3 ms·

I think this sort of "we'll give you a pass on this one if you just pay the ticket" is a super gross practice. I recently got a camera citation for not stoppin

by cmckn 6y ago

I think this sort of "we'll give you a pass on this one if you just pay the ticket" is a super gross practice. I recently got a camera citation for not stopping completely behind the line before turning right on red. Fine was $125. If I paid the fine, it would be treated as a parking ticket. If not, it would be a moving violation and points would hit my license, if I lost the case. I feel like, if a cop thinks I broke the law, they should stand behind that. If $125 convinces the cop that I didn't really break the law, that sounds like corruption to me.

luckylion 6y ago
If you're paying a ticket, you're not paying the cop though, that's not corruption. They're saying "we've got you, but here's an offer because we don't think we can convict you of the big thing, or because you've been doing this for the first time". You can take it and pay your dues, or you can fight. But then they might fight as well. There's no reason why the state should go to court over every infraction. You hopefully learned a lesson about stopping the car, why should the state spend thousands of dollars on a court case and make you spend a lot as well? That would be very different if they said "you can get a ticket or you can donate the money to my wife's charity."
- cmckn 6y ago
  I'm not handing the cop the money, sure; but I'm handing his employer the money (the city, the county, whatever). They're essentially saying "you can get a ticket or you can donate money to the city". The way this applies to someone who can't afford the ticket is a bigger problem, similar to cash bail. If you can't throw them some money, you get shafted 10x worse.
bobby_bob 6y ago
This was codified in my state's public transport fines. Pay on-the-spot (assuming you have a CC and funds) and it's $75, wait or contest it an it's $223. It was a system blatantly established to prevent people exercising their right to contest a fine. New government abolished this arrangement as it was blatantly unfair and illogical, and also reduced compliance. They also removed on-the-spot warnings and fines, having all interactions reported and justified-to and reviewed by a separate governing body before an infringement or warning is issued. Taking a great deal of power away from the transport officers. These all seem like pretty straightforward measures to avoid corrupt or even just unfair practices.

by cmckn 6y ago

luckylion 6y ago

If you're paying a ticket, you're not paying the cop though, that's not corruption. They're saying "we've got you, but here's an offer because we don't think we can convict you of the big thing, or because you've been doing this for the first time". You can take it and pay your dues, or you can fight. But then they might fight as well. There's no reason why the state should go to court over every infraction. You hopefully learned a lesson about stopping the car, why should the state spend thousands of dollars on a court case and make you spend a lot as well? That would be very different if they said "you can get a ticket or you can donate the money to my wife's charity."

cmckn 6y ago
I'm not handing the cop the money, sure; but I'm handing his employer the money (the city, the county, whatever). They're essentially saying "you can get a ticket or you can donate money to the city". The way this applies to someone who can't afford the ticket is a bigger problem, similar to cash bail. If you can't throw them some money, you get shafted 10x worse.

bobby_bob 6y ago

This was codified in my state's public transport fines. Pay on-the-spot (assuming you have a CC and funds) and it's $75, wait or contest it an it's $223. It was a system blatantly established to prevent people exercising their right to contest a fine. New government abolished this arrangement as it was blatantly unfair and illogical, and also reduced compliance. They also removed on-the-spot warnings and fines, having all interactions reported and justified-to and reviewed by a separate governing body before an infringement or warning is issued. Taking a great deal of power away from the transport officers. These all seem like pretty straightforward measures to avoid corrupt or even just unfair practices.