This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, May 2007.
In Pinellas County, Fla., the Clerk's office feels the need for speed. It wants its customers gone in 60 seconds. Speeding drivers are issued citations. They pay tickets. With a quick click they can pay online. In a quick trip they enter a PIN into the kiosk at the Clerk's office. And they're outta there.Pinellas County installed two kiosks in branch buildings in January 2007 to expand its self-service capability. This in-and-out expediting of transactions is aimed at the people's push for better customer service and quicker compliance with the law. The irony of being able to pay a speeding fine faster is completely lost on Tyrone branch office manager, Norman Loy.
"We're looking at ways to integrate technology," Loy said. He is completely lucid, articulate and has worked for nine years at the Clerk's office and as a branch manager for two. He is excited about the new kiosks and other moves he terms "progressive" in the technology arena for the Clerk.
I was under the impression that having to wait in line to pay a speeding ticket was part of the punishment for speeding and that it worked therapeutically for hurried drivers, slowing them down and etching an unpleasant experience into their minds. Loy said speeders should be treated to no waiting.
"It pays off for the customers not to have to wait in line," Loy explains. How does it pay off? Well, the fees can be paid off — even a criminal misdemeanor — by debit, credit or electronic check, and the clerk's office is not awash with harried citizens. The kiosk is contributing to "less stressed customers," Loy said.
Perhaps if the customers are less stressed they will be less likely to speed? That hadn't really occurred to Loy either, apparently. At least my question, poorly phrased as it probably was, confused him somewhat. I was wondering about reducing not only the driving speeds, but also the number of drivers speeding.
Loy suggested that by offering citizens an online payment option the Clerk was effectively reducing the amount of traffic on the road. Would that make speeding drivers less likely or more likely to put the pedal to the metal?
Personally, and I plead the Fifth Amendment here, if I ever were to have exceeded the speed limit, it was when I had a chance to do so because the traffic was light, or when the traffic was heavy. Anytime, really, that is, when I was in a hurry, and that's pretty much always.
As far as accountability, not having to face an actual person and divulge my misdeed appears to be an attractive feature of the Clerk's office kiosk. I told Loy as much, making a mental note to take it slow through Tampa. "You certainly reduce any embarrassing aspects to it when you're paying at the kiosk," Loy said. "You can get a little bit of privacy."
That's all any lawbreaker wants, privacy and fast service.
