A woman drives with both hands on the wheel. Her phone sits face-down on her lap. No officer pulls her over. No lights flash. Weeks later, a $1,251 ticket arrives in the mail. The evidence: a single frame from a Camera surveillance app. The charge: phone use while driving.

Automated camera companies market their devices as automated license plate readers — tools for catching stolen cars, flagging warrants, and aiding serious investigations.

Sold as a Crime Tool. Used as a Fine Machine.

  • Aatube@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    20 days ago

    obviously LLM-generated article from an odd outlet that publishes five articles every hour

    the news is real because it just regurgitates 404media

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    18 days ago

    i keep mine in the space between the console and the seat not quite resting on my leg just sitting there unused and charging. the case on it kinda keeps it from looking like a phone as well

  • bridgeburner@lemmy.worldBanned
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    19 days ago

    It’s prolly because of those dumb fckn NPC-like pos people that the EU got this stupid rule that all new cars must have a camera system that monitors your face all the time. Another BS reason that makes cars increasingly more expensive.

    • Kilgore Trout@feddit.it
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      19 days ago

      Those «dumb fckn NPC-like pos people» are minimum 10% of drivers, judging from the latest police road blocks in my region (which anyway was signaled 150 m before). We are talking about tens of millions of drivers in Europe.

  • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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    19 days ago

    That’s the law here. Phone has to be securely stowed. Driving with it on your lap gets you a distracted driving ticket. Even if you weren’t planning on looking at it. A sudden traffic move means its falling on the floor and driver is going to try to reach for it.

    • i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca
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      19 days ago

      My uncle once wrapped his car around a telephone pole because an orange fell off the seat and he was trying to pick it up.

      I feel like there’s a clever fruit/apple/iphone joke in there somewhere but I can’t find it and I give up.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        19 days ago

        A coworker hit a parked car that way. Turning a RH corner he hooked his arm through the steering wheel to get to the passenger side, then popped up to see himself rear ending a car

    • Zagorath@quokk.au
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      19 days ago

      Yup. I’m not surprised at Americans being opposed to it, but here in Australia we have cameras that detect phone usage while driving. The fine itself is issued after a person verifies the photo. And I am fully supportive of it. Driving a motor vehicle is an insanely fucking dangerous task. If your full attention isn’t on it, you deserve to receive a fine. Keep the phone stowed securely in a holder, or away in your pocket.

      The freedom of me to be able to make my trip on foot or bike—or even in my own car—without being killed by you far outweighs any idea of freedom you might have to be able to have your phone on your lap.

      Australians and Canadians have some pretty bad entitlement when it comes to driving. But neither of us are anywhere near as entitled as Americans. Discussions like the one in this thread make that very clear. !fuckcars@lemmy.world

      • Zombie-Mantis@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        I am not a fan of the all-seeing panopticon, personally. That said, I personally feel much more entitled to good public transit and walkable neighborhoods than to a car.

        • Zagorath@quokk.au
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          19 days ago

          I have heard bad things about how Flock works in particular with respect to tracking people, abuse of police powers, etc. But it was not involved in the event in this article, and it is not the only way of doing mobile phone detection.

          My state uses a company called Acusensus, which only captures images for long enough to run the AI over them and then deletes all those without even being seen by a human if no offence is detected, among other privacy safeguards. The humans who do review the ones that AI detects as an offence don’t even get to see where or when the alleged offence took place.

        • Rioting Pacifist@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          I think this is common everywhere, but especially in the US there is the belief that there are “bad drivers” and “good. drivers” and so when speed cameras or anti-phone device catching someone that looks like them, it’s obvious “collateral damage”.

          In my experience there are no good drivers, everyone gets distracted sometimes, and the myth of some uniquely “bad drivers” out there allows people to self justify their distracted driving because they aren’t one of the out-group.

          • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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            19 days ago

            Exactly, everyone tailgates everyone handles their turns like shit, everyone speeds. The only good drivers are the ones sticking to the speed limit in the right lane everyone else drives like they want to die in a fiery crash. Oh but everyone slows down to rubber neck someone on the shoulder.

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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        19 days ago

        I’m not surprised at Americans being opposed to it, but here in Australia we have cameras that detect phone usage while driving.

        They’re also against all their movements being recorded, ID requirements for websites, etc. Crazy people, who would ever want to not be tracked every second of their waking lives?

        • Zagorath@quokk.au
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          19 days ago

          Sure, and I’ll agree with them on those points.

          But Americans tend to be the most likely to take things a step too far. Opposing speeding cameras, red light cameras, and phone use cameras is not the same as those things. These are all dangerous but normalised behaviours that should be cracked down on for genuine public safety.

          • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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            19 days ago

            I’m not American myself, but phone use cameras can’t work without being constantly on. Speeding cameras flash when speeding is detected, red light cameras too. Phone detection requires AI so it’s gonna be a constant video stream. Everyone’s going to be recorded 24/7 and it doesn’t matter if you’re driving, cycling or walking. Who says how long the data is being kept and where it’s going?

            I tend to think that having speeding cameras in crucial spots is necessary (in some places they straight up exist to collect funds though) and a busy or dangerous intersection absolutely merits a red light camera… But I don’t want phone detection cameras purely because of how invasive it is.

              • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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                19 days ago

                “They already have all that information” should not be the same as “I’m OK with them constantly surveilling me”. That kind of thinking is exactly why they can continue to double down on all the crazy surveillance and privacy invasion. You’re normalizing not having any privacy.

            • Zagorath@quokk.au
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              19 days ago

              Who says how long the data is being kept and where it’s going?

              The government says. They’re the ones operating the cameras. Absolutely, they should not be used for any other purpose than their stated one. No video saved, only still frames kept long enough for the AI to make a determination, and kept longer if that determination is that there was a phone detected, so the photo can be used as evidence.

              But in that situation, where the government is operating it in accordance with security and privacy best practice, the safety benefits far outweigh any theoretical downsides. This is not some theoretical. Over 1000 people die every year in Australia on our roads. Approximately 16% of serious car crashes are linked to mobile phone use.

              We need to stop treating driving like a sacred right, and start treating it like what it is: an incredibly dangerous activity in need of heavy regulation.

              • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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                19 days ago

                Uh why do you think that the private companies running the service are just going to do what they’re told? For that matter, what makes you think the government itself wants a privacy-first solution? It’s better to keep data indefinitely in case you need it in the future.

          • tristynalxander@mander.xyz
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            19 days ago

            If we have to have cameras on every corner for “public safety” we’ve gone wrong somewhere our set up of society. Do I think people should be on their phone while driving? No – I don’t even think people should be talking or listening to music while driving. The question is where do we draw the line? Do I get to decide where the line is drawn? Do you get to? Let’s not pretend things were decided democratically or for the public good when they obviously weren’t – because there are no democracies (yet) and cops wouldn’t need to lobby or propagandize so hard if it were actually for the public good. The world is setting up surveillance states and eventually those states will make laws that go too far. It’s a lot more sensible to leave people alone until they interfere with someone else.

            Fees and surveillance like this isn’t even a preventative measure. If you actually want to prevent harm, use public information campaigns. Or decrease the need for cars in the first place with public transport…

            • Zagorath@quokk.au
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              19 days ago

              Or decrease the need for cars in the first place with public transport

              And road diets, and modal filters, and bike infrastructure that is wide, separated, given priority at intersections, and ubiquitous. All great ideas I fully support. But even given immense political will those will take decades to fully deliver.

              Meanwhile in a country a 10th the population of America 100s of people die every year because of drivers on phones. For a measure to be effective as a preventative, people need to believe there’s a high chance they will actually get caught. That’s the most effective predictor. These should not be secretly installed, but accompanied with a public campaign making it clear that they are being installed and that being caught is very likely.

              And people who are caught, more than just a fine, need to face a real chance of losing their licence. Not to be punitive, but because that is what they have demonstrated is necessary for genuine public safety because they are dangerous if they’re allowed to drive.

              • tristynalxander@mander.xyz
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                19 days ago

                Well, I don’t think you have to threaten people to make them behave. I think most people are decent and responsible, and can be convinced if they understand the dangers. I’m not convinced threatening the ones who couldn’t be convinced will actually be helpful. I am fairly hostile to anyone threatening me even to agreeable ends. Regardless of whether I’m right about all that, it kinda misses the point: the means are unacceptable. These systems will creep and overstep while empowering stalkers and tyrants at multiple level of government. They will antagonize both people who’ve done nothing wrong and those who have but would prefer to quietly reform.

                It doesn’t really matter how just your ends are when your means enable horrific outcomes.

                • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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                  18 days ago

                  I know of at least 1 study on human behaviour, where an image of an eye was added to a bathroom and increased the number of people who washed their hands after using the facilities, that suggests people do in fact need the “threat” of feeling they’re being watched to behave responsibly.
                  Ultimately, when you’re in control of something with the potential destructiveness of a car, you do need to be monitored for everyone’s safety. The only way to have a society without that level of monitoring is to have one without general access to cars.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        19 days ago

        Especially nowadays, there’s no reason to have your phone out. Bluetooth connection to infotainment system. Blue tooth add on to old soundsystem. Retro fit systems, or a single one touch ear bud etc.

      • BigPotato@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Americans don’t love freedom, they love being special. If we apply the law evenly, we can’t selectively apply it againsts Blacks, Minorities and Poors. The law is there to keep me comfortable and them in line. If we start applying the laws like I’m not special, it’ll just be anarchy.

        Why do you think SovCit nonsense got so big there? Gotta be special, I learned the secret Naval codes that unlock free travel.

      • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
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        19 days ago

        here in Australia we have cameras that detect phone usage while driving. The fine itself is issued after a person verifies the photo.

        The case in the headline was actually in Queensland, but gadgetreview.com seems to be a terrible site that doesn’t give a shit what it’s even reporting on.

        • Zagorath@quokk.au
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          18 days ago

          Holy shit that’s bad. The headline actually made me suspect that, because that’s exactly the cost of the fine here in Qld and I knew it was at least very close. But I clicked the article and it seemed to say it was about somewhere in America. I actually read the article and came away less informed than I started.

  • ziltoid101@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    What country is this? Isn’t this kinda… normal?? The fine seems excessive though (depending on currency)

    • Saryn@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      From the way the image is described, there is no obvious reason to think the driver was distracted or otherwise impaired while driving. Moreover, the decision as to whether the driver was distracted by a phone wasn’t made by a law enforcement official. We most definitely don’t want to make this out to be “normal”.

      Did you even read the article? Even the title gives some of this away…

      • teuniac_@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        It depends a lot on what the law says I’d say. Just like having an open container of alcohol in your car is illegal in many places, it’s not a bad thing per se if having a phone on one’s lap is treated the same way as if it’s being used.

        Unlike what the article says, phone use in a car is not seen as a minor traffic violation in many places. In the US literally hundreds of people die each year due to phone use while driving specifically.

        • Saryn@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          I’ll tell you what I told the other guy because you clearly didn’t read the article carefully, as is obvious from your comment.

          Actually, I’ll word it a bit differently: based on the description of the image, show me beyond a reasonable doubt that there was ongoing “phone use”, as you just claimed. Those are your words, its what you just claimed, so you should have absolutely no issue explaining to me. Right?

          Well, that is unless you go back and reread the article and realize that you won’t be able to. Not in a reasonable, legally sound manner anyway.

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

    Benjamin Franklin

    • jdr@lemmy.ml
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      19 days ago

      Funny, isn’t liberty an inalienable right granted by The Creator?

        • jdr@lemmy.ml
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          19 days ago

          Are you sure? He definitely said and wrote things to the contrary, including the Declaration of Independence.

          I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter.

          I have no dog in this race, being neither American nor religious, but it seems like an important historical detail.

          • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            I assume they were thinking of Jefferson, but he would have been more of an agnostic (maybe). He just thought the virgin birth was bullshit, Jesus was some guy, and the point was to believe in caring for others basically. Apparently he just took all the miracles out and said, people should treat people better.

            Which honestly sounds like a much less toxic version of beliefs. (But I’m sure that’s been white washed or rose tinted or what not over the years)

          • Formfiller@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

            • jdr@lemmy.ml
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              19 days ago

              I think we can agree he was a critic of organized religion, and that it’s pretty enlightened to not have the state impose religion on anyone.

              That said I still think he (at least for a large chunk of his life) believed in the existence of a god, the god of Abraham/Christianity in particular.

    • 1984@lemmy.today
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      19 days ago

      Just think how safe the world would be if everyone was monitored 24 hours per day, for their safety of course.

      • bountygiver [any]@lemmy.ml
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        19 days ago

        They sure should if they are using a killing machine.

        You know what doesn’t need monitoring like this? Bikes

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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      19 days ago

      I think this is fair. It’s reasonable to require a stowed phone, and we don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy while driving our cars. No essential liberty is being violated.

  • fubarx@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    Hey, they could connect the car ‘driver attention camera’ thing, the OBD car speed stuff, and the in-car GPS to the municipality, the insurance company, and your credit car or bank account.

    That way, the minute you look away, go a little over the speed limit, or check your phone message, they just gouge some cash out of your bank account. After three of these, your insurance rate goes up. After the tenth time, your health insurance and employer will be notified.

    Fun times! 🎉

    Edit: every damn step of this is now available via APIs or Agentic MCPs. There is zero technical barrier for this happening. Sleep tight y’all.

    • JensSpahnpasta@feddit.org
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      19 days ago

      You describe it as a nightmare, but on the other hand: People are operating multi-ton vehicles at high speeds in urban areas and are causing thousands of casualities doing that every year. A person operating a car should focus on the road and driving. If he/she is speeding, checking the phone, eating, smoking or fighting with their co-driver or kids, that’s not safe and needs to be stopped.

      • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        My issue with it is the complete lack of transparency in the spyware. It would be better if we were actually told about the spyware and the data it sends is accessible to us. But right now we have no idea what they’re sending, how any of it affects our insurance rates, and have no way to dispute anything resulting from it.

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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        19 days ago

        Unhinged surveillance and loss of privacy are not the solution to this. They are not the solution to anything except monetizing all the users and controlling the population.

    • Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      19 days ago

      People that get caught driving drunk get an alcohol lock on their car, let’s at the very least install a speed check (hard limiter or the automatic fine thing) in repeat offenders’ cars

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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        19 days ago

        I can see that working. Only repeat offenders need to be surveilled, and only for the intended purpose. And only by the State institution tasked with monitoring it.

        Now, how do they make that happen? Because the public institutions (police, DA, Motor vehicle, etc.) Don’t develop software or hardware, they would contract with a tech company, or multiple tech companies. That means that having only the intended party monitor these would be impossible, due to the data and infrastructure being built and handled by private companies who’s only purpose is revenue.

        I guess this just doesn’t work. Oh well, we tried.

        • Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          19 days ago

          Public institutions also have in-house software roles, and if those are insufficient they can have a tender to make the software that belongs to the public institution afterward (to then be hosted government managed infra). This happens all the time.

          So its not right to dismiss this immediately.

    • MML@sh.itjust.works
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      19 days ago

      So glad that I choose to drive, I love having a depreciating asset that costs 25% of my income when it’s running properly to drive nearly an hour to work every day (and almost get murdered several times).

      • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        20 days ago

        When traffic cameras are found to be unconstitutional it’s generally under the fourth amendment (unreasonable searches and seizures, requires probable cause for a search warrant). I don’t know if that’s how this case would shake out, but a ticket issued by a robot for having a phone in your lap face down is dumb as hell even if it’s not unconstitutional.

      • PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social
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        20 days ago

        The Constitution guarantees the right to confront your accuser in court, which you can’t do with an automated camera. It used to be a guaranteed win if you showed up at all because the camera itself couldn’t hire a lawyer and present an argument.

        • VibeSurgeon@piefed.social
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          19 days ago

          This seems trivially defeatable by having an officer use the camera footage as evidence when they issue a fine. Then there’s an accuser to be confronted in court - the officer

        • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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          20 days ago

          It doesn’t have to. They send a representative from the camera company whose job it is to show up in court and rationalize their bullshit at the judge. I know this because I actually had to go through this process once, many years ago, to fight a clearly fraudulent ticket from one of these damn fool things in our local downtown.

          • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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            19 days ago

            Do you happen to live in the area the company is headquartered? Because I can’t imagine them flying a representative out for every ticket being contested.

            • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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              19 days ago

              These guys know how it works. They don’t “fly” anyone anywhere. The have low paid lackeys available in any and all of the areas they operate whose job it is specifically to hang around in courthouses and defend their tickets. It’s not like they drop everything and bundle an executive on a plane to go to Podunk, Missouri or whatever to argue about a one-off ticket.

              In my case this outfit only operates in our state, to my knowledge. They wouldn’t have to go far.

        • Zagorath@quokk.au
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          19 days ago

          That’s an insane interpretation of the law. I don’t know or even care what prior jurisprudence says on the matter, it’s fucking dumb if it’s been interpreted that way.

          If the camera took the photo and automatically issued the fine, then sure, I agree. But the camera should be taking the photo and passing it to a human to decide if a fine is warranted or not. And in that case, the human (or more to the point, the organisation the human works for) is the accuser. And the fine should stand, unless a defence explaining how the photo misrepresented the situation can be successfully mounted (similar to how a defence could be mounted explaining that the speed camera was incorrectly calibrated).

        • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          20 days ago

          Not sure why you’re being downvoted.

          It’s the sixth amendent.

          For of such a short document it is ridiculous for any American not to know their rights. Unfortunately the internet has been taken over by the ignorant.

          • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
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            20 days ago

            I mean, we should certainly take the time to learn our rights, but I wouldn’t say that it’s ridiculous to not remember everything contained in 40+ pages.

          • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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            20 days ago

            YOU get a lawsuit! And YOU get a lawsuit!

            EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THIS STUPIDITY GETS A LAWSUIT!!!

            Too bad they’ll all be thrown out of court after the company pays off the judge…Ya know, it used to be when I’d say things like that, which I knew were always true, that people would say I’m crazy. That businesses can’t just BUY their way out of a lawsuit.

            And now, the corruption is just out there. Everyone can see it now. Which kind of validates me, but also it means that things have gotten so much worse though out there. Now they feel no fear in basically telling the public “We run this shit, not you.”

            Now for the next thing people will think I’m crazy for. Once they have it well established that they have bought and own the government, they’ll begin taking things away. I’m not talking about healthcare, or important things. That’s already started. They’re in the process right now of gutting programs like SNAP, and Medicaid. They began that about a year ago.

            What I’m talking about is, right now you have no reason to believe that you can’t go down to your local ice cream parlor and get an ice cream cone. Nothing wrong with that. No reason to believe you’ll be denied. Give it time. There will come a day where you go to get ice cream, and they’ll tell you no. You’re not part of the in group. You’re not allowed to have ice cream.

            And I’m not saying this about just ice cream. That’s just one example of something that is an affordable luxury, that has zero importance in life but it makes you feel good. It brings you joy.

            Those are the types of things you’ll start being denied as they take more and more for themselves. They’ll want movie theaters to no longer allow the common man. They’ll want public pools closed, and renovated into private pools with private entry. They’ll want everything for them, and for you to beg to get common luxuries.

            For them, it’s not about having vs not having. It’s about power. The ability to lick an ice cream cone, as they watch you go without, and laugh. They want the status of being able to tell you what to do. They want the world for themselves. That’s where this whole epstein’s island comes from. Some of them might actually be attracted to young kids, but really the thrill for them is to be able to take your sons and daughters dignity. They want what society says they can’t have, and is wrong for anyone to have. They want that. They want the taboo. They want the power to say they can have it anytime they want. Regardless of how wrong it is. To them it’s a show of power, and that’s all they’ve ever cared about.

            Call me crazy, but in 20 years, when there’s an entire generation who’s never tasted ice cream in their lives, maybe you’ll remember this post. Probably not, but I will. Just like if I knew where my 1st grade teacher, Mrs Huey was, I’d go tell her the conversation we had 30+ years ago. The one in which she claimed that I’d grow up, and stop playing video games. I told her that on my death bed, I’d be playing video games no matter how old I got. I’m 42 now, and I’d ask her “At what point am I going to grow out of video games? When does the growing up happen? I’m older today, than you were the day you said that.” And she, in turn, I assume would tell me it’s not important, and that it was 30 years ago. Which is frustrating because 30 years ago she wouldn’t believe me, and now, she won’t care. Anything to avoid saying you were wrong I suppose. Which is weird to me. I have no issue when I’m wrong. Happens quite a bit. When I was 8, I thought I’d grow up to be one of the ninja turtles. Which, just conceptually makes no sense. The turtles became the turtles because they were already regular turtles, and then mutated when they got covered in toxic waste. If anything, I’d just be a really big mutated human. Think about it. The turtles were little regular pet store turtles. Maybe 7 inches tall if held upright. Then they get splashed with ooze, and they’re like 7 feet tall. So as a kid, I was probably 4 feet tall…so I’d be like 30 feet tall I guess? I mean, that would still be cool, but also, we’re ignoring the medical problems of being mutated. I’d probably get cancer again.

            What was I talking about again?

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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      20 days ago

      Flock is shit, but apparently not the one who did this. Ig they could be lying?

      Flock Safety reached out to us to clarify that our information was wrong. Flock cameras were not involved with the woman driving with her phone story. Alexandra Parade, where the incident took place, is a well traveled coastal highway with systems operated by state revenue programs. We have corrected that and removed any mention of Flock being involved with that story.

      • MangoCats@feddit.it
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        20 days ago

        When I first heard of the amputee story (a bodycam video/audio of the initial encounter) it sounded to me like this was good old-fashioned police work, followed up with a typical harassment citation to send the citizen they didn’t like’s attitude to court if they wanted a chance to prove that they weren’t holding a phone in their amputated hand.

      • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        I think people are rightfully referring to mass surveillance system cameras as Flock cameras.

        Even if the company folds, the cameras will still be operated. It doesnt matter what the brand is that makes em.

        It matters people know what they are.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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    20 days ago

    I don’t know what town it is exactly (Kirkland or Kenmore, WA), and they had a speed limit posted as 30mph., but gave my friend a ticket for going over 28 in a 25 zone. They grayed out the speed limit in the photo they sent that was approved by a cop. My friend would’ve had to go and get a picture of the sign to prove what assholes they were. I remember the sign and know for a fact that it said 30. Not enough to fight it, but enough to stay the fuck away from that town.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      20 days ago

      Some towns literally just exist to extract money from nonlocals who don’t know to not go through there. There’s one near where I grew up that transitions from a 60 mph to a 30 mph zone at the bottom of a hill, so if you aren’t riding your brakes the whole way down you’re speeding. And of course the cops love to sit there and pop people with tickets for it.

        • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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          20 days ago

          Entrapment has a very specific definition, and this ain’t it.

          It might still be an illegal speed limit change, but that’s going to depend on an awful lot of details. It’s certainly bad design, but the locals probably like it for the money it brings in.

      • Jessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        20 days ago

        Same sort of speed traps used to be along the only route to a casino I went to a few times. My first time driving to the casino, they were laying in wait. I got caught on the way back.

        Pigs sure do love to jam people up. Bonus points if they ruin the life of a minority! There certainly are no such thing as quotas, right?

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        20 days ago

        That happened to my dad too, he was going “one over the limit.” It’s infuriating because it’s fraud and stealing.

        • infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net
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          20 days ago

          I think that lazy shitty cops do a lot to malign common sense safety engineering that most people would otherwise be totally on board for.

      • jqubed@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        Emporia, Virginia is another notorious one, right on heavily traveled I-95 as well as US-58. Virginia has front license plates, so the cars that don’t have front plates definitely aren’t from Virginia and if there’s a group of cars all going the same speed it’s the easy way to pick out the non-local. Saw it happen when I was a passenger.

    • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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      20 days ago

      Not enough to fight it

      if that’s not worth fighting then nothing is. I’ve met High school kids that have fought tickets before. U.S. Traffic Courts are notoroious for being extraordinarily mundane

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        19 days ago

        They would have fought it if you could fight it like a normal ticket, but you couldn’t. You could pay or write them a stern letter that would mean nothing. Seattle has those kinds of tickets too. This would have had to have been a trip to the AG or something. I don’t know how they would have fought it without a lawyer.

    • unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz
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      20 days ago

      Old guy told me in addition to photos you should request all documentation regarding that specific sign and that stretch of road, such as the work order to have it installed. Public records laws vary lol

  • Sunflier@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    Article:

    Georgia law (OCGA 17-4-23) generally requires a traffic offense occur in the presence of an officer for a citation to be valid — raising direct legal questions about mail-in AI camera tickets.

    Washington State caps automated camera fines at $145 under RCW 46.63.220 — far below what you might be paying too much when the viral ticket hits $1,251.

    Five Albany, Georgia officers were criminally charged for misusing Flock plate-reader data for personal reasons, according to USA Today.

      • Rioting Pacifist@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        This has nothing to do with Flock, these cameras catch people who are breaking a law and don’t store/index footage otherwise, Flock is purely survailance tech, even if you do nothing wrong the point of flock is to survail.

        • cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          19 days ago

          and don’t store/index footage otherwise

          How do they manage that, with the current surveillance regime? Is all the image processing on device? What’s it sampling against? How does it send the tickets? One-way infrared flashes?

          • Rioting Pacifist@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            I could be wrong but pre-Flock and letting the tech-Bros actually build a survailance state, most traffic cameras were designed to only flash when they caught someone breaking the law and so only send data off the device when needed.

            How do they manage that

            For speed/red light cameras it’s trivial, for something like this it’s pretty easy to process on device to detect a phone in your hand/lap, but probably does need someone to check for false positives.

            Is all the image processing on device?

            It should be, this is simple to do on device (unless it’s outsourced to Palantir & frens)

            How does it send the tickets

            Obviously when it triggers it uploads data.

            • cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              18 days ago

              it uploads data

              … So. To the internet?

              simple to do on device

              Image recognition is not computationally cheap. There are more and less expensive ways to do it, but the absolute floor of it turns your phone into a hot plate. So whatever’s in there would need to be at least a phone chip.

              someone needs to check

              So it is kept and stored.

              pre all-this-shit

              Red light/speed cams, triggered on motion sensor boolean when light red or radar speed reading>x.

              You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, which is fine, but why are you speaking confidently and assuming such good will about proven constant brazen liars saying they’re not doing the shit they literally always do?

              • Rioting Pacifist@lemmy.world
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                18 days ago

                You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about

                Lmao.

                You can literally detect phones with a raspberryPi the idea that you need to upload it to a server is ridiculous.

                • cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  18 days ago

                  You can ‘detect phones’ via anything with WiFi. Are you trolling? Do you not understand the difference between image processing and simpler more computer readable signals?

                  You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. How are so many people so rabidly and confidently ignorant?