Traffic Cams Shut Down When Citizens Ignore the Tickets

I personally believe that traffic cameras that automatically issue tickets to "violators" are unconstitutional.  You're supposed to be able to confront your accuser in court and you can't confront a traffic camera.

Be that as it may, the folks in Arizona have succeeded in shutting down their traffic camera systems simply by ignoring the tickets that were issued:

In January of this year Arizona began considering the shut-down a state-wide traffic cam program. This is because there was wide-spread non-compliance. Many, many citizens of Arizona simply refused to pay their tickets.

Beautiful!

And now the verdict is in. They shut it down. The citizens won '" not by fighting the state, but by ignoring the state.

The State, as an institution, thrives on confrontation. The best antidote is peaceful non-compliance. Simply ignore the State, disengage, and the State is rendered impotent.

Through the highway camera system, it was hoped that an additional burst of revenue would roll in. Instead, it became a massive drain on the state's budget. Not only did it not bring in the hoped-for revenue, it didn't even make enough money to pay for expense of installing and maintaining the cameras.

The citizens simply ignored the tickets that arrived in the mail. The state of Arizona doesn't have the money nor the resources to follow up on the unpaid tickets. To top that all off, a group of activists went around vandalizing the traffic cams '" icing on the cake.

Sometimes ignoring the government is far more effecting than fighting them.  Once again Arizonans lead the way.

The article goes on to complain about surveillance systems in general, but I don't have any heartburn over police surveillance cameras. If I'm not doing something I shouldn't be doing the presence of a camera is pretty meaningless. I do have a problem with an automated system issuing tickets that can cost $500 or more, especially when the companies that install and maintain them often get a cut. There have been a lot of unlawful shenanigans connected to traffic cam systems.