Posted on 06/09/2010 8:11:25 AM PDT by HandsOffMyFreedom
If you’ve ever been issued a traffic ticket by a red light or speeding camera, you will revel in the bittersweet justice one luck recipient bestowed upon his local nanny state police department.
Upon receiving a speeding ticket in the mail, Brian McCrary followed the citation’s payment instructions and attempted to pay his $90 fine on the Bluff City Police Department’s (BCPD) website. Much to his surprise, he discovered its domain name was about to expire.
Instead of paying his fine, McCrary saw it as a rare opportunity to literally ‘pay back’ the police department for violating his civil liberties with ‘Big Brother’ traffic cameras ...
(Excerpt) Read more at nannystateliberationfront.wordpress.com ...
Should we also have cameras posted along all roadways looking for those not paying attention and following too closely?
Par for the course. Slower traffic keep right.
Sure. Call ‘em PATRIOT Cameras and say they’re for catching terrorists. People will applaud.
It’s because the person that realizes the light is changing, slams on their brakes in order to not get a ticket. The person behind them slams into them expecting them to go through the light. I read an article about this last week. Some cities are taking them out because the rear-end collisions have doubled and tripled.
Funny story. I realize people don’t like the cameras—smacks of Big Brother. But substantively, I don’t see a difference between a camera spying on traffic and a cop spying on traffic.
The Sixth Amendment protects the people's right "to be confronted with the witnesses against him." You cannot confront a machine, nor compel the machine to appear in court to be cross-examined. A machine does not accuse, nor offer testimony.
I suppose the red-light camera would be okay if it were paired with a police officer at the same site to witness the infraction and then corroborate the photo taken by the machine as evidence, but then that would defeat the purpose of the machine in the first place.
-PJ
“There are too many anarchy kooks running around thinking no rules are the equivalent to freedom. Wake up guys.”
No, it also has to do with the expectations of a free society. If every aspect of citizen behavior is constantly monitored by big brother, the message is overwhelmingly clear - citizens are not to be trusted.
Let’s see. If you have a late GM car, it can be shut down by remote control. If you have a new Smart Meter from the utility company, they can cut your power with the push of a button. If you’re a bit late making it through the intersection, the camera flashes and the fine here is $451. Go too fast? Same thing.
Add to that the war on drivers and the automobile here in California. ALL of our Bay Area bridge tolls just went up to $5! License and registration fees just doubled - I just got a notice of delinquent registration for my motorcycle (it was under a cover obscuring the tag, and I wasn’t sent the original registration renewal), and it cost me $497 for renewal! For a MOTORCYCLE!! Many of our formally four lane streets are now two lanes, with a huge amount of asphalt given to bike lines (who don’t pay road taxes OR bother to stop for red lights).
What this all adds up to is a wholesale clampdown on the cost of on demand transportation, which is just another way to further reduce individual freedom.
Worse, it appears that our masters no longer expect drivers to exercise caution and personal responsibility. They’d much rather just use bad driving as a cash cow, with astronomical recent increases in fines and fees.
And don’t get me started on the illegals here with no license, no insurance, no registration. Of course, there’s no penalty for them when they cause accidents, if they can run fast enough...
Here's one for you: "dramaqueen"
While collisions have gone up fatalities have gone down. No I can’t find the link where I read this. The conclusion was that the rear end collision when someone was trying to stop for a light was far less dangerous that someone getting T-boned by someone running a red light.
Do I really need the </sarc> tag?
Survival of the fittest Mr. Darwin?
I acknowledge that laws are necessary. When dope smoking libertarians start taking personal responsiblity seriously, then many of the laws that are currently on the books won’t be needed.
Let me check my calender to see when Hell will be freezing over.
What do the cops do with their camera images from illegal aliens with no ID, with 10 aliases, that blow red lights in vehicles that are not even registered to them, that wouldn't show up in court anyway?
Are these camera only for the working class legitimate Americans, that are documented with legitimate names and addresses?
Have you ever ran a red light?
Do you have kids? Had them screaming at each other, distracting you in the process?
I’ve ran red lights, and stop signs, because of lack of attention - from kids, to outright day dreaming.
Luckily, I’ve never hit anyone or anything while doing so.
I haven’t done so in years, either. However, it happens.
Sometimes you can do everything right, and still get in a wreck - that’s why they are called ACCIDENTS.
Sometimes, you can do everything wrong, and still get home in one piece.
However - red light cameras increase accidents at those intersections.
Agree, but come on....
I don't know about your community but where I live they have road speed signs that are silly.
35 mph to 25 mph, etc. You know what I mean.
If they want, they can get you anytime. If they need money at the end of the month, they will get it.
Goverment's role is to protect us from ourselves? Nice.
Time for a new screen name too: "aSeattleNanny"
“Slower traffic keep right” is the law in Texas. If you can’t (or don’t want to) run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. Slower drivers cause more wrecks than speeders.
I don’t like intrusive law enforcment measures anymore than the next guy. If it weren’t for irresponsible people driving 50 MPH on side streets where 7 year olds frequent (schools) there wouldn’t be as much as a need for these sort of measures.
Don’t we have this thing called a “vote”? I know in my neck of the woods the mayor and the city council are elected, who in turn appoint of a chief of police...
But then, libertarians need something to whiiiiine about.
Really, what it the “governments role” in an irresponsible society?
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