Method and system for processing vehicular violations
A method includes receiving paper comprising information regarding a vehicular violation, the information comprising a unique vehicle identifier and a violation classification, extracting from the paper the unique vehicle identifier and the violation classification via automated pattern recognition, uploading the extracted unique vehicle identifier and the violation classification to a database, determining whether the extracted unique vehicle identifier is associated with a predefined plurality of vehicles, responsive to a determination that the unique vehicle identifier is associated with a vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles, charging a violation fee for the vehicular violation to a party that was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation, responsive to a determination that the unique vehicle identifier is not associated with the predefined plurality of vehicles, disputing responsibility for the vehicular violation.
1. A method comprising:
by a computer system comprising computer hardware:
receiving paper comprising information regarding a vehicular violation, the information comprising a license plate number and a violation classification;
extracting from the paper the license plate number and the violation classification via an automated extraction technique;
uploading the extracted license plate number and the violation classification to a database;
determining whether the extracted license plate number is associated with a predefined plurality of vehicles;
responsive to a determination that the license plate number is associated with a vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles, charging a violation fee for the vehicular violation to a party that was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation; and
responsive to a determination that the license plate number is not associated with the predefined plurality of vehicles, disputing responsibility for the vehicular violation.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disputing step comprises providing evidence of non-responsibility for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the evidence of non-responsibility comprises sale documents.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the evidence of non-responsibility comprises lease-return documents.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predefined plurality of vehicles is a plurality of vehicles available for rent by a rental-car agency.
6. The method of claim 5 , comprising, responsive to a determination that the license plate number is associated with the vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles:
determining whether the vehicle was rented at the time of the vehicular violation;
responsive to a determination that the vehicle was rented at the time of the vehicular violation, identifying a renter of the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation as the party responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation; and
responsive to a determination that the vehicle was not rented at the time of the vehicular violation, identifying the rental-car agency as the party responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation.
7. The method of claim 1 , comprising paying the violation fee.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step comprises comparing the license plate number to a plurality of license plate numbers in a database.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the database comprises rental-car-agreement data of a rental-car agency.
10. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
identifying an employee of the rental-car agency who was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation; and
charging the employee the violation fee.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicular violation is selected from the group consisting of a toll violation, a parking violation, and a traffic violation.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the violation classification is selected from the group consisting of a first notice, a second notice, a collection letter, and a court notice.
13. The method of claim 1 , comprising sorting the vehicular violation among a plurality of vehicular violations by the violation classification.
14. A system for vehicular violations automation, the system comprising:
a first entity for receiving paper comprising information regarding a vehicular violation, the information comprising a license plate number and a violation classification;
a first computer associated with the first entity and adapted for automated pattern recognition for extracting from the paper the license plate number and the violation classification;
a database associated with the first entity and adapted for receiving the license plate number and the violation classification that was extracted by the first computer;
a second computer associated with the first entity and adapted for violation processing logic to determine whether the extracted license plate number is associated with a predefined plurality of vehicles;
wherein the second computer determines whether the license plate number is associated with a vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles;
responsive to a determination that the license plate number is associated with a vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles, the second computer charges a violation fee for the vehicular violation to a party that was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation; and
responsive to a determination that the license plate number is not associated with the predefined plurality of vehicles, the second computer disputes responsibility for the vehicular violation.
15. The system of claim 14 , comprising, responsive to a determination that the license plate number is associated with the vehicle of the predefined plurality of vehicles:
the second computer determines whether the vehicle was rented at the time of the vehicular violation;
responsive to a determination that the vehicle was rented at the time of the vehicular violation, the second computer identifies a renter of the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation as the party responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation; and
responsive to a determination that the vehicle was not rented at the time of the vehicular violation, the second computer identifies the rental-car agency as the party responsible for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the predefined plurality of vehicles is a plurality of vehicles available for rent by a rental-car agency.
17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the vehicular violation is selected from the group consisting of a toll violation, a parking violation, and a traffic violation.
18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the disputing step comprises providing evidence of non-responsibility for the vehicle at the time of the vehicular violation.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the evidence of non-responsibility comprises sale documents.