Monday, December 21, 2009

The "Wait" pavement line and markings at intersections with red light cameras

There are a couple of intersections in Tucson that have "Wait" painted on the ground along with a white line. Those were put there to help educate drivers at the intersections that have red light cameras. They designate where you need to be behind if you were making a left turn and the light turns red.

I spotted a great article in the Arizona Daily Star that deals with this issue and Dianne Patterson. She's fighting the ticket she received at one of the intersections armed with a red light camera.

It turns out the "Wait" and associated line aren't legal markings at an intersection. The city of Tucson would have had to get special permission to try those as experimental. So they are going to be removed in the near future.

I personally don't care for traffic cameras or speed cameras. I feel like they have a certain element of creepy. Plus, in Tucson most speed limits are too low for driving conditions. The one exception is the stretch of I-10 through downtown where they actually raised it to 65 after the construction project was finished. That's an enjoyable drive.

As for Dianne's case, she's waiting for her ruling. Good luck. We're all wondering how to fight a ticket at one of those intersections!

The Arizona Daily Star article: Click here