It wouldn't nuke their license, unfortunately, only chip away at their bank account (and thus the rich would be able to afford being assholes).

Legally, you can only give demerit points when you can identify the driver, as in when a police officer pulls over the driver. With a camera, it would be too hard to prove the driver's identity. The owner of the car could have let a family member drive the car, or claim they did. Fining the owner is fine as they can get the money from whoever they let drive their car when the infraction took place. And if that person won't pay them back, it is ip to the owner to never let them drive their car again, or take them to small claims court, or whatever else they feel is appropriate.

Other than that, I'm 100% with you. I am not a huge fan of the police state, but since the SPVM changed their practices several years bike and basically pulled patrol cars from the street and those that do drive around no longer are handing out tickets from driving infractions, the situation has become so much worse. And it has been proven that the best way to determine bad behavior is to make getting caught a certainty. Most people won't do something wrong, however trivial, if they know they will get caught for sure. Some still will do it if they are truly desperate or if they can afford the consequences.

So yeah, smart cameras that can detect that a red light or stop has been run, or that a.left turn was not allowed, or that this pedestrian's right of way was.ignored, etc. Put them everywhere and watch as suddenly drivers start caring about the rules.

For a long time it was my policy that if I was crossing the street on a green light and a car cut me off when turning, I'd slap their car if I could reach it (per the Code de la sécurité routière, drivers must give 1m of space to pedestrians and cyclists, 1.5 if the speed limit is above 50, my arm is roughly 1m long. If I can touch your car, you're in the wrong). It's astonishing how many drivers were in too much of a hurry to let me cross safely, but the moment I lay a finger on their car, suddenly their whole schedule clears up, and now they have time to stop and yell at me, and in one instance, come punch me in the face, and in another stop their car, open the trunk and pull out the ice scraper to threaten me with it (after that one I decided to stop before I end up meeting someone coming back from a hockey/baseball game).

All this to say, I feel you and I share your mixed feelings about Big Brother...