The Libertarian Party of New York is opposing the state Department of Transportation’s broadened use of automated speeding tickets.

The automated ticketing system, implemented in a limited way in 2021 and expanded recently, employs technology to detect and automatically issue speeding tickets. Party officials said the expansion is a way for the state to impose a hidden tax on state residents while infringing upon state residents’ Fourth Amendment rights.

“The deployment of automated ticketing systems amounts to a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures,” said Andrew Kolstee of Jamestown, chair of the Libertarian Party of New York. “Beyond the constitutional transgression, it is a thinly veiled attempt to extort money from hard working New Yorkers. The lack of human oversight and the denial of any recourse to contest these automated tickets is a profound infringement on the rights enshrined to every American.”

Kolstee said party officials disagree with the lack of public awareness and debate regarding the broadened implementation of this system. The party also has concerns over the potential expansion of such surveillance technology and its implications for personal privacy and freedom.

“What starts as automated speeding enforcement could easily become a slippery slope towards more invasive forms of government surveillance,” Kolstee said. “This is already happening. These cameras were introduced in work zones, but are reportedly being installed in non-work zone areas, which discretely expands the government surveillance system.”

Libertarian Party members also raised concerns about what they term a strategic setting of fines at a low threshold suggests an intent to discourage contestation.

“The LPNY calls for an immediate suspension of this automated ticketing system,” remarked Kolstee. “We urge state legislators and the New York State Department of Transportation to consider the serious Fourth Amendment concerns raised by such a system. We are committed to the principles of individual liberty, due process, and limited government, and advocate for a state where public safety is upheld without compromising the constitutional freedoms of its citizens. The automated speeding ticket system violates these principles and the constitutional rights of New Yorkers.”

The LPNY is actively seeking people who have been ticketed by this new system, as plaintiffs in a legal challenge against it. The LPNY is concurrently launching a fundraising drive to support these efforts. By combining legal action with advocacy, the LPNY aims to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of all New Yorkers against what it considers to be invasive measures by the state.