Times: The parking meter you can't beat

[Peter Ward]

Interesting article here: [url]www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1981039_1,00.html[/url]. Note the highlighted phrase and see where things are headed.

Times said:

The parking meter you can't beat By Will Pavia Photo Violation Meter snaps you arriving and automatically fines you the second you stay too long ELECTRONIC wardens with lidless eyes, ruthless time keeping and an immunity to even the most charming excuses could soon be monitoring parking on the streets of London. The meters start ticking the moment you park, automatically hand out fines and photograph your numberplate to ensure that there can be no excuses. The Canadian-designed Photo Violation Meter accepts payment in coins, cards and even by mobile phone. It issues fines the second that a car overstays its allotted time. It will accept penalty payments on the spot. Motorists may be advised to cough up straight away — paying later could cost more. The meters can even call hapless motorists on the phone and warn them to return to their cars. It knows the precise moment that you depart, instantly resetting to zero — putting an end to the convivial practice of drivers using the time left over when another motorist leaves early. Attempts at escape are futile. There will be no hiding place for motorists who attempt to cheat the machine — only drivers of illegally registered vehicles or cloned cars will be immune. An invasion of the metallic attendants is expected shortly. Photo Violation Technologies, of Vancouver, has spent years producing the automatons and is setting up an office in London to market the meters across Europe. The office’s staff are expected to be human. Each machine is expected to cost £3,000, and, according to Fred Mitschele, chief executive of Photo Violation Technologies, the price tag is worth it. He predicts that the meters, which monitor two bays each, will collect five times as much as ordinary machines. “We’ve talked to NCP and we’re going to start talking with Westminster Council,” Mr Mitschele said. A spokesman for Westminster Council, which issues more parking tickets than any other council in the country and makes an annual surplus of about £35 million on parking, said that its parking department was interested in the machines. He added: “Westminster tries to stay ahead of the game so far as parking is concerned. We are interested, although we are not about to roll them out within days. “There is still an important role for the (human) parking attendant. I don’t think we will see them completely replaced. They are important as a street patrol, to give advice and to hand out tickets. It’s still an important job for a human being to do.” Barrie Segal, the founder of AppealNow.com, a parking ticket advice website, said he thought that some town halls would be reluctant to employ the new meters. “This will make life easier for motorists who will know exactly where they stand but it could reduce fines income to virtually nothing as motorists would no longer be so open to making mistakes.” Mr Mitschele said that the meters could be adapted to take congestion charge payments and top-ups from Oyster travel cards. He also believes that human traffic wardens will be switched to monitoring vehicles from an office once his machines hold sway on the streets.

[Peter Ward]

I think this raises the question, how many times/day will a car be ANPRed? If the risk of cloning a plate is that you will be stopped once that plate is ANPRed, then the solution is to keep changing the plate. Therefore, as long as you have a ready supply of plates you could, for example, put a new one on each day. But perhaps there will be so much ANPRing going on that you might have to change them twice a day... or relatively little so that once per week is enough. Even if it's 4 times per day it's still a trivial way of becoming invisible. No wonder self-incrimination is so vital to today's rule of motoring law.