this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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City Life
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The problem is that any ticket that is issued solely based on a camera (like speeding or red light cameras) can normally only detect the car by its plates, while tickets are normally written against a driver. In some states, this means that points can't be assessed, and fines punish the poor more than the rich. In others, all the car owner has to do is submit an affidavit saying "I wasn't driving" to get out of it. If the owner is lying, that's perjury, of course. But who will bother checking into it?
A camera that is coupled with a law enforcement presence is much more enforceable, because you pull the car over and issue the ticket to the driver right there, using the camera data as proof.
Why would we want to accept more constant surveillance if it can’t even cut cop costs?
Hmm. When my boyfriend drove under a toll camera in my car, I called to explain that I wasn't the one driving at the time. The lady on the line asked if the vehicle was stolen, when I said no, she said I had to pay the fine and if I didn't, I may not be able to register my vehicle. Naturally, I paid the fine.
We have some precedent with red light cameras and the like repeatedly being held up. Courts are equipped to handle bad actors and if that becomes an actual problem, they're not going to just shrug if someone has 25 speeding violations that they're not paying. I could see this working once or twice, but if you're driving past that camera every day, it'll be a good idea to start obeying the law sooner rather than later.
A toll is a more legitimate thing to "bill" to a car, though. The car was present, after all, and someone ought to pay. Now that tollbooths are going away, it's logical to bill whoever the car is registered to. (And, if the toll is not paid, it's the car that is "punished" by being ineligible to be registered, not the driver through fines or points).
If your boyfriend was speeding, though, and caught on camera, but the court said you were speeding instead, would you have just taken the fine for that, knowing it would also affect your insurance? I doubt it.
You're correct that people can only "get away" with stunts like I mentioned a limited number of times, particularly if they go in front of the same judge multiple times. But it's also a fact that if law enforcement can't prove you were the one driving, theres only so much they can do.