How is this possible?

[Nanaboostme]

My friend was telling me a story that happened to one of her friends and I'm still curious how this was even possible:

My friend's friend was waiting at an intersection for the left-turn signal. Once it turned green, she made a left, but noticed that the intersection camera flashed and took a picture of her. She was positive she didn't make an illegal turn so she decided to drive around back to the intersection. She waited and once it turned green, she made the turn and the camera flashed once again.

At this point of the story I would have just let it go but then she decided to make a U-turn and try for a second time. But she was still getting the same results. Finally she gives up and leaves.

Two weeks later she receives three tickets in the mail. Turns out she was making legal turns, but she didn't have her seatbelt on the whole time.
Clearly this girl is dumb for not wearing her seatbelt or even noticing, but what I'm more intrigued is how the camera could even detect that. Any clues?

[yurano]

Camera was broken (taking 'wrong' pictures) but they probably have a minimum wage worker that verifies the ticket and saw that she didn't have a seatbelt on.

[Nanaboostme]

Camera was broken (taking 'wrong' pictures) but they probably have a minimum wage worker that verifies the ticket and saw that she didn't have a seatbelt on.

True, but you would think the person that saw her pass three times in a row would find it quite odd

[semaphore]

True, but you would think the person that saw her pass three times in a row would find it quite odd

They probably did, but I'm curious as to why you think that'd have stopped them issuing tickets.

[smelltheglove]

who doesnt wear their seatbelt in this day and age?

[Nanaboostme]

They probably did, but I'm curious as to why you think that'd have stopped them issuing tickets.

I never said that. im just wondering what was going on in the person's head seeing a driver break the same law 3 times in a row. She deserves all 3 tickets

[Deleted]

It probably didnt, she most likely was just unlucky with a defective camera :P

[Reeve]

who doesnt wear their seatbelt in this day and age?

I've honest to god met at least one person before who believed that a seatbelt would impede his ability to escape the vehicle if in a wreck and the car caught on fire.

Might as well worry that the lifeboats on the titanic were going to burn down the ship because they were wooden or something like that.

[Nanaboostme]

who doesnt wear their seatbelt in this day and age?

I see it all the time in Los Angeles. I remember a man refused to wear his seat belt for over 20 years until he was caught and pulled over. From then on he started wearing his seat belt. A couple of days later he got into a really bad car accident. He contacted the police that pulled him over to thank him for saving his life (indirectly)

[DuckieMage]

Wow.
Why didn't she contact the local police to speak to them about the camera? I know that some cities will still issue you a ticket even if the machine is defective because it is your responsibility to tell them the situation.

[yurano]

True, but you would think the person that saw her pass three times in a row would find it quite odd

This type of work is probably randomly assigned. Just because the pics were taken one after another doesn't mean they went to the same verifier.

[drwelfare]

who doesnt wear their seatbelt in this day and age?

I dont, if I get killed Oh well.

I also do not see seatbelt laws as something worth ticketing someone over, more likley to get stopped for it in a bad area just so they have a reason

[Beat5beat]

She deserves all 3 tickets

Why? She only broke the law one time. She should be able to contest two of the tickets based on the time stamps. It's not like she wasn't wearing her seatbelt 3 times, she wasn't wearing 1 time for that instance of her driving her car. By your logic they could have sent her 10 billion tickets (and she would have deserved all of them), since there were an infinite number of instances of her not having her seatbelt on during that one driving period. Obviously she's dumb for going around to check the camera in the first place, not sure what she was thinking she was going to accomplish no matter what the outcome. However her stupidity does not change the fact that she only broke the law 1 time.

I also do not see seatbelt laws as something worth ticketing someone over, more likley to get stopped for it in a bad area just so they have a reason

Let me preface this by saying that I always wear my seatbelt for my own safety, however I agree with this, why do seatbelt laws exist for people of legal age? I can understand laws to protect people that are not deemed capable of making the decision (eg children) but why am I as adult of legal age not deemed capable of determining the level of my own safety?

[Deleted]

I've honest to god met at least one person before who believed that a seatbelt would impede his ability to escape the vehicle if in a wreck and the car caught on fire.

Might as well worry that the lifeboats on the titanic were going to burn down the ship because they were wooden or something like that.

You can blame movies from that.
In hurry? Car wont start.
Trying to get out fast just in time for must-have-explosion? Seatbelt stuck or too hard to remove (or person next to you cant open it making it hard to remove).

[Spectral]

I dont, if I get killed Oh well.

There's some mindblowing stupidity that gets spouted round these parts, but this basically tops it. Do you also play Russian roulette?

---------- Post added 2013-01-22 at 10:05 PM ----------

Let me preface this by saying that I always wear my seatbelt for my own safety, however I agree with this, why do seatbelt laws exist for people of legal age? I can understand laws to protect people that are not deemed capable of making the decision (eg children) but why am I as adult of legal age not deemed capable of determining the level of my own safety?

Someone has to pay for these idiots when they get severely injured. If there was no societal cost to their stupidity, I'd agree.

[drwelfare]

There's some mindblowing stupidity that gets spouted round these parts, but this basically tops it. Do you also play Russian roulette?.

For enough money I would

[Spectral]

For enough money I would

So... someone's paying you to not wear a seatbelt? What a creep that guy must be!

[Thetruth1400]

Let me preface this by saying that I always wear my seatbelt for my own safety, however I agree with this, why do seatbelt laws exist for people of legal age? I can understand laws to protect people that are not deemed capable of making the decision (eg children) but why am I as adult of legal age not deemed capable of determining the level of my own safety?

Because the insurance companies and government don't want to pay for some idiot that got himself killed doing something preventible. Takes all of two seconds to seat belt yourself in and the savings are extraordinary for all. If someone gets killed, the insurance has to cover the damage. There's usually a payout of some sorts as a result.

[Rukentuts]

So... someone's paying you to not wear a seatbelt? What a creep that guy must be!

People have been killed in crashes as low as 20 mph by not wearing their seatbelt.

[stuck4cash]

For enough money I would

What's the point of having the money if you lose?