Every new car should have a homogenized kit installed. This kit would include a digital video camera with 24 hours worth of memory, a data beacon, and a jack for outputting footage.
The camera would be front-mounted with a 180-degree view. It would record all that a person sees while driving. This would allow a delayed-traffic violation ticket to assholes who cut you off, run reds, etc. Kind of like a citizen’s arrest. You see someone do something illegal, you drive to your local police station, post office, or any government/state/city authority and link your camera to their monitors. The other car’s beacon would constantly send off data including their plate numbers, registration, and outstanding violations. This kit would be battery-run, and recharged with an alternator. This would cut WAY down on shithead drivers and give them what they deserve. For older cars, you would be required to go to your local DMV by a certain date and get one installed by a certified technician.
This kit would be like a car’s black box. Comments?
No replies yet, so I guess I have to say I like it. No, I’m not driving yet, but it sounds like a simple idea that would keep people civil. Expensive, though, either for the government or drivers.
I like to vent when I drive, and it feels good to call the other people assholes. Of course, when I’m an asshole, I call myself that too. Gotta be fair!
I would take your idea, and just send it to the networks, and start a show not unlike the cops/most dangerous/funniest home video stuff.
Then, the whole world would know what an idiot you are. Nothing like being down at the bar and have someone yell, ‘Hey Bob, ain’t that you on the TV?’ then look up and see you almost sideswipe that old lady who may or may not have been wrong. Public embarassment is more productive, I think.
Dark Lord, get your ass into the slow lane where you belong and I won’t have to cut you off.
BTW, this is way to much time/money/effort/resources to put into such a small thing. They already have cameras at intersections that automatically ticket drivers for running lights.
Don’t forget that we would have private citizens following people they hate, just waiting for them to change lanes without a signal so they could take the film to the police station. Also, who would waste their time to stop at the police station?
Not to mention the most important part here: We would have to change the current laws!!! As the laws stand, a police officer has no authority to arrest people for most misdemeanors based on probable cause. And traffic infractions are not even a midemeanor- they are not a crime, period. You could videotape a midemeanor, have the criminal sign a confession and admit post maranda to actually committing the crime, and the officer would still not be able to arrest. This would all be only probable cause. To make the arrest, an officer would have to witness the crime himself!!
An officer cannot write a ticket for an infraction he did not see. (Except they can if there is an accident. But take those to court and they will be thrown out almost everytime).
You say it would be sorta like a citizen’s arrest. Well… a citizen DOES have the authority to arrest. But only for FELONIES that a)the citizen actually witnessed, and b)the citizen recognized the action was a felony.
Invasion of privacy, pure and simple. The government intrudes into our lives waaaay more than they should anyway. I’m a rabid libertarian and don’t believe the government should do any more than protect you from foreign invasion… http://www.lp.org
Homer, I fully agree. Our privacy is tenuous enough as it is…just what we need to lose yet more!
Last time I checked, being an ass isn’t a crime. It’s certainly a pain that these people are out there, but a few idiots certainly does not qualify for something this wide-spread to affect our lives! Although it seems that the government enjoys taking a very small problem and taking full advantage of it to steal more freedoms.
