As of midnight on August 28, 2011 the Kansas City Missouri Police Department (KCPD) has gone more digital. With a new criminal justice information system from the Regional Justice 
Information System (REJIS) and a conversion to E-ticketing, KCPD is the first major municipality in the country to go paperless. From the time an officer gives you a traffic ticket until the ticket reaches a final disposition in court, the system is digital. And we the Kansas City Missouri car accident lawyers wonder how this will impact drivers and if it will help reduce traffic accidents.
KCPD E-Ticketing and Traffic Accidents
Kansas City Missouri has 2,282 miles of roadways. KCPD issues 300,000 traffic citations per year and the average time to issue a traffic ticket is around 10 minutes. This new E-ticketing system improves speed and accuracy. The record so far for issuing an E-ticket is 2 minutes.
The information for the ticket is scanned from the driver's license directly into the system. This will reduce errors made from handwriting and transposing errors when the ticket is entered into the court data base. It also allows the tickets to be available on line for payment faster and sent to the court data base to be added to the court docket faster, along with more accurate information throughout the entire process. The fines for traffic tickets will be the same. There will not be additional surcharges associated with being issued an E-ticket.
What this REJIS system means is a faster and more efficient system, which KCPD estimates will save $1 million annually. This frees more money to go into safety and education programs and keeps more officers on the road protecting our roadways. That fact alone will help reduce traffic accidents.
Most traffic accidents occur because of driver mistakes. These mistakes include driving too fast, following too closely, improper lane changes, and not obeying other traffic laws. With officers able to issue traffic tickets faster, they will be able to increase enforcement of those traffic laws that help keep our Missouri roads safe. More traffic tickets can lead to more people driving more carefully to avoid a ticket themselves. This leads to less traffic accidents.
KCPD E-Tickets Do Have Potential to Reduce Traffic Accidents
After reviewing the facts of this new E-ticketing system it seems that this paperless switch may indeed help reduce the number of traffic accidents on Kansas City Mo roadways. The best way to reduce traffic accidents still remains driving safely and obeying the law. But with officers available to return back to traffic patrol faster after issuing citations, the number of speeding drivers and other unsafe driving practices should start to lessen as officers become more visible for longer periods encouraging safer driving.
If you have been injured in a traffic accident and are unsure what to do, contact our Kansas City Mo car accident law office and schedule an appointment. Or visit our website for information about personal injury, different types of traffic accidents and our office locations.
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