8-18-2010 Baytown Red Light Camera Monitored Intersections show dramatic increase in all types of accidents
Accident Type 2009 report 2010 report % change Total accidents 50 70 +40% Red Light Related Accidents 18 20 +12% Injury Accidents 8 14 +75% Red Light Related Right Angle Accidents 11 15 +37% Rear End Accidents 23 42 +83% Total Injuries 13 18 +39%
See full details on our Press Releases page here
8-21-2010
Baytown Red light camera company front group calls Baytown Police department prepared red light camera accident report data "misinformation". Claims certain accident type increases of as much as 400% merely a "modest uptick". False personal attacks on veterans continue. Read full details on our links and resources page
IMPORTANT! WE NEED YOU!
We need to start gearing up for the November campaign. We need donations to pay for signs and other campaign materials. The camera company has spent about a quarter million dollars to fight you having a vote. We need every donation we can get to combat them. You can see instructions on how to contribute below!
Please use the contact us form and tell us if you would like to volunteer for working the polls, phone banks or passing out materials in your neighborhood.
Check out our new media page with radio interviews and videos.
See facts about our petition and the reasons for safety minded, freedom loving citizens to oppose the red light cameras on our FAQ page
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QUICK LINKS;
PLEASE DONATE
We need your support, we are about to do a massive campaign which can be very expensive, we don't have millions of dollars to spend like the camera company does. All funds collected will be used to fight red light cameras. finance laws require us to record your name, occupation and address so please include this in your payment otherwise it will have to be returned. You can click on the paypal button above, or mail to PO box 7064 Baytown, TX 77522. Please Make checks out to Baytown Red Light Camera Coalition. Please note donations must be reported to the state according to finance campaign laws and donations will be part of the public record.
Think you are alone in your opposition to red light cameras in Baytown?
Hear what just a few of your fellow Baytownians and others are saying in their own words. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! "I am simply writting to encourage you to keep up the good fight, remember the words of Samuel Adams:" "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." Duane P Toby S Tom B Chris H Peggy
Jim A
JH
My husband just got his "picture" taken for the second time and he plans on closing his business in the city of Baytown. No taxes , No services. I pray that the city grows in the wrong direction and that it becomes a ghost town. My 6 year old says " there are those stupid cameras Daddy! You will have two signatures in your favor from me. I'm in support of getting rid of every single camera in this stupid town! GOOD WILL OVERCOME EVIL IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME
I am a complete advocate against red light cameras, and believe unconditionally that they violate our civil rights, among the many other issues. I recently left the Law Enforcement field after almost 10 years of service and find it to be lazy law enforcement and a money scheme. It violates my civil right's I believe under the Fourteenth Amendment for equal protection and the Fifth Amendment for double jeopardy.
"I work with people from all over the world and hear the horror stories that the cameras cause. Such as an incident in Lafayette LA. where the flash temporarily blinded the driver causing him to be involved in an accident. I myself have never been cited for violating the lights, but I totally think they are wrong."
David
"I am mad as hell about this and I hope to have my ticket dismissed, because I had sold the car and I has not in the drivers seat of that car. I feel I have all the proof I need in court but you never know these days. Also I have seen people going thru the yellow light and I did notice that there was no way someone could beat the speed change of the caution light. It is a total rip off and need to stopped there is no safety about these cameras."
DLF
"I received a notice on a vehicle that I co-signed for a family member and my name is still on the registration. I am not paying this ticket, I was not driving this car and never have driven this car that the ticket was obtained against. They have not paid this ticket and it has gone into late fee status and are sending me the notices. This is a crooked system and I support your efforts."
"Thx for standing up to the City of Baytown. Keep up the fight. The best thing you can do is get that petition going. Good luck!"
I support what you are doing, let the people decide on the cameras!! Thanks
PR
SAFETY??It's all about greed and corruption, just another money grabbing scheme by Baytown leaders who think citizens are fools. I try to avoid these interesections and businesses but apparently they have plans to cover the town. Also, red light cameras cause unsafe acts by drivers trying to slam on brakes and attention diverted by the random flashes sometimes seen. Another black eye for Baytown, these ugly monuments need to come down!
I also agree with the person who was there and argued the unfairness of the tickets based on the owner not the driver gets the ticket. I own four vehicles and I don't drive but one of them. Thank Goodness supposedly they are counted as a nonmoving violation and not reported to the insurance. Also did I read correctly that they sold/gave away some peoples bank info? Thank You for standing up for all us little guys.
Susan H
"I am against red light cameras in Baytown. I believe they create more accidents and danger than they prevent."
Mary C
I would like to sign the petition to ban red light cameras. I do not feel anyone has shown it makes everything safer. I think you are so worried about whether or not you need to stop, go through, etc. that you cannot even use your good judgement to decide, because you are thinking about the cameras.
David
In a city that is the home of the LARGEST oil and gas refinery in the United States we have to CHEAT our citizens out of more and more of their income just to LIVE HERE? Perhaps THIS is the reason that our HONEST citizens are moving OUT!! From Many Baytownians !!!! I just wanted to speak out and say what I feel,,, I am sure that many Baytownians as myself feel about the program, seems that the city runs any program according to it needs, due to the poor city management from it's elected officials,,, The cameras is just another way to screw the public,, to my knowledge the city plays with the time settings like it's a money machine ,, sure you fine tune it , so the payoff is greater in the city's bank account while screwing the public,,,while claiming that is a success,, "Hey why not set the light timers to 2 seconds,,, and post 60 miles signs along the roads and 25mpg sign 10ft away from the intersections.." I am sure that you would be able to grind about the money rolling in and give yourselves big bonuses,,, I am glad that I will be retiring soon,,, and I sure will be moving out of baytown,,, and stop paying for high prices for city services,,, like water, and the recycling programs are among few of them.
M Butler
More power to you!!!!! You've taken what I WANTED to do and actually did it. KUDOS!!!!
Jennifer League City Resident
"THANK YOU for your help at the intersection of I45 and 518 in League City regarding the yellow lights. I just saw an article on Ultimate Clear Lake. My mom received her first ticket ever at that intersection. She is 62. I received one at Hwy 3 and 518 and my driving record is near excellent."
Terry P
"this smells like “taxation without representation” By the way, I do appreciate what you are doing and you have my support."
J Soliz
"Keep up your efforts to stop the red light camers. Lots of people are grateful you're taking the lead on this."
WH Alisha Cindy D I will inform my daughter, whom normally lives in Baytown and all of her family there where they can find these petitions and sign up. The information about the shortened yellow light duration is particularly frightening and would indicate that in fact the safety of the citizens is not of importance to Baytown's City Government by comparison to the "TICKET" or "VIOLATION" revenue.Once again - thank you for your assistance and all of your hard work in discovering these issues that in fact could cause injury or even death on Baytown streets and highways. Larry D
I think the city is trying to give a little in order to keep getting a lot. These red-light cameras are NOT a safety device. They are a revenue source, pure and simple. The city must continue their lies in order to keep the Golden Goose laying. I want the issue put before the public in a vote. Period. Let the people decide.
If I get a ticket from a police officer, I know he saw ME do something wrong, not just somebody driving one of my cars. That is my one of the biggest problems with these cameras. There is no due process. Someone drives my car through a red light, but I get the ticket, and someone in Arizona or Ohio or wherever gets a big part of the money that should stay in our town. And our city government lies to the people over and over again. City council needs to remember they are ELECTED. And an election is coming up! I will not support any candidate who is in favor of these cameras and most of the people I know feel the same way.
RM
In my opinion there can be no changes other than to remove them all together. The temptation to use them against the citizens for profit is to great. Keep up the good fight. We are behind you.
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate people like yourself helping to keep these darn companies out of our City! I hope and pray the City sees the light and gives the people the chance to vote on this issue. I haven't signed your petition yet, but I'll certainly support you at the polls! God bless,
thanks for all you are doing and hopefully something can get done about it. quick ? is it just me or those yellow lights got shorter? everyone i talked to is so freaking scared including myself when we get close to an intersection that has a camera cause we dont know if we should slow down or speed up cause if we slow down and are close to the intersection and as soon as we get there the yellow light chages so fast to red that for sure we cant avoid a ticket, or if we speed up and the light changes before we make it to the place we have to stop in front of the light then we have to slam on our brakes and take a chance of causing a chain wreck by doing it. so i feel that either way we are screwed cause they are going to get there money somehow.
Cynthia M
Gotta give it to ya guy,you rule.Most of us get a ticket( I have not btw,gotten cited by any camera,just hate it though)most of us complain,but your doing something You give a lot of your time to this cause,that effects all of us,but do not think we out here do not appreciate what you are doing.Keep up the good work,
WE GET TO VOTE! COPS, NOT RED
VOTE "YES" ON PROP 1 TO BAN RED LIGHT CAMERAS
8-28-2010
It is IMPORTANT that you turn out for early voting in October. A suspicious warehouse fire destroyed all of harris county's voting machines in an early morning blaze. The county is urging people to early vote as long lines and fewer polling locations are possible. We are concerned this might suppress voter turn out in November, early voting information will be posted here when it is available.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7173960.html
8-27-2010
On November 2nd 2010 The citizens of Baytown will have the chance to have their voices heard on the dangerous red light cameras. Keep checking here for your polling locations and more updates. Make sure you register to vote at least 30 days before the election. This would be October 4th. There are plenty of ways to get a registration form, you can get a link to an application to download or see locations by clicking here
http://www.hctax.net/Voter/acquirevoterapp.aspx
For Harris county you can go to the tax office at 701 W. Baker Rd.
For Chambers County you can visit the county clerk's website here http://www.co.chambers.tx.us/cntyclrk.html
Or you can complete the online application and find out more info at www.votexas.org
LIGHT CAMERAS!
On November 2nd 2010 The citizens of Baytown will have the chance to have their voices heard on the dangerous red light cameras. Keep checking here for your polling locations and more updates. Make sure you register to vote at least 30 days before the election. This would be October 4.
Scroll down to see who is behind the effort to block our petition!
Red Light Camera Facts;
- Accidents of all types are up at camera monitored intersections this year
- 2008, the first full year of red light cameras was the deadliest year on Baytown streets in 20 years. source; city-data.com traffic statistics
- Total crime in Baytown up 27% since cameras were installed and we were told they would free up cops to suppress crime in other areas. source; BPD website 2007-2009
- Red light cameras net $3.4 million for city. source; Baytown Sun 3-27-10
- The Arizona camera company gets paid a bounty of 55% of each ticket collected in return for installing the cameras for free. source; Baytown Sun 3-27-10
- Red Light Camera tickets Decriminalize red light running. They only issue civil penalties, no worse than a parking ticket. source; Texas Transportation code 707.
- Failure to pay a red light camera ticket will not result in an arrest warrant, points on the violators license, insurance or credit. Although the law allows for vehicle registration to be blocked this isn't happening uniformly. Texas Transportation code 707
- Numerous independant studies including the University of South Florida Health department, the Journal of trauma and Virginia transportation institute show an increase in accidents after cameras are installed. sources on links and resource page
The red light camera company and their hired guns Andy Taylor and Jim McGrath, that's who. (more on them farther down the page). They all know that every time citizens have been allowed to vote on photo enforcement their client has lost, and lost MILLIONS! They know the cameras are very unpopular and will do or say ANYTHING to silence our voices. They set up a front group in Baytown and Houston using money from the camera company to pose as if they were organized and financed by average citizens that want to keep the cameras. Their group filed their treasurer appointment last year. The PAC address is the treasurer's residence in a lower income apartment complex on Garth road. Their treasurer, according to Harris county voter records is not even a registered voter! That’s right, she couldn’t even vote on our election if it were held today! Mr Taylor is the person on record appointing the treasurers for both the Baytown and Houston groups. He had so much trouble finding a respected Baytown citizen to appoint as treasurer for the PAC representing the Goldman Sachs Owned Arizona camera company that he had to resort to someone that can’t vote AND HAS A RED LIGHT CAMERA TICKET! That’s right, a person with the same name as their treasurer at the same address listed on the PAC paperwork was issued a red light camera ticket on 2/20/2010 at N/B Garth @ I-10, (violation # 0741000041334). There have been so many tickets issued in Baytown, (over 34,000 tickets issued so far. est. Population of Baytown, 72,215), that the camera company couldn’t even find a registered voter to help them out that hasn’t received a ticket! Who is Andy Taylor? Andy Taylor is a high powered election lawyer, and the lead lawyer for the camera company fighting the petition efforts in Houston and Baytown. From the minutes of the January 14th Baytown City council meeting where he intimidated our council into blocking our original petition; “Mr. Taylor stated that he has practiced law for over 22 years with his area of expertise being election law. Mr. Taylor indicated that he was the Chief of Legal Counsel to the State of Texas; he represented Governor Perry, Governor Bush, President Elect Bush, and other elected officials on various election issues.” He is also the lead attorney in the embroiled Green Party controversy going on in the Texas governor’s election; (ironically, fighting FOR that groups petition to get on the ballot). "Democratic lawyers were notified Wednesday that Andy Taylor, a Republican redistricting lawyer with ties to Tom DeLay , John Cornyn and Perry will represent the Green Party. It’s not clear who’s paying him. Neither Taylor nor Green Party state coordinator Kat Swift returned telephone calls seeking information about the arrangement. He was a top aide to then-Attorney General John Cornyn and has represented numerous Republican candidates in political cases. " By any account Mr Taylor is an expert in his field and has one of the most impressive resumes of any Lawyer in Texas. Seems like a pretty big guy to be interfering in Baytown local politics, especially since he doesn’t appear to live or work in Baytown. Would this high priced lawyer really set up a PAC and come down to Baytown to address a city council on his own dime because he is so concerned about us? Or could it be that he was paid to do what lawyers do, represent their client’s interest? Who is Jim McGrath? Mr. McGrath is a PR executive and partner in the firm Begala-McGrath in Houston. Like Mr Taylor, he is a hired gun working for the camera company and also has a very impressive resume. He is the mouthpiece for both groups. He specializes in media spin and fighting ballot initiatives. He pushes the camera company’s agenda on the radio, print and online media as he has been paid very well by them to do never once disclosing who his real client is. According to his website one of McGrath's specialties is fighting ballot initiatives like ours. From his firm’s website; (emphasis added). Issue Advocacy Think of Begala-McGrath as your lawyers in the court of public opinion. If you need to fight or promote a ballot initiative, take on elected officials or public boards, or simply raise awareness, we know how to conceive and implement winning public issue campaigns that get results. "Jim McGrath, a consultant who works for a group tied to Houston's camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions Inc., said red-light cameras are easy targets for criticism. After all, he said, they raise the specter of Big Brother and "are something everyone can identify with." 6-10 Council Meeting presentation
WHO IS REALLY BEHIND THE EFFORT IN BAYTOWN AND HOUSTON TO KEEP US FROM VOTING ON THE RED LIGHT CAMERAS?
http://www.begalamcgrath.com/services.php
McGrath's connection to the camera company confirmed by the dallas morning news this week;
Our best guess is she has been affected by the tragedy of a red light runner and Taylor and McGrath on behalf of the camera company intend to play on the emotional impact this would have to try to sway the election. In other words, they plan to use her personal tragedy as a tool to protect their client’s financial interests. There is nothing they won’t do, honest or not, to prevent us from voting on the cameras.
Many of you may be looking for the expanded presentation I made to city council tonight. That can be found on our press release page here The Mayor said the city would be looking into this, so far I have heard nothing on what they have found or any progress report.
Baytown red light camera coalition successfully gets over 1700 red light camera tickets in League city dismissed or refunded! That's over $130,000 out of the pockets of the red light camera company!
See the story HERE
This shows what dedicated citizens and good officials can do when they work together to fix a problem. The question is, if League City can make things right in a couple of weeks by dismissing these tickets and issuing refunds why won't Baytown? They told us they could not refund tickets already paid as the violator already admitted guilt! Apparently this is possible. If you are wanting help with how to determine if your city has illegally short yellow lights or want to start your own effort to remove cameras in your town please contact me for details on how to help.
Ever Wonder how they decide where to put the red light cameras?
Why is it that the only recent red light violation fatality (Garth @ crosby CDR-BYO) at any of the evaluated intersections was the last to get cameras? Wouldn't you put a camera there first if you really were after saving lives? They just put cameras there a couple of months ago. Note where the camera locations are in the map ($) compared to fatalities (red pins). There was only one location that had a recent fatality of any kind, 146 @ Bus 146 and that was a drunk driving fatality. If they were really concerned with saving lives why didn't the cameras go where the fatalities were?
What reason could they have for avoiding the older parts of Baytown where the most fatalities were but have a poorer population in favor of putting cameras where there were fewer fatalities but the population has more wealth? Why is that the street that had the highest % of red light running tickets issued (North Main) did not get a single camera even to this day? Wouldn't that be a good place to put a camera if you really wanted to catch red light runners?
Why did a camera go up at Baker and 330 when there had not been one single red light violation accident in the period before the cameras went up? Look at what happened to the fatalities the first year the city took their eyes off the ball and decided to outsource traffic enforcement to cameras and an out of state for profit corporation. 2008 was the deadliest year on Baytown streets in 20 years! Fatalities doubled the first year the cameras went up! Does that sound safer to you? Look at the rash of drunk driving fatalities!
Ask yourself where on the map you would put these cameras if you really wanted to save lives and catch the dangerous red light runners. Then ask yourself where you would put the cameras to get the most revenue you could and compare that to the maps. Which one comes closer to the answers to your question? Look at our crime stats for the last couple of years compared to the falling Texas averages. Why is our officer count per 1000 lower than average? Even if the city gets to its full desired force it will still be below the average of 3 per 1000. Don't we deserve to at least be average? Is the city focusing on the right things?
