World

E-tickets are coming

by CycleDog | December 31, 2007 at 04:49 pm

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Breaking the speed limit and running red lights is far too pervasive in American cities. If the ticket writing process is easier and more efficient, it may be possible to reduce the incidence of these common offenses. Since many of our traffic deaths are attributed to speeding and drunk driving, police officers who enforce traffic laws save lives.

Some motorists object to this e-ticket project, insisting that police manpower should be focused on 'real' criminals rather than traffic offenses. Yet our annual death toll on American roads is over 40,000. That's over ten times the lives lost in the September 11th attacks, but we accept those deaths as a price we all pay for using the road system.

There's little difference between killing someone with an SUV or a station wagon and killing someone with a knife or a handgun.

E-tickets are coming

By DEON HAMPTON World Staff Writer

12/31/2007

The new devices save time on issuing handwritten speeding and red light tickets.

The number of traffic tickets the city has issued has declined slightly since last year, but city officials said the forthcoming move to electronic citations will likely change that next year.

"It's a newer and faster way of passing out tickets," said Tony Cellino, court administrator for Tulsa Municipal Court.

E-citations are hand-held devices which scan a driver's license plate or tags for driving information.

The citations are stored in a computer system accessible by area police departments and the city of Tulsa Municipal Court system.

City officials said the new devices save time on issuing hand-written speeding and red light tickets.

Officials also said the devices may allow city parking inspectors to distribute more parking citations to vehicles at expired meters or incorrect zones, and for double parking.

...Drivers frequently commit traffic violations, but many officers look the other way because they don't want to be hassled by paperwork, Eagleton said.

"This (e-citations) is a slam dunk. It's practical and reasonable," Dalsing said.