Fremont abuses the system to gouge citizens; fill coffers

The speed limit on Mowry Avenue and Farwell in Fremont is 40 MPH. The actual traffic speed of 85% of travelers is 45.4 MPH.

For consistency with other segments of Mowry, Fremont decided to keep the speed limit at 40 MPH.

Fine, makes sense. Safety is Job 1, right?

But rather than setting the duration of their yellow light to the speed of traffic (as many other cities do) they decided to set it to the speed limit. And install a red light camera to be sure to cite as many drivers as possible for this. Can you say Easy Money?

100’s (thousands?) of motorist have paid the price – a steep price – of upwards of $500 for red light camera citations at the intersection of Mowry and Farwell and elsewhere in Fremont.

Fremont will argue that this reduces collisions. But many studies state it actually increases these dangerous collisions.

I don’t typically drive through Fremont, but I did recently due to an accident that occurred on Interstate 680 which tied up the freeway. I was traveling with rush hour traffic, saw the yellow light and made a snap decision to continue on rather than stop and risk a rear ending. But the yellow light didn’t give me the time that I was normally accustomed to in other cities. Instead, it turned red just before I entered the intersection and after 3 flashes my car was photographed and a few days later I received a citation in the mail for several hundred dollars.

I’m a safe and conscientious driver. I drive below the speed limit in neighborhoods to protect children. I worked with the city of Pleasanton (my hometown) to install two cross walks and stop signs at busy intersections near a neighborhood park and near an elementary school. I have an excellent driving record. But due to a cash-hungry city and a loophole in the law that some cities like Fremont have exploited I am now facing a court appearance, a hefty fine and a mark on my driver’s record that will surely raise my auto insurance rates.

But since I was confused about why the light turned red so quickly I did a little research. All you have to do is google red light cameras in Fremont to see that while some cities set the yellow light duration at the 85% speed of traffic formula, Fremont and a few other cities have chosen to decease the timing as described above and rake in the profits.

As far as I can tell by my research, Fremont reduced the speed limit – from the 85% of traffic formula - at 10 intersections, and installed red light cameras at 7 of them. I can hear the cash registers ringing!

Coincidence? Or greed?

The legislature had to finally step in to force cities like Fremont to play fair. In December 2014 Caltrans instructed Fremont and other cities with red light cameras to set the yellow light duration at the formula that is based on the speed of 85% of traffic.

While the decision was made and communicated in December 2014 the new requirement was to be implemented by August 1, 2015 to give cities time to implement the change. And Fremont waited until the very end to change the yellow light duration. They could have changed the yellow duration earlier to comply with the “intent” of the change. They waited until the very last day to turn down their cash spigot.

My citation occurred on July 16, 2 weeks before they changed the duration.

· The old yellow light duration was set at 4.0 seconds

· My car was photographed at 4.2 seconds

· The new duration is 4.7 seconds

Now I, and I’m sure many others, are responsible for going to court and fighting a citation that wouldn’t be issued today. And the City of Fremont Mayor and City Council are staying silent on this matter in the hope that they can continue to collect every last dime from their citizens and visitors (note: I emailed the city council members, the mayor and their legal department. One council member had the professionalism and courtesy to write back. Thanks Council member Vinnie Bacon!)

I call on the City of Fremont to review this situation and do one of the following:

· Review all citations issued since the December ruling. Refund penalties to anyone who would not have been cited with the 4.7 second timing.

· Review all citations that are currently being litigated or soon to be litigated and do the above.

Fremont: do the right thing!

If you have received a red light camera ticket in Fremont and feel it was unjust, go to my Facebook page (Fremont Red Light Ticket Victims) and tell your story. Individually it’s unlikely any of us will receive Justice, but together we might be able to take the fight to Fremont City hall.