Show HN: Report idling vehicles in NYC (and get a cut of the fines) with AI

This is a phenomenal application of how fine-based bounties can be used to rapidly improve compliance with the law. Incredible work. I would absolutely use this if I lived in NYC; I'll recommend it to my friends there.

>This is a phenomenal application of how fine-based bounties can be used to rapidly improve compliance with the law.

This type of thing can get out of hand quickly. Without me giving controversial examples, just imagine for yourself the types of things that different states can make a crime, add a fine, then offer to give other citizens part or all of that fine if they turn in others. After that, think of how unscrupulous businesses could use it against competition.

Compliance with the law is a separate issue from the contents of the law. If switching to a fine-based bounty system like this suddenly causes an uproar over a given law, then I submit the proper thing is to look over that law and perhaps tear it down. Any "law" that people put up with because it isn't enforced 9 times out of 10 is little more than a tax upon those too honest to get away with it.

As for businesses using it against one another in competition: Same deal, I think that's an excellent thing. If this idling law causes NYC businesses to shift en masse to faster loading and unloading practices because their competitors are watching them like hawks, I don't think that's a bad thing.

>Compliance with the law is a separate issue from the contents of the law.

Agree. More of my thought is what happens when everyone is incentivized with money to spy on everyone else? How can you misuse this as a government? How can unscrupulous businesses misuse this?

>If switching to a fine-based bounty system like this suddenly causes an uproar over a given law, then I submit the proper thing is to look over that law and perhaps tear it down.

I would submit that there is the danger that people might want to keep a bad law if they continue to make money by snitching. In fact, money is the exact wrong incentive for this sort of thing.

>Any "law" that people put up with because it isn't enforced 9 times out of 10 is little more than a tax upon those too honest to get away with it.

Think a little harder and see if you can imagine why a law that isn't strongly enforced still might exist.

>[P]eople might want to keep a bad law if they continue to make money by snitching. In fact, money is the exact wrong incentive for this sort of thing.

I've said elsewhere the optimal mechanism here is for that money to be paid to the snitcher, from the person who is being turned in. This would lead us to assume that for most crimes of a personal nature, we would have about as many people losing money due to the law as making money due to it, and so the effect cancels out.

In situations where many more people make money and only a select few are losing big, well... Somehow I feel like that's usually for the best anyway. See my other comments on eg the runaway success of the False Claims Act. Or just consider the class action lawsuit and whether you think it fills a valuable role in society.

>Think a little harder and see if you can imagine why a law that isn't strongly enforced still might exist.

Thanks for letting me pick the reason, that's very thoughtful of you. Obviously it's because said law being strongly enforced would cause such a public backlash that it would quickly get repealed in its entirety, and thus further erode the monopoly on violence the state holds over its citizenry. Cops then have fewer en passants they can pull when they don't follow procedure, etc etc. I'm glad we're in agreement on this.

> See my other comments on eg the runaway success of the False Claims Act

Could you link some examples of such comments because I can't find them, please?

> Or just consider the class action lawsuit and whether you think it fills a valuable role in society.

This is an odd one. They are extremely rare in the UK, but in practice I think we have better consumer protection because it's handled through ordinary politics and legislation, rather than litigation.

ref. https://www.osborneclarke.com/insights/what-status-class-act...

I also wonder how this is going to interact with politically connected people who are used to ignoring the law, such as Cuomo https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/06/16/no-mo-cuomo-scofflaw-...

I had a discussion with gametorch about this topic where I mention the case of Biogen employee Michael Bawduniak. His comments got flagged, but I think he laid his assumptions and concern for the downstream effects on US culture bare, which is commendable. I'll cite some relevant news articles since finding the exact link is proving tough.

[1]: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/biogen-inc-agrees-pa... " Biogen Inc. Agrees to Pay $900 Million to Settle Allegations Related to Improper Physician Payments"

[2]: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/largest-ever-266-4-... "Largest-Ever $266.4 Million Whistleblower Award in Biogen False Claims Act Suit"

[3]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-26/biogen-to... "Biogen Agrees to Pay $900 Million to Resolve Kickback Claims"

You can also find more official information on the SEC whistleblower program, which I think the False Claims Act itself is under but might just be a mirror similarity, at

[4]: https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/whistleblower-pro...

It's fascinating stuff.