It won't help in Siskiyou County. I just went to court over being ticketed for 63 in a 65 zone going uphill in heavy traffic on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. True, I prevailed in court but the cost of trying to get this done seriously harmed me financially, even though I am supposed to get my bail money back. I am trying to work with California legislators to remove the financial incentive for this folly, and the trivia associated with these small town revenue centers known as traffic courts.
I have been researching this very thing and the most powerful tool that we have is our right to redress grievances and demand legislation. I read how two states addressed this folly by demanding that all traffic fines within 20% of the posted legal speed or any other infraction except those related to actual property damage, or aggravated violations like DUI go to the State's general fund, but the counties have to foot the bills for traffic court. It seriously re-oriented the work of the police in those states, and the crime rates related to drugs, property and especially crimes against persons dropped dramatically.
Gang presence is severely diminished in these states, as are a variety of other serious crimes. So removing the economic incentive for ridiculous citations - like the woman yesterday in court who was fined for not wearing her seat belt because she moved her car 20 feet from the gas pump without it on - go away. The public has much more trust in its government and visitors are not terrorized about driving in the area.
Getting the attention of legislators and making them realize that this is good legislative practice is the difficult part, but the people in those states did it at a grass-roots level, did the petitions, got it on the ballots and the response was overwhelming. The cops can still ticket for under 20% but their counties and cities do not benefit from the fines. It makes a huge difference, and even enriches the states for worthwhile things like wildfire fighting.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Detch.
Re: Re: Re: Devil's advocate
Stopping this!
Gang presence is severely diminished in these states, as are a variety of other serious crimes. So removing the economic incentive for ridiculous citations - like the woman yesterday in court who was fined for not wearing her seat belt because she moved her car 20 feet from the gas pump without it on - go away. The public has much more trust in its government and visitors are not terrorized about driving in the area.
Getting the attention of legislators and making them realize that this is good legislative practice is the difficult part, but the people in those states did it at a grass-roots level, did the petitions, got it on the ballots and the response was overwhelming. The cops can still ticket for under 20% but their counties and cities do not benefit from the fines. It makes a huge difference, and even enriches the states for worthwhile things like wildfire fighting.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Detch.
Submit a story now.