alex chiang: web 6.0

I received a ticket in the mail today for running a red light. In Ft. Collins, they have cameras rigged up at selected intersections that automatically detect red light violators and record your law breaking. And as much as I hated getting this lovely piece of correspondence, I’ll have to admit that the proof is pretty good.

There were four pictures enclosed. The first one showed my car before it made it into the intersection, with the light clearly red. The second showed my car in the intersection with the lights still red. The third picture was a closeup of my license plate, and the fourth picture was a closeup of the driver.

Now maybe I have too much faith in the image recognizing ability of the average judge or juror, or perhaps I have too little faith in the ability of a scum-sucking lawyer to “fix” my ticket, but that fourth picture looks an awful lot like me. It’s a bit blurry, but any sane person would be able to tell it’s me. Which is why I’m just going to pay the fine, and not deal with the extra cost and hassle of getting served personally and going to court.

They got me square, but was it fair? I don’t think it’s black and white. Look at it this way: you don’t get a ticket from a police officer every time you get pulled over for a traffic violation. If you can make your case to the officer, you’ll get off with a warning. Not so with these traffic cameras. They capture damning evidence, but they can’t get all the context.

I argue that humans are the ones operating cars — not robots — and therefore a human should decide whether someone is operating the car in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law. The human decision maker should be present at the scene to understand the context in human terms, and make the decision whether to issue a fine or not. One should not have to pay extra fees for the privilege of having this human decision made.

In other news, I’ve decided that Mormonism is about as legitimate as Scientology, Wiccanism, or voodoo. Check out this page on why Mormonism is a scam. The author has lots of external references if you’re not convinced by his arguments. Also, meta-religion is a huge time sink, but fascinating reading.