Oklahoma Looks To Clamp Down On Uninsured Driving With Traffic Cams And Perverse Incentives
from the like-an-ATM,-but-with-zero-end-user-interaction dept
Oklahoma is home to a large percentage of uninsured drivers. Nearly a quarter of the state's drivers get behind the wheel as latent threats to insured drivers' insurance rates. The state thinks it's found a solution to this problem -- one that will net a private company and the state's district attorney offices lots of money.
Oklahoma has finalized a deal with a Massachusetts company to use license-plate scanners to catch uninsured drivers, and the firm expects to issue 20,000 citations a month starting as early as next year.
The program, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, involves setting up automated high-speed cameras on highways around the state to detect uninsured vehicles and mailing their owners a citation with a fine of $184, according to the District Attorneys Council.
The problem isn't so much the solution -- although the solution has its own issues, like the mass collection of plate/location data. The problem is the incentives. First off, there's the company involved: Gatso USA will receive more than 40% of the revenue ($84 for each paid citation) for the first couple of years. Its percentage of the take will decline over the next several years but will never drop below $68/ticket. The company hopes to make more than $1.6 million a month through its work with the state of Oklahoma.
The more problematic incentive is this:
It will be overseen by the District Attorneys Council rather than law enforcement, and the state’s 27 district attorneys’ offices are expected to receive millions of dollars in citation revenue a year, although no estimates were provided.
Why would this go to DAs? Maybe it's the state is throwing the DAs Council a bone to shut it up.
District attorneys have complained that their revenue sources are diminishing because of state budget cuts and the drop in bounced-check fines.
I guess the DAs Council is already counting on this system to make up for lost income. There's not much worse than a tool like this in the hands of a government entity that firmly believes it will return it to its former, cash-heavy glory. The state's DAs appear to be ready to rely heavily on a revenue stream/camera system sold as a foolproof, cost-effective remedy. But the history of automatic plate readers and traffic cams is littered with tech failures. As Scott Greenfield points out, there's a good chance the DA (and Gatso) will still get paid, even if the tech is error-prone.
Tech fails all the time because we have unwarranted faith in it even though it lets us down constantly. Dirt on a plate, a cover, a bent plate, or just random errors, could turn that miraculous scanner into a weapon for the unwary. And Gatso, not to mention the cops, has a huge incentive to collect as much money as possible, because money is good.
What to do? Hire a lawyer to fight a $184 ticket? Lose a day of work, maybe lose a job because you lost a day of work, fighting city hall? The innocent will be swept into the mix along with the guilty, and it will be your problem to fix their problem at your expense.
And if a driver doesn't pay Gatso fast enough (the company issues the tickets and collects the fines), the ticket -- right or wrong -- heads to the DA's office for prosecution. Given the statements made by the DAs Council, offices will have every incentive to pursue non-payers vigorously and tack on as many additional fees and fines as possible.
A better solution would be to pay for the system upfront, releasing the state from worrying about contract breaches or mission creep pressure should the cameras fail to deliver millions of dollars to Gatso USA. And the fines should go into a general fund, rather than directly to an office with the power to prosecute. Once you strip out the perverted incentives, it's a cost-effective deterrent for uninsured drivers, give or take the system's margin of error.
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Filed Under: driving, insurance, oklahome, traffic cameras
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We can be sure the automated enforcement actions won't end when the bill is mailed to the owner of an allegedly uninsured vehicle.
What happens when the ticket is not paid? ALPRs are already widely used to hunt down suspected ticket scofflaws, arrest the drivers and/or and impound their vehicles. In the "good old days" the DMV would simply tack on unpaid tickets whenever the car registration was renewed, but now there's a big incentive to impound the car, charge outrageous storage fees, and then commandeer ownership of the car. It's a very lucrative racket.
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Red Light Loopholes apply?
Will the same rules apply to these? I don't see how you could reasonably expect 'standard mail' to be a good stand-in for proof-of-receipt.
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Re: Red Light Loopholes apply?
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So susceptible to manipulation
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Re: So susceptible to manipulation
Noob.
"with photos of non-existent ones"
LMFTFY
"with photos of plates gathered at the next meeting of the District Attorneys Council"
If you're going to screw with a system, go all in.
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Re: Re: So susceptible to manipulation
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DA's might have issues explaining why they were at strip clubs in the middle of the day or other unsavory places.
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Re: So susceptible to manipulation
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On this side of the pond
And if your number plate isn't readable (by the machine) that could also lead to a fine.
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Re: On this side of the pond
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There's a market opportunity here
Cue some cheap insurance company offering car insurance for $183...
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Re: There's a market opportunity here
Unless you're suggesting that some really shady company who's begging for a class action suit against them would sell insurance for that price that *isn't* meeting legal requirements for the state and misleading customers that it does.
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Re: Re: There's a market opportunity here
a) Jail them for failing to pay fines, that'll raise state revenues for sure!
or b)put them on a supervised release program that they have to pay for, and they continue to accumulate they cannot discharge in bankruptcy. Debt peonage lives!
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Re: There's a market opportunity here
These state mandates exist because cars are dangerous machines that can cause a lot of harm to others. They aren't a "tax". They are an attempt to enforce personal responsibility.
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Re: Re: There's a market opportunity here
Cars are dangerous and they cause lots of damage when not driven properly. Long time ago drivers ed was available for a reasonable price at the local public high school for students of the proper age, now one needs to pay hundreds of dollars for drivers ed - or you can wait till you are 18 and drive with no training, which is what I think a lot of people do - judging by their driving.
This has little to do with trumpcare other than exposing the greed in politics
Not sure how you force your so called personal responsibility, which is a misnomer at best and more likely a dog whistle.
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Re: Re: Re: There's a market opportunity here
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Re: There's a market opportunity here
There is no such animal.
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Re: Re: There's a market opportunity here
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abolish License-Plates
...No, the solution is easy -- abolish vehicle License-Plates.
The primary purpose of License-Plates has always been government tracking of vehicles, but Plates are totally unnecessary otherwise.
Plates merely show that a vehicle is properly registered for use on government roads, but that purpose is also met by the vehicle-registration form (that all vehicles must carry) and the vehicle-identification-number (VIN) (readily visible to anyone thru the windshield). A non-unique decal or plate would also easily fulfill the registration requirement -- without creating "surveillance" problems.
Americans are so used to being serfs... they can't even imagine living/driving with fewer government shackles.
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Re: abolish License-Plates
It's called Stockholm syndrome. If government is not in control they think they have no protections. But they still have the nerve to bitch about their pathetic lives after giving up their liberties for theatrical safety.
People just want to FEEL safe, it does not matter if they are safe or not in actuality.
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Re: abolish License-Plates
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I mean a whole network of cameras you could track citizens around the whole area & build profiles of who goes where.
Query the database to track someone you think is a drug dealer or banging your ex-wife.
Of course there is no incentive to make sure the insurance payment records are updated quickly in the system, because the fine is small enough most people will just pay.
This sounds like a wonderful program, and I hope the citizens get their pitchforks polished before heading out.
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The REAL reason this exists. There is a vast untapped reservoir holding billions in cash called the tax payers and they can't wait to get their hands on it!
They voted for this, hope they get fucked HARD by it!
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Re:
They voted for this
[Citation needed].
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Re: compliance
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Not as bad as it looks on the surface
I'm glad someone is shining the light on this from outside the state. Given how Oklahoma government works, this is probably not as bad as it seems. We still have a pretty strong element of public accountability on issues of this nature, and the extra attention helps. The DAs won't get away with much, and our state's budget really is hurting (like many other states). I think a much bigger worry is the deal with Gatso itself, because it smells like some kind of backroom favoritism. This is a typical folly of OK government. On the other hand, we frankly lack the expertise in-house to do it better, and I'm not sure Gatso should be ranked good or bad among likely competitors.
I won't be surprised if some enterprising soul tries to come up with a website that tracks where these cameras are placed, and maybe even codes a smartphone app for it. You can bet the resistance to this program will be very loud.
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Yet again I am drawn to the proposal that the government pays for your (reasonable) court costs if they loose. That will give them an incentive to do a reality check every time a ticket is disputed
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Re: Incorrect ticket: collect $184
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My guess is they do not care.
In addition, I imagine many of them drive because they have to get to their minimum wage jobs on time or get fired (notice the plural) and public transportation does not do it. Note, those who make minimum wage can barely put food on the table much less afford outrageous insurance rates.
So, their answer is wholly inadequate, does not address the underlying problem while putting "offenders" in debtors prison - which is supposed to be illegal or something.
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Well there's your/everyone's problem...
District attorneys have complained that their revenue sources are diminishing because of state budget cuts and the drop in bounced-check fines.
So basically they're whining that they don't have as much money in part because people are obeying the law better. Law enforcement should never be profit-focused, as when you link how much money a department gets with how many 'criminals' they catch the incentives are all but guaranteed to shift from preventing crimes to profiting from them, with the definition of 'crime' becoming wider and wider over time.
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Might be time to stock up on popcorn.
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Re:
Can't have it both ways, though I imagine they'll certainly try.
If it's not a legal citation and is instead just an 'advisory letter' then it would seem people can just ignore it, and if it is then sounds like the law prevents a private company from sending them out.
Looks like they were so eager for an easy source of money that they decided to play fast and loose with what the law actually says, which is totally the kind of mindset that you want to see in district attorneys.
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Man, I need to get in on this racket.
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1 month..
Second month the Drivers Wont drive the SAME areas as those cameras...
3rd month, tickets Drop to almost nothing..
Iv always wondered about being Forced to goto a 3rd party to fulfill a regulation..
And when you AINT got money, whats the first thing you CUT??
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Re: 1 month..
I use those on my car whenever I drive into Mexico, becauase of the number plate readers that US Customs and Border Protection have at the border to record the license numbers of vehicles exiting the United States. As long as I am not doing anything illegal, I feel that CBP has no damn business recording my license number as I cross the border on I-5 going into Mexico.
This way, when they review the tapes, they get nothing. My plate is not recorded and stored in CBP's computers, and they are never the wiser.
Looks like the companies that sell these covers are about to see a big boom in business from Oklahoma.
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Re: Re: 1 month..
Those who are in the know, and that know Mexican cops carry a screwdriver and remove the license plates of illegally parked cars in Mexico, never keep their license plates in the frame. They keep them taped up in their windows where the the cops in Mexico cannot get to them.
So, all the Mexican AMericans who keep their plates in their windows instead of in the frame will be invisible to the cameras.
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Government forcing me to buy insurance ... again!
First they fine us for not buying Obama Care and now we're forced to buy Car Care. Socialists!
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At least one bank is fighting back. Wells Fargo now allows you to activate and de-activate your ATM whenever you want, using their website.
Any Wells Fargo customer can "turn off" their ATM card from their computer or smartphone, and then turn it on again later. This is that when the cop goes to use his ERAD machine, the card will come back as invalid.
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REASONS..
ONLY when you are doing something illegal, SHOULD you be stopped?
MOST of the persons I know, that do NOT carry Insurance, TEND to drive VERY WELL.. They do not want to be Caught.
DATA POINT:
Police have access to your Lic plate number Already
They have access to the Insurance company AND can ask if you have insurance.
YOU REGISTERED your address with the police, ALREADY...
Why do you need another machine to TELL THEM YOU DONT HAVE INSURANCE?? AND if the state, GAVE YOU the insurance(insted of a 3rd party) they would know the EXACT DAY you lost your insurance, but paying 1 years ins, along with registration..Would be a burden to many.
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