Recently there have been red light cameras installed on Georgia roads. These cameras take snapshots of your car as the light is turning red. You will then be mailed a ticket instead of getting one the 'old fashioned' way. The fine is something like $70 which I think is rather steep for running a red light. I've not studied to see if this is the same rate you'd be charged if a cop caught you 'manually' but I'm willing to bet it's slightly higher to cover the 'cost' of the camera.
On the local news one person was interviewed and said something to the effect that they should only be ticketed when the police catch them doing it. I personally think it's a wonderful idea that will hopefully get people to obey the law and be aware of it more. I choose to study the law so that I know when I cross it. I don't like the government taking my money for something I wasn't aware of, so I choose to stay current on how laws affect me and my wallet.
I've gotten a DUI before and it's not fun financially. It cost me upwards of $3000 when it was all over with and I consider myself lucky. I could have killed someone or myself, so I'm glad that little episode happened. I would have probably stopped drinking on my own but things like that are sometimes needed to remind you of how lucky you are. For me it happened once, for some friends it's happened 3-4 or more times and I guess they're okay with a $3,000 hit every time. I personally wouldn't just give up that money if someone asked for it at gun point, so I'm not the type to be okay with doing that more than once.
I'm not going to lie and say I don't break the law. I do. I just know when I do and I don't make any excuses. I speed almost every day. 45 to me is slow but 65 on these roads is fast. I typically maintain what I call a 'healthy' speeding limit which is roughly 10 miles over whatever is posted. I see people fly past me or get on my bumper and flash their high beams at this speed so I don't feel too bad for doing it. I consider myself a criminal even though it is such a 'small' law to break. No law is small though, every one is designed for safety and protection. Some are pretty dumb but it's our job to point those out and remove them if they really aren't beneficial.
I said all of that to get to this point. The law is the law. If I kill you, it is still murder even if I don't get caught. If a tree falls in the woods it still makes a sound even if there's no one there to hear it.
I think this is only the beginning. Cops need a relief like this so that they can be focused on the intense crimes against humanity like murder, robbery, etc. We need bodies to do that job where a camera can help in other areas like running redlights, speeding (yes it could go there) or other laws that police fail to uphold daily. I realize they simply can't pull over every single person that does something, especially if its widespread like minor speeding. Hopefully “Big Brother” won't go much deeper than this but one can assume that the more people that blatantly break the law the more steps will be made to make sure you're punished for it somehow. The law is the law, no matter how much we may not want it to be.