It takes a weekend of gigs for a seasoned photographer to earn $3,400, but this photographer earned that much in 10 seconds.
Ventura police shared the profitable but mostly teachable moment an impatient Ford Focus Wagon rolled through a red light, triggering six other distracted drivers behind him to roll through too. With a red light camera autonomously capturing the action from behind, it costs each red-light runner a staggering $490 a pop.
Check out the video for yourself below.
Placed on the intersection of S. Mills Road and Dean Dr, across from the Pacific View Shopping Center, this is a high-traffic intersection that’s prone to red light runners. It’s also heavily trafficked by pedestrians, a potentially deadly combo of cars and people that justifies this red-light running deterrent.
Ventura PD gives us these helpful tips to prevent distracted driving.
This year has been challenging and we understand you may have a lot on your mind. However, driving mindfully is not something we can skimp out on! When behind the wheel, please:
- Be present
- Pay attention to your surroundings
- Slow down
- Drive in a way that is predictable
- Set your phone to stop notifications while in the car
Here’s said intersection on Google Maps. I’ve rotated the map so you can see this camera’s not hiding, it’s visible in plain site for all drivers entering the intersection to see.
And here’s a screenshot of the current fee schedule for running a red light. Like most tickets, the base fine is a palatable $100, that is before all those lovely fees which balloons your ticket to $490.
At least, in the video we can see the Nissan Z convertible drive somewhat aware he’s screwing up as he pauses, halfway through the red, before completing his roll. Hopefully, if he contests his ticket, the judge will cut him a little slack.
$490 is a lot, an entire week’s worth of work sometimes.
Such a steep fine seems like a lot, but for some, it might be the wallet-hurting wake up call we need to kick our attention into overdrive.
Especially for a lot of us, not driving around as much as we used to, our driving skills are a little rusty.
Driving requires 100 percent of our attention at all times, and “following the leader” is no excuse for what could’ve turned ugly, real quick.
