In the age of the computer, the Internet and wireless communication, it was bound to happen.

One of lifes most maddening irritants getting a traffic ticket is going digital as states adapt computer technology to enforce road rules.

Washington has become the latest state to join the e-ticket trend. Its outfitting several patrol cars with devices that permit traffic citations to be processed electronically.

The technology allows a police officer or highway patrolman to scan a violators driver license and registration, generate a citation and transmit it wirelessly for processing. The only paper produced is a drivers copy printed at the scene of the traffic stop.

Washingtons program is part of an effectiveness study backed by Gov. Chris Gregoire and is expected to expand statewide eventually.

On the other side of the country, 'eventually' is now.

The Maryland General Assembly, which wrapped up its 2007 session in April, agreed to take the Free States "e-citation" program statewide before adjourning.

From a law enforcement standpoint, the e-ticket trend appears to offer many advantages, including more accuracy and efficiency besides saving time, money, even lives. Citations that previously might have been thrown out in court because of human error or illegibility (10 percent of all citations, according to a University of Pittsburgh Law study) are likelier to stick. Many e-citation systems also include a feature that alerts officers when they are incorrectly filing information.

Proponents also claim time saved through electronic citations lets police spend more time patrolling. A study by Itronix, an e-ticket device manufacturer, showed police officers spend on average 15 minutes issuing paper citations, and the slowest part of the process was the six to nine minutes writing the ticket by hand. Itronix officials said e-citations cut time spent issuing tickets by 44 percent.

Safety is yet another selling point.

In 2005, 16 officers were struck and killed by a passing vehicle while writing a traffic ticket. Streamlining the process will lower the risk of such accidents, e-ticket proponents say.

In addition, some e-citation programs do not require a drivers signature, reducing the possibility for conflict between officers and motorists.

Janet Ray, spokeswoman for the American Automobile Associations Washington state division, supports the technology, saying the system may help identify people driving with suspended licenses and without insurance.

'Maybe this is a way of streamlining the entire system and identifying people who shouldnt be driving, who will be taken off the road right then and there,' she said.

Alabama, Idaho, Maryland and Wisconsin join Washington state in adopting the program this year.

Some states are pushing the traffic technology even further, allowing drivers to pay tickets online. Drivers need only enter their ticket number to find out the cost of the violation, and they can then pay the fine by credit card.

Some of the devices that generate e-citations let police scan a motorists fingerprints into a database. Officers making a traffic stop also can use audio, video and photographs to capture the specifics of an infraction, reducing the likelihood drivers can successfully contest their citations.