Photo enforcement of traffic regulations (not even laws) is pretty close to pure evil. Both red light and speed cameras in all cases I’m aware of are purely measured on revenue, not behavioral or safety benefits. The feedback loop (no visible enforcement) is broken—it’s not showing anyone that it’s important, it’s just collecting money.
Because it’s a court-complicit loophole that makes it a non-personal-violation (so there’s no right to trial), it’s pretty close to true the standard objection that “for the rich, it’s a fee not a fine”, but even worse because it’s trivial to challenge, so anyone with enough motivation to lie can get out of it.
I think it’s extra-evil to stipulate that it would be completely reliable, and to then try to apply it to any real-world recommendation. That removes the single most important aspect of the question.
How reliable would it need to be for you to find it acceptable? If 95% of the time the bus comes up behind you while you are in the bus lane you get a ticket, and 1:10k of these tickets were issued erroneously, would that be evil?
What if the bus was designed to flash a bright light and play a noise when it issued a ticket, to make the feedback loop very clear?
Hmm. Thanks for pushing on this—I’m not exactly sure what would make it work for me, and I don’t know what city government I’d trust enough to encourage exploration in this direction.
I would absolutely support better protected right of way, with barriers or the like. I’m not sure where the line is for me to want more cost-effective enforcement over more mechanical rules.
Photo enforcement of traffic regulations (not even laws) is pretty close to pure evil. Both red light and speed cameras in all cases I’m aware of are purely measured on revenue, not behavioral or safety benefits. The feedback loop (no visible enforcement) is broken—it’s not showing anyone that it’s important, it’s just collecting money.
Because it’s a court-complicit loophole that makes it a non-personal-violation (so there’s no right to trial), it’s pretty close to true the standard objection that “for the rich, it’s a fee not a fine”, but even worse because it’s trivial to challenge, so anyone with enough motivation to lie can get out of it.
Do you think this is evil in this case, especially if it is a completely reliable “get in the way of the bus, get a ticket”?
I think it’s extra-evil to stipulate that it would be completely reliable, and to then try to apply it to any real-world recommendation. That removes the single most important aspect of the question.
How reliable would it need to be for you to find it acceptable? If 95% of the time the bus comes up behind you while you are in the bus lane you get a ticket, and 1:10k of these tickets were issued erroneously, would that be evil?
What if the bus was designed to flash a bright light and play a noise when it issued a ticket, to make the feedback loop very clear?
Hmm. Thanks for pushing on this—I’m not exactly sure what would make it work for me, and I don’t know what city government I’d trust enough to encourage exploration in this direction.
I would absolutely support better protected right of way, with barriers or the like. I’m not sure where the line is for me to want more cost-effective enforcement over more mechanical rules.