A new traffic ticket technology will allow one town’s police force to write more Florida speeding tickets and other citations. The Lakeland Police are now using “pocket citation” equipment that ends their need to write traffic tickets as computer-generated tickets are now produced by hand-held PDA devices. Currently 30 officers are equipped with the devices.
One of the benefits of the new system is speed. The automated system will allow officers to computer-generate more tickets but they also say it will cut down on errors that allow motorists and traffic ticket lawyers to fight those citations in court. Human error becomes less of a factor as the hand-held devices will not allow the ticket to be printed if there is any missing information and they also automatically fill in long and complicated statute numbers than can easily be written incorrectly by an officer.
The PDA’s are equipped with magnetic strip readers that will eventually allow officers to swipe a driver’s license through the devices to pull up a driver’s history and access information on previous traffic citations, pending arrest warrants and information on suspended or revoked licenses. The officers also have the ability to type in a license plate number to get vehicle history. Small printers allow the officers to give the driver a hard copy of the citation.
The computer system isn’t just about allowing the officers to produce more tickets for speeding, improper change of lane or Florida’s “Move Over” law. It is also a safety issue. According to an officer quoted in the Lakeland Ledger the devices will keep the police officers safer because a traffic stop is one of the most dangerous parts of his job. In his mind the less time he needs to stand on a roadside writing out a ticket, the safer he will be from oncoming traffic.
