we’ve all seen those random, disorienting flashes of light when we’re driving through the City. if you didn’t know by now, those are cameras placed by the city of St. Louis (not sanctioned by the state of Missouri). if a red light is ran or some other traffic code violation occurs, the cameras take pictures of the license plate and record the violation on video. a ticket is then issued to the owner of the vehicle.
i never really paid any attention to the camera flash–i considered it a half-hearted attempt by the city to make an extra buck. however, today i received a “notice of violation” from the City of St. Louis, showing me pictures of my car apparently making an illegal right turn without completely stopping at the red light at Grand & Chouteau. the fine? $100. initially i was a little put off by the letter, but i did go to the suggested website and viewed the video. sure enough, there was my car pausing slightly and then making a right turn.
why am i not going to pay this fine? i’ll tell you.
first of all, the photos do not prove that I am the driver of the vehicle in that specific incidence. there are others who do drive my car and without a picture of the driver, there is no possible way to prove that I am the one that violated a law–yet the ticket gets sent to the owner of the vehicle. how can i be fined for a crime that i possibly did not commit? if a gun that i owned was used by someone else to shoot someone, why would i be charged for the crime?
secondly, even if i were the driver of the car on that specific day (for which no evidence exists), how would i be able to recall? the picture was taken on October 16th, almost a month ago, and arrived by first class snail mail. This seems like a pretty ineffiecnt way to punish drivers…but then again, efficiency isn’t the bottom line here–it’s the profit.
It seems the companies pushing these traffic cameras are getting a chunk of the profit that the city is making from the fines. They’ve even decided to go one step further and create an unethical revolving door between city politicians and camera company executives right here in Missouri. Some cities around the country have even be caught shortening yellow light periods to catch a few extra people and make a few extra bucks.
So what do we have here? Our elected officials colluding with private security companies to place surveillance cameras around the city, chock full of inefficiencies and human errors–the burden of which will be placed on the citizens to prove themselves innocent rather than the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty. Some more ethically-minded politicians and lawyers in the city have spoken out against these cameras, some will even tell you that if you threw them away, “nothing would happen.”
So, City of St. Louis/Big Brother, prove to me that I was driving the car that (apparently) committed a traffic violation on October 16th, and I’ll give you $100. Until then, take your Almighty Dollar and shove it up your ass.
3 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
I’d look into getting one of these GPS red light camera locators.
http://www.GPSangel.com
these are very very easy to dispute. go to the office say you were out of town that weekend, and that u have roommates that occasionally borrow the car and they can’t remember who was driving that day, or if they had perhaps lent the car out to someone entirely different. they cant prove u broke the law therefore u shouldnt pay a fine.
I’d just tell them brian ray did it, but he was having a crack shake and can’t be held legally responsible as it was an unforeseeable neurological glitch.