4 ms·
While I agree with the objective - that cars/trucks should shutdown instead of idling, I have to wonder, do we really want to a society where people are paid to
by cornellwright 8y ago
While I agree with the objective - that cars/trucks should shutdown instead of idling, I have to wonder, do we really want to a society where people are paid to report their neighbors? Sure it seems like this guy is doing everything properly (documenting real cases of random idling), but what happens when people start using things like this for harassment/revenge, fabricating idling cases (similar to the Uber vomit cleanup scam), and generally making a living off getting people fined.
Compare this to a trained law enforcement officer who doesn't personally make money on every fine who will take the whole situation into account, rather than just trying to make a buck.
This make work out fine at this small scale, but we should be cautious when it comes to creating untrained citizen bounty hunters.
- Reason077 8y ago"I have to wonder, do we really want to a society where people are paid to report their neighbors?" It's sad, but I think we need do need this. Too many people are uncaring and ignorant, and will behave badly if they don't think there are consequences. We shouldn't just turn a blind eye to anti-social behavior.
- jimmaswell 8y agoI'd call reporting idling the anti-social behavior. Snitching on someone breaking an unjust law to save a meaningless amount of emissions.
- monochromatic 8y agoUnjust??
- jimmaswell 8y agoYes, it's unjust to not allow people to idle their cars. It's a minuscule portion of total emissions that's not worth the tradeoff of convenience.
- pavel_lishin 8y agoI'm ambivalent at sharing in the proceeds, but there absolutely needs to be a legal way to report law-breakers in the city, especially in situations where public health could be an issue.
- cornellwright 8y agoI agree with having a way to report people, but not with giving the reporter a share of the fine.