Short story identification - young man driving a manually controlled car gets death penalty for minor infraction

Question

I'm looking to identify a science fiction short story. I originally read it in highschool during the 1990s, but it was likely published much earlier, possibly in the 70s.

A young man is taking his date on a car ride under manual controls on the roads, instead of automatic computer controls, possibly in the sky? They're pulled over by the police for a minor infraction, and because they're under manual control, the punishment was death to both occupants of the car.

It has the same kind of feel as the Cold Equations, where the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime, except that they are explicitly "breaking" the normal rules of conduct.

Answer 1

William F. Nolan, "Violation". Story fits the question and all comments. A robot policeman waits in the ambush on the road with randomly set red light. After a couple pass through the light (due to some sort of fight between them) they are topped and executed on sight by some sort of desintegrator beam. The story is written from cop's viewpoint.

The rider cuts the flow of desperate words. “You forfeited your Citizen’s Right of Exception when you allowed a primary emotion- anger, in this instance—to affect your control of a surface vehicle. Thus, my duty is clear.”
The man’s eyes widen in shock as the rider brings up a belt weapon. “You can’t possibly—”
“I’m hereby authorized to perform this action per the 1990 Overpopulation Statute with regard to surface violators. Your case is closed.”
And he presses the trigger.
Again and again and again. Three long, probing blue jets of star-hot flame leap from the weapon in the rider’s hand.
The man is gone. The woman is gone. The car is gone.
The street is empty and silent. A charred smell of distant suns lingers in the morning air.

Answer 2

This sounds like "The Jigsaw Man" (1967) by Larry Niven.

In a near-future Earth, the demand for spare organs is so great that the method of execution has been changed to dissassembly for organs, and more and more crimes, even minor ones, are assigned the death penalty as punishment.

The story's protagonist is being held pending trial for a capital offense.

We're not told what the offense is at the beginning.

At the end, however, after the protagonist is recaptured and sent for trial on the original charge, we find out it's repeated traffic offenses. They don't bother with the other stuff he did.