this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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Traffic Camera Captures Woman Driving With Her Phone on Her Lap (Face Down), The State Mailed Her a $1251 'Public Safety' Ticket (www.gadgetreview.com)
submitted 1 day ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
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A woman drives with both hands on the wheel. Her phone sits face-down on her lap. No officer pulls her over. No lights flash. Weeks later, a $1,251 ticket arrives in the mail. The evidence: a single frame from a Camera surveillance app. The charge: phone use while driving.

Automated camera companies market their devices as automated license plate readers โ€” tools for catching stolen cars, flagging warrants, and aiding serious investigations.

Sold as a Crime Tool. Used as a Fine Machine.

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[โ€“] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago

Idk maybe she just left Dunkin and paid by scanning the app in the drive thru and now her cupholder is full and it's the safest place to put down the phone.

I don't know.

I do know what they say about assuming, though. And the state is assuming, and thus accusing, her of a dangerous activity on nothing but the thinnest of evidence.

An accusation that is based upon a presumption of guilt, which our system shouldn't be based upon.

And so now this person has to choose between taking time off work, and possibly lawyering up, to fight this and maybe just pay a few hundred in court fees...or just pay it.

This is Vexatious litigation and an abuse of the judicial system on the part of the state.

The other day my car told me to pull over and take a nap because I was driving out of dense tree cover into a really bright street and my eyes were squinty.

This is like putting a camera right there in the sun and issuing DUIs because you look high.