Speed, Text, Illegally Turn Our Way to a Debt-Free San Diego

By Terry E. Abrams, San Diego

This certainly sounds like the tried and true way of doing things -- not only in the city of San Diego, but the county as well. I don't like it one bit, BUT the easy way around it is to drive according to the law. Moreover, all those morons that fail to come to a complete stop before turning right on a red light (and that's about 80 percent of those on the road) would get their just desserts. And let's not forget the wholesale ignoring of using turn signals. Yep, the more I think of it, the more appealing this idea is -- even if totally unethical. But, then, what is ethical in our municipal government?

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
October 20, 2009 6:32 pm

So, the $463 you pay for not fully stopping for a right-turn-on-red ticket comes out of the money you'd spend taking for entertainment and restaurants for a few months. Which means that the restaurants sends home workers early, dominoing into other areas. Taxation is never a good way to solve budget problems.

Posted by SDTangler | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 12:01 pm

I said I didn't like it. Read more carefully. The rest was just musing about how I would like to see the cretins driving on our roads get what's coming to them.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 9:36 am

As irratating cell phone users, red light runners are, I don't think raising tens of millions in fines will cure our economy. Why don't you just sign over you payroll check over to the government. We need jobs in the private sector. Jobs created from inovation. Make it easier for business to succeed. Look at the billions brought in by the Zoo, Sea World, Sea Port Village and Mission bay. We built long lasting value. Look at billions brought in by the high tech industry, brought in by visionaries. We gave pueblo lands for future jobs and growth. We need long lasting value not another form of taxes.

Posted by lee | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 7:22 am

If state and local law enforcement would just go after aggressive drivers, a lot of money would be collected and driving would be safe and more enjoyable. Driving used to be civil in San Diego. Now, aggressive, dangerous driving is commonplace.

Posted by Janet | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 7:59 am

Redlight cameras may not be the solution: link

Posted by BW | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 9:10 am

The solution rests with the elected educating the electorate that you get what you pay for. It is time for the elected to have the courage to face up to the electorate that some tax increases may be appropriate in order to maintain the level of service now enjoyed. Barring an increase in revenues results in downsizing of the workforce until service levels cannot be maintained due to a reduced workforce. So what's it to be? Increasing revenues or suspending services? So what's it to be? An elected body that has neither the courage nor the desire to have the courage to make tough decisions regarding the need for increased revenues or and elected body that recognizes the need to govern with courage to make tough decisions and not worry about becoming non-electable in the future.

Posted by GM | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 10:09 am

"The elected educating the electorate"? Hmm. You mean governance from the top down? And here all along I thought this country was founded on the idea that the people (i.e., the electorate) governed and that all segments of the government and the officials who run them derived their power from the people. You know, as Abe Lincoln so succinctly put it: "the government of the people, by the people and for the people." How could I have been so wrong. I guess my mistake was to have received my education long before Obama became president.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 8:27 pm

Um, rather mean-spirited to turn driving into a game of "gotcha" 24/7. It's hardly your fault or mine that SD agreed to pay employees more than it could afford and hasn't the guts clawback what they illegally got from illegal deals. Instead of ticketing drivers for driving and bankrupting citizens, we should LICENSE BICYCLES (ahem) and get some fees from these two wheeled, critical mass scofflaws. We could also hire a city attorney to follow the law and take back what the city employees aren't entitled to. And we could make it easier to open small businesses here and get rid of onerous Code Enforcement types who fine businesses for the crime of having a sandwich board outside their shops, or putting tables and chairs outside restaurants, etc. Increased business would stimulate this economy; robbing the people won't.

Posted by Vic | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 12:53 pm

Um, rather mean spirited to take out your aggression towards Critical Mass against every person who chooses to ride a bicycle. What an ignorant statement. Maybe we should LICENCE PEDESTRIANS (ahem) since they are using the street also. There is no discussion here about "ticketing drivers for driving." The discussion is about ticketing drivers for BREAKING LAWS (ahem). There is a reason that operation of a motor vehicle requires a license. They are massive machines capable of very high speeds and can cause severe amounts of damage and carnage with even the slightest mistake. When was the last time you heard of a bicyclist killing several school children because he mistook his pedals for his brake lever?

Posted by aj | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 9:27 am

Speaking of going after people who thumb their noses at the little laws the rest of us feel honor-bound to abide by, how about just a teensy bit more enforcement of compliance by the many dog owners (probably the majority) who never think they need to obey laws requiring registration? Oh, great, they want TAX DEDUCTIONS for owning a pooch and, I guess, an education deduction for sending Fido to puppy training class. Just in case you feel the need to ask, I am a dog owner. I comply with the law. Fine the scofflaws.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 8:36 pm

Couldn't agree with you more. Let's extend that to cats as well. Darn things crap all over my front yard, leave fleas for my dogs to get, and eat the local birds. I love all animals, but irresponsible cat owners let their "pets" become annoying pests. Let's license all cats and collect a bundle from their owners.

Posted by larry | reply to this comment
October 23, 2009 7:11 am

Yes, what's so special about cats that they don't need to be licensed and KEPT FROM RUNNING FREE. Letting a cat run free outdoors is doing no favor for the cat. Outdoor cats don't live as long as indoor cats. They are eaten by coyotes, hit by cars, killed by children and adults who think it is "fun." And make the cat owners not only use a leash, but PICK UP after their cats -- as dog owners are required to do. Subject them to the same fines, as well. Say you can't leash a cat? Well, then, keep them inside and use a litter box. Why have a pet at all if they are never around the house?? Why have a dog if you won't even let the poor thing in the house? They're pack animals. YOU are their pack.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
October 24, 2009 3:52 pm

Licensing bicyclists is hardly a solution to solve the budget problem. The entire county has 0.6% bicycle commuters (most reliable number from the Census Bureau). Licensing 0.6% is going to solve the deficit problem how? Critical Mass attracts a little under 1,500 cyclists once a month. If anything they bring a small economic boom considering all the money they spend eating and drinking after Critical Mass to recoup all those burned calories. Meanwhile, I continue to see drivers continuously distracted and disobeying all sorts of laws on the books. Let us enforce the laws already on the books before running off and passing brand new ones. If everyone that drove over the speed limit was fined $1000+ on the spot, San Diego's budgetary woes would be gone in no time.

Posted by Y. Neab | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 8:45 pm

Everyone needs to know about Snitch Tickets, fake/phishing tickets sent out by the police to bluff the registered owner into identifying the actual driver of the car. (Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside, Poway, Solana Beach and Vista use them.) Snitch Tickets have not been filed with the court, so they don't say "Notice to Appear," don't have the court's addr. and phone #, and usually say (on the back, in small letters), "Do not contact the court about this notice." Since they have NOT been filed with the court, they have no legal weight whatsoever. You do not have to turn anyone in! You can ignore a Snitch Ticket. If in doubt, Google the term.

Posted by Henry | reply to this comment
October 21, 2009 10:31 pm

Of all the 'revenue generators', I don't believe this is anything near what writers or readers think. As noted above, with lawsuits before, the lights have to be reasonable in order not to be 'thrown out' in court. In addition, having read the issue's details years ago, the 'city' brings in little of the 'revenue,' most of it going to reward the 'small business' that started the business of cameras or the maintenance of the system...estimates of revenue are grossly exaggerated. There is only one real missing and long term, stabilizing 'source of revenue.'...politics has ignored it for 'short term private profits'...

Posted by Know your 'revenue source | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 1:36 pm

I think it would be a win for most drivers if enforcement would stop abusive, aggressive driving. If it would just pay its way, covering expenses, I'd be down for it. I don't want people ticketed for every little thing, but when they do big (dangerous) things, make them pay. And if it helps pay other bills, fine.

Posted by janet | reply to this comment
October 22, 2009 8:39 pm

Trucks break the law every hour by doubleparking. How about selling them a license to double park and fining the ones that break the law.

Posted by mel | reply to this comment
October 26, 2009 6:53 am

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