7 ms·
Years ago, I got a speeding ticket. I worked nights at the time, and the office to make the payment at had very strange hours because it was from a tiny town. M
by shakezula 4y ago
Years ago, I got a speeding ticket. I worked nights at the time, and the office to make the payment at had very strange hours because it was from a tiny town. My schedule made it difficult to make it over to the office during open hours, and one of the times I tried it was closed randomly over lunch because again, small town. (I learned later there was only one person who ran the whole office.)
A day after my speeding ticket payment was due, I was pulled over, arrested for driving on a suspended license (quite roughly, I might add), and hauled to jail, where they booked me, processed me, and charged me thousands upon thousands of dollars for the privilege of being arrested. The whole process was structured around profit.
It absolutely demolished my meager savings account at the time, and damn near kept me from being able to attend the code bootcamp I was enrolled in. It taught me a serious lesson about the law: They exist only for power and profit. The entire experience cost me over $3000 for a speeding ticket of 5 mph over the stated limit. I've got a nice little arrest mention on my criminal record now, though, so that's nice.
- hef19898 4y agoYou cannot pay your tickets by wiring the money?
- williamscales 4y agoNo? As far as I know that is not a thing in the US. Sometimes you can pay by credit card, but that's a more recent thing.
- bsagdiyev 4y agoI have always been able to pay online, over the phone or via mail for my tickets with check, cash, card, or money order. This is in two states: California and North Carolina. For anything more serious than a speeding ticket in NC is a mandatory court visit depending on severity, California has a few more things you can just pay a fine than NC afaik.
- cafard 4y agoOur most recent two tickets were from speed cameras. In both cases we sent in checks.
- pleb_nz 4y agoYour bank app doesn't have shortcuts to pay fines and taxes?
- germinalphrase 4y agoIs that a thing… anywhere?
- EdwardDiego 4y agoYes, in NZ :) You can also pay them by credit or debit card online, but there is a small processing fee for doing so.
- alkz 4y agomostly everywhere except the us from the looks of it
- lostlogin 4y agoASB in New Zealand offer it. They have a list you can search for various things and companies, your comment prompted me to check. Fines, taxes and some big companies appear there.
- mistrial9 4y agoI was told in the 1980s that personal finances in Australia were such.. that many independent adults did not own their own autos, but that ownership and insurance were arranged through their employer, typically a large company or government agency.
- lostlogin 4y agoThat sounds quite good. There is very little about car ownership that I like - the convenience is hard to beat though.
- AussieWog93 4y agoThis was an old tax loophole - employees would request a leased vehicle from the employer in lieu of actual cash wages, lowering their taxable income. It hasn't been a loophole for years (fringe benefits tax took care of that), but many older people still do it anyway.
- CADAKA 4y agoI got jailed for a DUI in the USA and I was not allowed to use debit or credit card for bail... I had to have cash... but of course the bail company was able to electronically transfer the money. The Government want you to use cash only when it's convenient for them....
- ngcazz 4y agoHow is that possibly the issue here?
- Ekaros 4y agoI really value being in country where default payment method in almost any situation is simple bank transfer.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
- Jcowell 4y agoThe office seem to cater to services where only the able and 9-5 crowd can easily access it. It seems more of a failing of this office to not provide an online alternative means to pay.
- gs17 4y ago> where only the able and 9-5 crowd can easily access it I'm not sure it's conveinient for that crowd either. It's always puzzled me how you were expected to make it to government offices open roughly 9-5 while most people work those same hours.
- Jcowell 4y agoI always assumed lunch time or day off to be used. But your right, it does seem very silly (and affects people living paycheck to paycheck the most)
- gs17 4y agoI thought of lunch too, but the lines are pretty long at most of these places (in MI I could make appointments, which still require waiting a significant amount of time).
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- 1123581321 4y agoThat is frustrating, but when were you planning to pay? Couldn’t you have mailed it in? Suspended license driving is anti-social. Any law with a firm cutoff or deadline, and no gradual increase of penalty, sucks for those who barely miss complying with it. There needs to be some kind of consequence, though.
- throwaway22032 4y agoSurely the antisocial thing is suspending someone's licence without telling them about it and over a 5mph speeding ticket...?
- kaishiro 4y agoI'd argue that the humiliation of arresting and imprisoning someone for a single speeding ticket is the only anti-social occurrence here.
- coldtea 4y ago>There needs to be some kind of consequence, though. No, there just need to be better laws - or at least, more fit to the "crime" response. In fact, if he was indeed "5 mph above the speed limit" he shouldn't even have been fined in the first place. Police can and should use discretion (and they often/mostly do, this was just a shitty move in a shitty district). Not to mention that, even given the fine was ok, there should have been an online/bank transfer way to pay...
- 1123581321 4y agoSeparate issues. I said enough in my post to indicate that I am sympathetic regarding the overall situation.
- djbebs 4y agoSorry but isn't the purpose of such licensing requirements to ensure that the roads are safe? If so, why would him having a debt to the state matter? Clearly him mailing the cash or not wouldn't change his risk profile for driving. The anti-social thing here is to leverage what is ostensibly a safety concern into a tool of compliance.
- givemeethekeys 4y agoI hope you learned your lesson and moved the hell out of there.
- illuminerdy 4y ago> It taught me a serious lesson about the law: They exist only for power and profit. I understand your frustration, but the law does not exist ONLY (or at all, if I'm being honest) for power and profit. The law exists to provide each person with a baseline to guide their interactions, whether it be between them and other individuals, or between them and their government. Now, obviously you have abuses and especially when some in the government/beaurocracy find out they can get funds by abusing their authority (e.g. civil asset forfeiture), but that's not why the law exists, and it doesn't happen everywhere. That's just a symptom of a lack of oversight by we, the people (chiefly).
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- jagtesh 4y agoAlso a clear lack of empathy. I mean, sure, the person did something wrong. But have they stopped being human? Where is the humanity in squeezing every penny out of someone already broken and poor ($250/day is more than what many Americans earn in a day). Then taking away 50% of any hope/real shot at living they have. This sounds like profiteering at their expense. (Edit: this is evil). Jail time and a permanent record is more punishment than it sounds. It severely affects future employment, even things like renting an apartment or getting a car loan (the ubiquitous background checks are done to weed such people out).
- illuminerdy 4y agoI agree that what happened to him should not have happened. But we're the ones who let this stuff happen. We're the ones who vote in the people (or neglect to vote them out) who put these policies in place.
- TomSwirly 4y ago"Vote harder! The criminals who steal from you aren't to blame - you, the victim, are!"
- 4y ago