Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket

When his wife received a ticket in the mail recently, the first thing she said was the yellow light was too short.

So Mike, who works with numbers all the time as a math tutor, put it to the test.

“I said, ‘If it’s really short, then you got short-changed and you got a ticket illegally,'” said Mogil.

The speed limit on Collier Boulevard, where she was cited, is 45 mph. According to county guidelines, the yellow light should be 4.5 seconds.

Mogil said he tested it 15 times with an average of only 3.8 seconds.

Good for him, showing with empirical data that the light was wrong. Evidence wins. Maybe it’s just me, though, but the story seems to be hinting that anyone who is not a math teacher/tutor, or perhaps a similarly-accomplished professional, would be incapable of performing this kind of analysis. I really hope that timing a light with a stopwatch and averaging the results is within the capabilities of anyone licensed to drive a car.

Mogil says he’s already checked 65 intersections and found that only seven yellow lights are long enough.

I have read of areas where red-light cameras were installed, and the contractor shortened the length of the yellow light in order to jack up revenue — they get a share of the ticket proceeds. This is either negligence or fraud. I hope they find out which.