On June 17, 2025,  I was driving towards Medford  at Delta Waters Rd on the Crater Lake Highway when I encountered a yellow light, I was in a position that if I stopped I would have been in the center of the intersection so I continued on. I saw the photo flash from the red light camera as I passed through the intersection.

A day later when I got home, I contacted the city of Medford and requested they assign a traffic engineer to check the timing on the stop light; it seemed to have an abnormally short “yellow” phase.  A few days later, I was emailed by a Medford City traffic engineer. He stated he had checked the camera in question and found it to be operating properly. I appreciated the fact that the city of Medford took my query seriously.

The camera was in fact operating correctly. There was a complex technical explanation of the timing standards set by the Oregon DOT. In fact, the city of Medford adds about 0.5 seconds leeway to the standard. Reading the explanation, I accepted that I had, in fact, violated the standard. I accepted that and paid the fine that was mailed to me a few days later. I did, however, request the option to attend the online traffic school.

The traffic school course is offered UTURN180. The online course took me about three hours to complete and write the 40 question exam which I passed.

The whole experience was quite satisfying to me. The professionalism of the court, the traffic engineer and the online school was outstanding. The three-hour course is very comprehensive and illustrates the consequences of failure to obey traffic laws. 

The course taught me a lot of new details even though I have been driving for over 60 years.  I think this course should be a requirement for anyone applying for an Oregon drivers license. I think that should also apply to California where I reside.  

In conclusion, I want to commend the city and state safety professionals for their diligent work. The citizens of Oregon are in good hands.

Edward Slater lives in Cardiff by the Sea, California.