Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

Despite the outcry, Mr Vigil says a lot of residents are coughing up the dough-- making the case for other cities to employ similar tactics

Daily Mail Reporter - DAILYMAIL - April 29, 2012

An industrious town in New Mexico is upping the ante against traffic violators, threatening to shut off the utilities of those who don't pay their fines.

Las Cruces' unpopular decision came after they installed cameras at intersections and watched as $2 million dollars in fines just drove off into the distance.

'Over time we were looking at various options, various ways to recoup that money,' Udell Vigil, the communications director for the City of Las Cruces, told ABCNews.com.

Mr Vigil said that the $2 million dollar tab was divided between the State of New Mexico, the camera company and the city.

The city is owed $600,000 in unpaid tickets.

The problem is that the city's hands are tied - they can't go through the courts to get their cash, Mr Vigil said.
... [Read More]

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

it gets the bills paid, people drive more carefully.. everyone wins.

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

To serve and protect.......and collect revenue. (not necessarily in that order)

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

"Red light cameras too good for their own good?"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23710970.../#.T53UDxyZZ-8


/It's all about the money

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

.... unless,
1. City revenues actually end up going down.
2. Collisions actually go up.

“When people know there’s a red light camera, they change their driving behavior, and they slam on their brakes trying to avoid a ticket,”

(same link as above)

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

Thats why you need to sprinkle every road with fake cameras, and switch them for real ones once in a while.

You could even have your own camera on your car and report offending drivers, perhaps getting a cut of the ticket.

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

Since the IIHS wants more red light cameras (http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/rlr.html) maybe they could pay for them. Then cities wouldn't have worry about covering their costs.

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

Seems like a plan that could have a lot go wrong because the world is a complicated place. My guess is that some (many?) of those who don't pay don't know about their violations because they didn't change the address on their car registration when they moved. There's a good chance that the city will cut utilities to innocent current residents at violators former addresses unless they spend extra money investigating that they say they don't have.

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

Herm, ...you and I are two very different people. lol

Re: Drivers who fail to pay fines face losing access to gas and water
 

I believe in efficiency :)

but you know its going to happen, plus AI driving your car.. for the kids and for revenue, and yes it will be an electric car.