> Time for officer to write a ticket / time for ticket recipient to contest
> vs
> Time for camera to write ticket / time for ticket recipient to contest.
Think about this for a second.
The numbers are not very different because the denominator is so much larger than the numerator
The camera and officer are vastly different but they both pale in comparison to the time in court.
And the time in court is what ruins the most vulnerable people!
Average traffic stop is 20 minutes from stop to citation say
5 minutes for the camera. (Most times manual verification is required by law)
If you compare 20 minutes to 5 minutes, it sounds like a mountain for time...
Last time I fought a ticket (before I wised up to the fact paying the judge's friend who is a lawyer reverses time in such a way you never sped?) it took 2 full days off work. 1 day to wait in line so I plead not guilty, 1 to actually contest, and officer was a no-show.
So compared to 16 hours, the difference between 1 second and 20 minutes is meaningful only for a moment.
Especially when you consider, not everyone has a job where they can just take 2 days off.
The police target people who cannot afford the ticket, and cannot afford the two days off. They are literally stuck between a rock and a hard place
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This all buries the real issue I mention in another comment.
You're comparing ticket to ticket, but they're not the same.
If an officer stops you they can give you a warning because they like your tone (you speak like them, or you're kind of pretty, or you don't look the type who'll do this again). Or they can give you a reduced speed.
Or they can give you an additional ticket because you they don't like your tone, or rather... you didn't full stop at that stop sign. The other cars going through it didn't either, but they weren't the marks.
Or they can say they smell weed and start pushing the boundaries of your rights and take advantage of the fact they target the populations with the least experience with their legal rights due to systemic failings in education
You compared time for the camera to time for the officer.
How many innocent people do you think took plea deals sending them to jail for what started as a traffic stop? That would still be free today if a camera had sent a ticket by mail?
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Your other comments also imply a lack of understanding in the role traffic stops play in modern policing. Not being able to stop people for speeding and even other minor traffic infractions would remove so much power from them that they consider it a non-starter (having cameras doesn't mean they can't stop people for speeding it needs it's own legislation)
You say it frees up time for stuff like asset forfeiture... traffic stops are the leading springboard for all of these ills: https://leelofland.com/josh-moulin-the-importance-of-traffic...
In part because traffic stops combined with extremely dense traffic laws have essentially turned driving into an invitation for stop and frisk.
Cops do not hide the fact they tail people to create invitations to stop them. It is all to easy to find even the most law abiding citizen break a law.
And additionally in part because the leeway cops have during a traffic stop is immense, and they're extremely well versed in taking advantage of ambiguity in people's rights and even basic psychology such as fearing police, into getting into people's lives well past a ticket.
Compared to all this, cameras end up having shortcomings that police have, but with a fraction of the terrible abuse that can come from it.
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Also, this isn't the point of the comment, but cameras don't sleep, but they can be turned off. Here in New York City speed cameras are not on 24/7. They only operate during school opening and closing hours when kids are likely to be coming and going
And not every state allows them everywhere (in fact I don't know of any that do, but some might).
Virginia, notorious for some of the most brutal speed enforcement in the country (https://insurify.com/insights/states-with-the-most-speeding-...) only allows them in school zones and highway construction.
Legislation that would attempt to limit where police go would be almost untenable, but legislation limiting speed cameras is popular with motorists and much easier to pass (it's sad but true, it's easier to convince motorists to be anti speed enforcement than anti overpolicing)