DoNotPay Bot Has Beaten 160,000 Traffic Tickets -- and Counting (venturebeat.com)

Khari Johnson, writing for VentureBeat:A bot made to challenge traffic tickets has been used more than 9,000 times by New Yorkers, according to DoNotPay maker Joshua Browder. The bot was made available to New Yorkers in March. In recent years and decades, residents of The Big Apple have seen a persistent increase in traffic fines. A record $1.9 billion in traffic fines was issued by the City of New York in 2015. Since the first version of the bot was released in London last fall, 160,000 of 250,000 tickets have been successfully challenged with DoNotPay, Browder said. "I think the people getting parking tickets are the most vulnerable in society," said Browder. "These people aren't looking to break the law. I think they're being exploited as a revenue source by the local government." Browder, who's 19, hopes to extend DoNotPay to Seattle this fall.

Comments

Re:So a useless 'bot, then?

[tomhath]

The bot helps a person decide if the reasons they have are "legitimate", and it gives some pointers on what evidence to bring if you decide to challenge. I don't understand why you think that's useless.

Re:saving the world

[LMariachi]

You know how I know you didn't RTFA?

Since the creation of DoNotPay, Browder has begun work on a bot to help people with HIV understand their legal rights and one to collect compensation for people whose flights were delayed beyond four hours.

He’s also creating a bot that helps refugees apply for asylum, as part of the Highland Capital summer startup accelerator program. It will utilize IBM Watson to translate from Arabic to English.

Re:we're all government's bitches

[dwillden]

Actually it's to allow those approaching the intersection to determine if they can safely stop before entering the intersection or if they need to push through, granted many should stop who do not, but crossing into the intersection during a yellow is not wrong. If you are in the intersection when the light changes to red you are not in violation. If you cross the line into the intersection after it turns red, then you are in violation. There is a delay when all four lights are red to allow the intersection to clear of those caught in the intersection when the light turns red.