Indian Police Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers

New Delhi police have a new weapon in the battle against bad drivers, Facebook. Two months ago the police created a Facebook page that allowed people to inform on others breaking traffic laws, and upload pictures of the violations. The page has more than 17,000 fans, and 3,000 pictures currently. From the article: "The online rap sheet was impressive. There are photos of people on motorcycles without helmets, cars stopped in crosswalks, drivers on cellphones, drivers in the middle of illegal turns and improperly parked vehicles. Using the pictures, the Delhi Traffic Police have issued 665 tickets, using the license plate numbers shown in the photos to track vehicle owners, said the city’s joint commissioner of traffic, Satyendra Garg."

Comments

ah this will be fun

[Dyinobal]

Just make a copy of a government officials plate put it on your car and runs some red lights while a friend takes pictures to post.

Re:ah this will be fun

[BangaIorean]

"I think your easy fix solution to a very difficult problem might not work!"

It does work. I drive almost 54 kilometers daily in Bangalore, and I have seen the result of the traffic police's punitive drives. One can literally see a difference. Your argument essentially is on the lines of, 'Orientals' are culturally disposed towards rule breaking, and Afghans are culturally disposed towards terrorism. I call BS. Singapore is full of 'orientals' too - in fact, one in three Singaporeans is a first generation Indian. Singapore traffic and discipline is much better than the US. What about Japan? Taiwan? South Korea? In India too, various cities have different levels of traffic indiscipline - how would you explain that?

Re:turn people against one another...

[retech]

So India is a communist block country now?

And in case you have not heard, people of been reporting their neighbors forever in the US.

Left Arm? Meet Right Arm.

[Maarx]

I imagine this is going to stop working so well when they turn off everyone's Blackberries next month.

neighbors reporting on you

[circletimessquare]

is how the ideal society works

it means people are invested in and care about their societies to make sure nobody violates it

you are thinking of east germany, where the state, not average citizens, maintained a network of neighborhood agents to exert control. this is top down control, not bottom up control

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi#Stasi_operations

remember when rodney king's beating was videotaped in la in the early '90s? this is "little brother": citizens reporting on injustice, whether done by fellow citizens, or even by the state itself, to maintain their society. it's the ideal. no, it's not "mob rule". the state still exists, and mob justice is not tolerated

perhaps you would prefer the sort of "stop snitching" mentality that goes on in neighborhoods rife with crime. a combination of people not caring about their own communities (and therefore not fighting crime that goes on around them, becoming collaborators in their own misery, out of distrust of the police, deserved or not), and criminals ruling by intimidation and fear to bully witnesses of crimes, results in a hellhole that in my mind, is even worse than east german stasi

Re:I did this after my last ticket...

[chinakow]

Who gives a shit what others where doing? Where you speeding or not? If yes, you are guilty of speeding, if no, then why the hell do you care what other people are doing? A ticket doesn't say you where the only one breaking the law, it says you where caught. Grow a pair and pay the ticket. If you still have that chip on your shoulder, then by all means, call in the police who break the law. You are still entitled to being an ass. Just don't blame others for the you own actions.

Also, Tu quoque. I linked it so you could get an edumacation. This is why the judge would laugh at your log book as a defense.