-man team with one officer as a spotter and one doing the stop. Put the spotter where he can see the light and the violators.

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This is done here fairly regularly.

Do it more at this intersection.

Lots of people get irritated at red light runners, but the police do hand out tickets. I think we just instinctively wonder where the cops are when we see blatant violations.

Better light timing might help some of the issues. But in general we will always have red light runners, speeders, and other traffic violators with us. Best to drive defensively and stay calm as much as possible.

That's all I got in terms of "solutions."

A consistent presence at these locations is needed. Yes, they work those areas, but it seems to be far to infrequent compared to the problem.

No doubt resources are spread thin, but without a daily presence at some of these intersections we're unlikely to see a change in behavior. You won't completely eliminate it, but you can affect it and inflict some financial pain on the violators. It might make some of them less likely to break the law and put lives at risk.

Yesterday an F-350 pulling a livestock trailer sped through the red light at Briarcrest and Boonville a good 3-4 seconds after the light turned green on my side. His speed would likely have killed or seriously injured anyone who had moved into the intersection quickly. I hate to think that it is going to require a fatality at one of these intersections to prompt greater enforcement.

I echo what Techno said . . . drive defensively. Take an extra second to be sure cross traffic is stopping, even if the driver behind you lays on their horn (and don't be that guy). Racing into the intersection the instant a light turns green is almost as dangerous as running the light.

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A consistent presence at these locations is needed. Yes, they work those areas, but it seems to be far to infrequent compared to the problem.

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Citizens also want officers to respond to calls for service in a reasonable amount of time, so patrol officers are often running call to call instead of having the opportunity to enforce traffic laws. Both Bryan PD and CSPD are far to understaffed to properly handle all the problems at once. Contact your local City Councils and request that the departments be given increased man power numbers in their budgets so they can have more traffic safety officers (which are assigned primary traffic enforcement roles). Both of the traffic divisions are surprisingly small for a combined city size of B/CS, both units could be doubled in size and they still couldn't keep up with all the problems!

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".....starting with the lack of due process."

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This argument bothers me.
- If I get a ticket for running a red light and the officer appears in court; he says I did, and I say I didn't, I'll likely lose.
-If I get a ticket for running a red light and the video says I did and I say I didn't, I'll likely lose.

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".....starting with the lack of due process."

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This argument bothers me.
- If I get a ticket for running a red light and the officer appears in court; he says I did, and I say I didn't, I'll likely lose.
-If I get a ticket for running a red light and the video says I did and I say I didn't, I'll likely lose.

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Close, except in the latter case you don't get to go to court. That's the problem. A criminal citation from an officer is very different than a civil fine from a camera.

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What's your solution for dealing with the red light runners, techno?

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Crimes are (and should be) policed relative to their impact on the community. This is a low impact crime.

You should also consider why people run the light. I'm not making excuses for them, but I understand the motivation that makes it worth risking a ticket or accident. If they don't run the light, they end up waiting 2 more minutes. Risk vs. Reward. The permanent way to fix it is to remove the motivation. i.e. Fix the traffic problems. Instead of hiring another cop to police a low impact crime, hire a traffic engineer to solve the underlying problem. And as a bonus we all benefit from more effective traffic planning.

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It wasn't low impact the three times my husband or I were hit by runners.

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What's your solution for dealing with the red light runners, techno?

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Crimes are (and should be) policed relative to their impact on the community. This is a low impact crime.

You should also consider why people run the light. I'm not making excuses for them, but I understand the motivation that makes it worth risking a ticket or accident. If they don't run the light, they end up waiting 2 more minutes. Risk vs. Reward. The permanent way to fix it is to remove the motivation. i.e. Fix the traffic problems. Instead of hiring another cop to police a low impact crime, hire a traffic engineer to solve the underlying problem. And as a bonus we all benefit from more effective traffic planning.

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You've obviously never worked a fatality collision before. You've never had to help cut a dead body out of a car or knock on someone's door to tell them their teenage daughter is never coming home.

Disregarding a traffic control device has been a primary contributing factor in fatality collisions in the area when no signs of intoxication were present. Even "low" speeds like what is likely encountered in a collision in our subject intersection can produce Delta-V's that will cause significant injury or death depending on the PDOF.

The CSPD traffic guys need to work that intersection more.

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Instead of hiring another cop to police a low impact crime, hire a traffic engineer to solve the underlying problem.

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The problem with solving the underlying problem is that there is no simple traffic engineering solution. Intersections such as Texas and Harvey have too many cars going through them. If you try to solve running red lights along one path (i.e. from Texas to Harvey) by "changing the lights", you simply increase the frustration level along other paths (i.e. north-bound on Texas). And then the red-light runners come from a different direction.

Solving problem intersections such as this one involve major reconstruction (such as was done to Villa Maria and Wellborn), or even more major changes in land use to alleviate traffic demand.

We could use gates (like at train crossings) or automated tire spikes to blow out the tires of red-light runners - both of these would end the problem. Given the whining about red light cameras, I don't think either would be acceptable in this town. Placing a team of cops at this intersection to teach a lesson to the impatient people of our community is probably the best idea.

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Out generating revenue. Be mindful. He's got 4 people in the last 45 min.

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He got my friend last week

The running at Harvey and Texas is pretty egregious. Glad cops are there giving out tickets for it.

If only there was some sort of impartial mechanism that could be put in place and punish people who disregard red lights. It could be automated so people couldn't talk their way out of it and there could be no claims of favortism, racism, or any other ism. People could also have an opportunity to challenge it and watch the video of their vehicle running the light.

Lets put our heads together and figure out something like this to do. It could be a huge money maker for the city, and maybe make some intersections a little safer too.

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OriginalTexan, police are not getting rich, but their pay is more than nominal. Starting salaries are in the mid-40's with the potential of going into the 90's with years, top performance and if there are opportunities.

Add to that a couple of nights a week a few months a year overtime attending sporting events and special events and you can make $50,000+ annually your first year. Not bad for no college.

If you have a spouse making about the same, the family is +/- $100,000 a year, which is not chunk-change.

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You're living in a fantasy land if you think every cop in the state is paid as well as you claim. The vast majority are not.

No. No red light cameras. If a cop pulls you over for running the light, I'm certain you were running the light.

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We could use gates (like at train crossings) or automated tire spikes to blow out the tires of red-light runners - both of these would end the problem.

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Who does this? Is there a city in the US that uses tire spikes at red lights?

Sharks with frickin' laser beams gets my vote.

Should I post more pics, or do you all get the idea?

It is NOT a low impact crime. I have been on the receiving end of these idiot red light runners and I guarantee it is NOT low impact. Have your car smashed and several injuries and then get back to me on the low impact part.

3 motorcycle officers working there right now

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3 motorcycle officers working there right now

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I just saw that myself. Shooting fish in a barrel at that intersection.

I thought it would take a fatality to get change. Glad they are doing something about it.

You could write 100 tickets in single day easily.

If you are at the intersection of Texas Avenue and Harvey, roll down your window when you see him.

Ask him to read this thread.

It wouldn't be if they didn't run the red light.

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We could use gates (like at train crossings) or automated tire spikes to blow out the tires of red-light runners - both of these would end the problem.

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Who does this? Is there a city in the US that uses tire spikes at red lights?

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Techno, not to my knowledge. I was presenting over-the-top technological solutions to point out that a police presence may be the simplest solution.

And not every police action is done to generate revenue. Some are done for safety's sake. Monetary penalties just make people pay attention.