Posted on Sep 21, 2017
Iowa's Supreme Court Hears Dispute Over $75 Speeding Ticket
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Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 5
automated cameras/radar would seem to be a violation of the 6th Amendment, as you cannot confront your accuser, as it is a computer that you cannot "question."
Amendment VI:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Amendment VI:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
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I am from that area. I am a MP and have issues a lot of speeding tickets. I am a RADAR instructor and I do not like the speed cameras. I do not trust the automation. I don't like that you cant know who was driving the vehicle at the time(which is why they don't add point to people license). 380 is a congested road and they need to add another lane to it and increase police enforcement on that road. The problem is that the city gets a lot of money from those cameras and that is the point of the cameras to make the city money not to improve traffic safely.
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SSgt (Join to see)
The point of most tickets are for the city to make money not to make the city any safer whether we are talking about speeding, possessing a plant, or selling items without a business license.
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SSG (Join to see)
SSgt (Join to see) - Well to a point depending on what we are talking about and where the enforcement agency is. It varies from place to place a lot. They may get none or only gets a small part of the fine amount. Which I do prefer I really don't want a police department funded on ticket revenue. I would say that traffic safety is a important thing more people die on our roads then are killed by guns every year.
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SSgt (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) - Even if the police department does not get any of the funds the city does which is the point I was trying to make. The fines are for the cities to make money with the side-reason of safety to make them seem legitimate. I know the last time I got a speeding ticket, 5-6 years ago in NC, it cost me over $200 but only $30 of it was the fine the rest was the "court and administrative costs." Obviously courts cost money to run but even when the fines get tossed out the person is still stuck with the court costs and I doubt the court costs as much to run as they collect from all of the court fees they receive in a month. Back 40-50 years ago the majority of ticket costs may have been there to deter people from doing unsafe things but too many cities/ municipalities have realized that they can make a lot of money off of fines that can be used to boost their budgets when they can't get the money through taxes.
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SSG (Join to see)
SSgt (Join to see) - You have places like that. The point that I am trying to make is that where the money for fines goes varies a lot from place to place some city's live off of the money and some don't get a dime of it.
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If controlling speeding is an issue, what you might need are additional police. I'm not a huge fan of unmanned speed cameras, if someone is speeding they should be pulled over... not have their picture taken and get a bill in the mail.
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