I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me

As if I’m not paranoid enough with all the stuff I hear on the evening news (I watch it for 30-45 minutes, that’s all I can stand, otherwise I’d truly be paralyzed with fear), Google mapping everything so anyone can zoom in on where you live and what you may be doing, people snapping pictures, making videos and all the other crazy crap out there, I come home today and find something in my mailbox.

A NOTICE OF LIABILITY.

The notice has my car making a turn on a street and it seems to indicate I ran a red light.  I never and I repeat never run red lights.  I’m a law-abiding citizen.  I am.  There is a way to go view the video of this horrible atrocity that I allegedly did, but when I tried to view it, I couldn’t and when I tried to find out how to view it, I had to download something from somewhere in order to view it.  Haven’t done that yet.  Who is tracking what I’m downloading?  Is it the people from the Red Light Camera Division located way across the country from where I live?

I’m aware that we now have cameras everywhere, but I swear I don’t remember running a red light.  I’m extra, extra careful.  I drive the speed limit.  I wait patiently behind people who go below the speed limit until I can pass them safely and I get out of the way of those nuts who’ll drive 90 mph in wind, rain, sleet or snow, many of which have those ANNOYING, bright-white, bug-light headlights that blind you.  I never blow my horn unless absolutely necessary.  I am a kind, courteous and safe driver.

But this video, that I’ve yet to view, obviously shows the whole debacle and error of my ways.  There’s even two tiny pictures of my car with a date stamp and a closeup of my license plates.  Creepy.

According to an article in the ManhassetPress.com, others have suffered from the same fate.  Crossing the line and ‘Amber Time,’ which states the “allowable amber time limit falls roughly somewhere between 3 and 6 seconds, with the average between 3.5 to 4.2 seconds.”  My amber time was 3.1 so I’m not sure what happened.  Maybe I was distracted and crossed the white line and my ‘amber time’ caught up with me.

Then, I found from a 2008 article from the National Motorists Association Blog that there were “6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times for Profit,” and New York wasn’t one of them.  I was going to the library and the gym and I don’t recall being in a big hurry, but maybe one of those horn-blowers made me speed up and my amber time didn’t fall within the proper guidelines.

Oh well.

I’ll happily pay the fine and remember to stop, even if the light is yellow and I’ll ignore those behind me that are in a bigger hurry than me because I don’t ever want to impose on proper amber time.  Here’s a calculation that may help you to determine correct amber time, from STOP Short Yellow Lights:  Keep it in your glove compartment for future reference.

Got that?  I was going 29 mph, so realistically my amber time was in compliance with the legislation mandating Recommended Yellow Light Times (see aforementioned website above for the Recommended Yellow Light Times or what I’m guessing is ‘amber time’).

But hey, at least “no points will be assessed for this violation,” so I’ve got that going for me.  I’m not a violator, I’m just an ‘amber time’ abuser.