> I think it would be far more effective to make it easier to lose your license than it would be to make getting the license more challenging.

For your system to work, there would actually need to be cops watching traffic.

Since the pandemic, some cities just don't have as many police watching the streets as they used to.

For example, there is virtually no traffic enforcement in Austin now. You see the results with how much people speed now, and how awful some drivers behave on the road.

* Traffic enforcement capacity in Austin dropped significantly -- traffic citations fell about 55% between 2018–2022.

https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Audito...

* As a result, speeding tickets, which once averaged 100 per day in 2017, dropped to about 10 per day by 2021 -- a 90% decrease.

https://www.kut.org/transportation/2022-02-24/austin-police-...

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lazide 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

But why? Did they fire all the cops? Or did the cops just stop doing their jobs?

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Henchman21 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

They’ve seemingly chosen, en masse, to simply do nothing anymore.

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dbg31415 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Austin didn't "fire all the cops." What happened was messier.

After 2020, the city council cut about a third of the police budget and paused new cadet classes. At the same time, hundreds of officers retired early or left for better pay elsewhere. By 2023, patrol vacancies were over 30%. With fewer officers, APD stopped handling whole categories of calls -- traffic enforcement, minor crashes, and low-level 911 calls -- because they just didn't have the staff.

Then politics made it worse. Austin leaders (Blue) pushed for more oversight and accountability. The governor (Red) fought back with bills to hide misconduct records and block transparency. The Travis County DA started prosecuting misconduct more aggressively, straining relations even further. The result: a demoralized force, hollowed-out staffing, and a city caught between "fund them less" and "hold them accountable more," while basic policing collapsed.

So no, they weren't fired. But yes, many stopped doing the job -- leaving Austin residents stuck in the middle of a state–city standoff. And honestly, it feels like that was Governor Abbott's goal all along: "If you didn't vote for me, don't expect police to lift a finger for you." These days, even for traffic accidents, assaults, or vandalism, 911 just tells you to file a report online.

	▲	lazide 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		San Jose had a similar drama play out. Not the only one either. Fun times.

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scyzoryk_xyz 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

If only there were other ways of tracking and observing vehicle behavior. And some reliable way of identifying vehicles themselves. Or ways that we could automate this with computers to sort through.

But that's just science fiction. Cars are just going to be cars!

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beAbU 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Kinda funny how the HN crowd can both decry and advocate for automated mass surveillance at the same time.

	▲	account42 14 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Is this the first time you have encountered a community made up of individuals with different opinions?
	▲	scyzoryk_xyz 2 days ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		The HN crowd wouldn't see the tounge in cheek humor if it hit them in the face. Vehicles have these things called license plates and take a license to operate. It's not dystopian mass surveillance or a technical challenge to have a camera assigning tickets for operating machinery dangerously in public spaces.
	▲	dbg31415 a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Not funny -- terrifying. In Texas, traffic cameras that automatically issue tickets are illegal. Courts ruled they violate the constitutional right to face your accuser. And look, that's how it should be. And I certainly don't want my own car, phone, or anything else I own snitching on me while I drive.

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dzhiurgis 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Kinda more dystopian the ads have better tracking of us than law enforcement.

	▲	scyzoryk_xyz 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Yes. This. Or that the advertising is the driving force behind surveillance tech

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cwmoore 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It sounds like you have a problem with the police, ok? Step outside please.