Facebook Page for Snitching Traffic Violators
Local citizens are using a Facebook page to upload pictures of traffic violators.
Looking for a way to report speeding cars blazing through your neighborhood? What about that aggressive driver plowing through a school district, nearly snagging a student on a bicycle? Over in India, the Delhi Traffic Police has established a Facebook page for people to snitch on law-breaking drivers. Apparently it's working, as the local officials have issued 665 tickets since the page went live two months ago.
Originally the Facebook page--which now has more than 17,000 fans--was meant for locals to use as a "forum" to express their views and suggest changes. However the public instead used the page to report offenders by posting photos. Some show motorcycle owners riding without helmets while other images reveal drivers talking on their cellphones or stopped in the middle of crosswalks.
Satyendra Garg, New Delhi's joint commissioner of traffic, said that law officials have used the license plate numbers shown in the photos to track the offending vehicle owners. "Traffic police can’t be present everywhere, but rules are always being broken," Garg told the New York Times. "If people want to report it, we welcome it. A violation is a violation."
Garg also acknowledged that images could be altered to incriminate someone who wasn't really breaking the law--drivers can contest the tickets if they believe they were not in the wrong. There's also the possibility that some citizens might use the Facebook page to settle a score, but so far the response has been positive.
But naturally there are concerns about privacy and the government's use of the Internet to keep track of the people. 'When you start using the Internet as way for the government to keep tabs on its citizens, I start getting really worried, because you don’t know where it will end," said Gaurav Mishra, chief executive of 2020 Social.
More from the New York Times article can be read here.
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Fail
No Snitching!
"I plead not guilty. Your Honor, that's not me, that's Photoshop. Look at the pixels"
Like many tools, this has uses, and misuses. "Snitching" over something you find morally objectionable is one thing; calling out a menace who is nearly running people over is something else.
"I plead not guilty. Your Honor, that's not me, that's Photoshop. Look at the pixels"
Judge: They photoshopped the entire 3 minute video?
Violator: Yes your honor, you can tell from this pixel here.(points to random section of the screen)
Judge: Not Guilty
No Snitching!
Hah, I recently picked up the 2nd season of Boondocks last night and just saw that episode.
Wouldn;t be surprised if this caused more accidents.
OMG, he's not wearing a helmet, he could hurt people like that...I'll show him. Let me focus on driving while I pull out my camera phone... there we go...find that camera app...whered it go...ah yes here it is... opening it up...haha sweet power, okay focus... snap...wait that blurred the plate... one more time....CRAAASSH...crud I ran over another motorcycle...hope he had on a helmet..
No chance for my support, this is just another form of ticket that will be on the ignore list. I'm not real big on vigilante justice. I already have a special spot on Smokey's most wanted speeders list, but it's up to them to catch me.
I suppose when you get to be a multi-million mile safe driver, my patience for incompetence deteriorates.
To arms citizens!!!
Until I call in on every neighbor I have and they all get tickets when they werent even driving their car. This system would NEVER work in the U.S. it would be abused just like Welfare and Social Security and our national debt
God, I'd LOVE to report jerks driving while talking on their cell-phones. However, I normally drive alone, and as Grims humorously pointed out, good intentions or not, me taking a picture wouldn't be any better.
Still, I followed an Iowa state trooper talking on his cell phone the other day. Like my wife says, I'd respect the law a lot more if the police themselves observed the law.
People shouldn't judge criminals, judges should. Any form of vigilante movements should be opposed, or even better, forbidden.
Everything can be misused, but by the looks of it it's pretty successful. I think we need something like this over here in NA.
Hah, I recently picked up the 2nd season of Boondocks last night and just saw that episode.
I'm glad someone caught the reference. Some hater still voted me down. So sad we live in a society where out neighbors and peers are urged to snitch on us and people support it.
Again, I reiterate.
No Snitching!
Welcome to the state of big brother where everyone is watching.
i like it and think where i live it would be effective...i'm on a tiny island where foreigners are more numerous then the natives and with that brought a level of violence we didn't know (not to mention a lack of any education by parents and children)....i supporte snitching so that lovely american tourist can spend the little money obama gave them on us
Excellent idea. It will help save lives and keep you speeding assholes to your mistakes better.
If I want to report bad drivers in my neighbourhood or bad drivers in general I will not use nor NEED facebook to do so.
Zuckerberg was onto something. Facebook users are really "dumb F****"
I'm willing to bet Asians would be very well represented on this site.
Kekekekekeke...
I wonder how many of the pictures were taken while driving, qualifying them for a fine of their own...
1984...
Report your neighbor, or be sentenced yourself.
Some where in Hell Joseph Stalin approves
i like it and think where i live it would be effective...i'm on a tiny island where foreigners are more numerous then the natives and with that brought a level of violence we didn't know (not to mention a lack of any education by parents and children)....i supporte snitching so that lovely american tourist can spend the little money obama gave them on us
What island do you live on?
hmm.. i wonder what topgear had to say about this...
Snitchbook.
This is some bs. There would only be a few times I think this should be used for. Drunks, people doing 100mph in a school or really any place that has a lot of people walking.
But to snitch on people using cell phones, not wearing a helmet.. I mean really not wearing a helmet.. It's gonna hurt him more then anybody else and I'm sure he understands this. Get off your high horses, you probably suck at driving to.
People should unite against the government, not distrust and snitch on each other. Still, if someone is being dangerous on the road, like DUI or road rage, there has been something more effective than this. 911.
I believe in privacy, that is one thing. If you choose not to wear a seat belt or a helmet, hey that's your own stupidity. But when you get into a 3000-6000 pound hunk of metal, and operate it in such a manner that puts other people in harm's way, you have lost all and any rights you ever had. Do you people who are whining about "snitching" have any idea how many people are killed everyday in traffic accidents? I see so many people driving unsafely everyday, it is way past time to come down hard on them. These people need to stop and think before getting behind the wheel. Reporting your actions to the authorities is appropriate no matter how you do it. Traffic cameras, 911, stop by the police station in person, or even Facebook. There are many ways to report bad drivers, this is simply another avenue. There is a difference between bad driving, and reckless driving. Whatever it takes to get you reckless idiots off the road is fine with me.
I remember what my father did to a guy who lived in our neighborhood. There was guy who kept flying past our house everyday when I was a kid. The speed limit was like 30, but he would fly down our road a like 50mph on his way to and from work everyday. One day he walked out the street and flagged him down, walked up and leaned into the window, and I heard him calmly say to him " J**, I have children that play in this yard close to this road, you are going to promise me that you will slow this thing down when you come by my house, or I am going to beat you half to death right now." It was simply amazing how much slower the guy drove past our house after that.
i like it and think where i live it would be effective...i'm on a tiny island where foreigners are more numerous then the natives and with that brought a level of violence we didn't know (not to mention a lack of any education by parents and children)....i supporte snitching so that lovely american tourist can spend the little money obama gave them on us
Racist much?
There's snitching. Then there's protecting yourself and others by reporting those individuals who would endanger you.
Cell phones while driving is serious business. Driving should be your ONLY focus while driving. Dividing up your attention to include your cell phone impairs you as much as (or more than) being legally drunk, whether it be talking or especially texting.
Insurance discounts for cars with standard transmissions that really require more attention while driving? That's something I would support. Both hands busy with the task at hand, both hands stay out of trouble.