My name is David and I like building cool stuff.

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    Two Tickets, One Day

    I got a speeding ticket on Sunday.  75 in a 65, going with the flow of traffic.  I figured it had been a couple years, sounds about right.  Then when I got home from work on Monday, there was a letter waiting for me - informing me that I got caught on camera two weeks before “running” a red light (on a right turn).  For those of you who have never been graced with the ‘photo ticket’, it’s relatively cool.  They provide four photos: one of your car before “running” the light, one of your car after “running” the light, one of your face while “running” the light, and one of your license plate.  It’s a traffic court judge’s dream.

    After examining the photo ticket, I began comparing the before and after pictures.  It took me back to the good old days of waiting in the dentist’s office reading a Highlights magazine, comparing the ‘What-Changed?’ pictures.  Using my finely honed fourth-grade detective skills, there were several oddities about the pictures.  They span 1.6 seconds.  The car behind me has drastically closed the gap between our vehicles in the second photo.  My brake lights are on in both photos.  Can I stop and go in 1.6 seconds?  I think so.  The other strange thing about the photo: there’s a car that totally ran the light one lane over.  There’s no question - in the first photo they’re just entering the intersection, in the second photo, they’re just exiting the intersection.  They have to be going at least 30 MPH.. in a 25!

    The company that produces this ‘Photo Ticket’ technology has a great business model.  Some counties gross over ONE MILLION DOLLARS in revenue every year from this pseudo law enforcement.  I respect the business model.  It’s easy.  It’s cheap.  It’s nice money.  Do I respect their business?  Absolutely not.  Do I loathe their business?  Absolutely.  Unfortunately, on the long list of things businesses need to survive, DM’s respect does not hit that list.

    Today, for the first time in three days, I did not get a moving violation.  It was a pretty swell day.