Zoom

Saw this on the TV news - Baltimore City is setting up eight red light cameras at intersections around town.

If you drive in the city, you will want to stop for red lights at these locations, even if that is not your current policy:

Harford Road at Erdman Avenue

North Avenue at Pennsylvania Avenue

Orleans/Gay Street at Ensor Street

Frankford Avenue at Belair Road

Liberty Heights Avenue at Reisterstown Road

Edmondson Avenue at Hilton Street

Pratt Street at the Pier 5 Garage

Edmondson Avenue at Uplands Pkwy/Winans Way

These cameras will be in business, synched with the traffic lights to get pictures of people who run the red lights 27/7/365. Violators will sing to the tune of a $75 fine.

All good and all clear, right? Except...the news showed a city resident who told the reporter that this is all part of the city's ongoing "war against the poor."

Again, please? She went on to say that there is a policy of oppressing the drivers of the city, "all middle class," by fining them when they violate the traffic laws, which are well known. We hear about them all the time on the news, and we were questioned about them when we took that driver's test.

So I looked into the matter, as a public service of this blog, the voice of the oppressed and downtrodden. Several leading experts in the field  - police officers and attorneys - told me that people who stop at red lights and do not go until the light turns green have a 100% chance of not getting a ticket because they are not violating the law.

Conversely, people who regard traffic signals as suggestions will soon receive pictures of their cars, suitable for framing.

You'll thank me later.