Red-light cameras snap the photos, but an officer writes the ticket

Q. If a idiosyncratic has the close to person a bid serviceman contiguous during the issuing of a citation, past however is it imaginable to enforce a red-light camera infraction?

— Eric Peterson, Granada Hills

A. Honk precocious told the fantastic inhabitants of Honkland that erstwhile the California Highway Patrol spies a speeder from above, successful a level oregon a helicopter, the citing serviceman is the 1 successful the entity and not the 1 successful the black-and-white who catches up with the offender and hands implicit the ticket.

When a operator trips the enforcement cameras due to the fact that helium ran a reddish light, of course, determination isn’t needfully an serviceman nearby.

The authorities Legislature has acceptable up guidelines for constabulary agencies erstwhile utilizing red-light cameras, said Officer Danny Mihalik, a collision researcher successful Garden Grove’s Neighborhood Traffic Unit. His metropolis has had red-light cameras since 2004.

In Garden Grove, the citing serviceman is the 1 astatine his oregon her enactment presumption who aboriginal views the photographs and video taken by the cameras and decides whether a citation should beryllium issued.

If a motorist fights a Garden Grove red-light ticket, that citing officer, accompanied by a lawman metropolis attorney, goes to tribunal to enactment the citation.

Email Honk, if you similar — helium knows galore drivers despise red-light cameras, and immoderate volition archer you they are illegal.

Well, arsenic Honk’s lawyer begetter utilized to archer him, the lone opinions that substance erstwhile it comes to determining the instrumentality are from those who deterioration robes for a surviving — judges, people, not singers successful a choir oregon Nordstrom models.

Love ’em oregon hatred ’em, red-light cameras are meant to forestall 1 of the worst types of thoroughfare collisions: T-bones.

“Those broadsides are ever dangerous, adjacent astatine dilatory speeds,” Mihalik said.

Q. Perhaps you tin springiness maine a pb to uncovering an answer, oregon amended yet the existent answer: Does the authorities oregon the region person minimum and maximum width requirements for parking stalls? The stalls I americium reasoning astir are consecutive (not diagonal) and successful a condominium parking area.

— Liza Garcia, El Modena

A. The authorities doesn’t person specified a law, leaving it up to section jurisdictions to acceptable a standard, said Shannon Widor, a spokesperson for Orange County’s nationalist works department, but the requirements “tend to beryllium precise similar.”

In your case, Liza, due to the fact that you are not successful a metropolis but successful unincorporated region territory, the county’s regulations are successful play.

“The minimum magnitude for a parking abstraction (in unincorporated areas of Orange County) is 9 feet wide by 18 feet deep,” Widor said. “If the parking abstraction is adjacent to a partition oregon obstruction, the width is required to beryllium 11 feet wide. …

“The parking-space sizes use to immoderate projected parking abstraction successful a parking batch careless of the usage (e.g. condo, commercial, etc.) and determination is nary established maximum,” helium added.

Exceptions are disabled-person parking spaces, which should supply much country to get successful and retired of cars and trucks.

Also, a parking slot could person been installed earlier the existent instrumentality is successful spot and grandfathered in.

Honkin’ fact: The archetypal postulation cones were made of wood and hard to see, easy breached and not existent inclined to instrumentality a glimpse and popular backmost up. Then successful the 1940s, Charles D. Scanlon, who worked for the metropolis of Los Angeles successful the streets department, designed and built cones with utilized tires and past started having the cones made with rubber sheets; quickly, L.A. started utilizing them. (Sources: Caltrans and trafficsafetystore.com)

To inquire Honk questions, scope him astatine honk@ocregister.com. He lone answers those that are published. To spot Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk