Digital speed cameras arrive
New devices are all-automatic and always on
Redspeed digital speed camera
On their way out are the familiar Gatsos, with their 'is it switched on, has it got film in it?' fear factor. On average, only about 10 per cent of them qualify on both grounds.
On the way in are digital speed cameras. Made by Redspeed International, they're going up in London -- 66 of them, as reported earlier (see link below) -- and in the Midlands. According to the Birmingham Post, you can expect to see them on motorways including the M5 contraflow near Bristol and the M6 Grayrigg works south of Penrith, Cumbria.
The point of the new cameras is that they remove a lot of physical handling that goes on now. It doesn't use radar like the Gatso, but sensors built into the road. According to the manufacturer, it captures three images: the first is a zoom shot showing the vehicle number plate, the second is a wide angle image including make, model, colour of car and the offence data. The system then delays for a period related to the vehicles speed, and captures a third frame, also a wide angle image showing the time delay between frames. The two wide-angle images can be used as evidence to show that the vehicle was moving at the time of the recording.
And instead of an officer or contractor going to the camera site, removing old film, filling it afresh, and taking your picture to Boots for processing, the digital image captured as you pass over the sensors is zapped over broadband links and a Notice of Intent to Prosecute (NIP) issued automatically. It means the device can work 24 hours a day, and that you can assume all of them will be operational -- those that haven't been sadly vandalised, that is.
And it all cuts the costs of sending you a NIP. Isn't that nice?
Links
Image by Redspeed International
at least now you know for sure that its working! so no braking for a camera without a film
also no detection with a road angle or sort likes...but luckely their are some nice navigations with POI(to store speedcheckpoints) and that way you don't get lost in the jungle of speedcheckkers
oh...and the country GTRene
Fire99 said:
but cant digital photography be manipulated? This has been something i've queried for a while.
Digital photos could be edited by the less scrupilous..
Yes, thats why WE can not use digital images as evidence to defend ourselves against scams.
The law about digital images does not, of course, apply to scams
Otherwise it's business as usual for me, as it seems the tactics haven't changed -- only the technology. I always assume they're on, anyway.
TonyHetherington said:
In all honesty though, what will this REALLY change?
Well for one thing, with the reduced costs Vonhosen is going to have to find a new argument about how little profit these things generate
Are these forward facing? It's always a shame when your number plate gets bent back by a kurb stone with those forward facing ones....
TonyHetherington said:
In all honesty though, what will this REALLY change? I can assure you I don't go through speed cameras over the limit because there's a 10% possibility they're on - I ALWAYS slow down. As such, I would do for these new ones too.
I'm not sure it will really change much on the ground. What is does do is reinforce the view amongst many that the cameras are there to collect funds.
It would seem that the sole purpose of these things is to make the imposition and collection of fines faster and more efficient. In the past the scameras were big, set low and painted lurid yellow - a deterrent as well as a piggy bank.
Now they will be smaller, higher up with a much faster 'flash to fine' time and less involvement from expensive operators. Add to this the 100% 24 hour operation and it only points to one thing.
If all of this doesn't go some way to convincing even more people that most of these things are all about the money then I don't know what will.
>> Edited by purpleperil on Tuesday 11th April 11:25
dougc said:
Now they will be smaller, higher up with a much faster 'flash to fine' time and less involvement from expensive operators.
Actually that's a positive in my book - a very heavily bent back numberplate from hitting a curbstone can attract unwanted advances from "proper policing" whereas if it's higher up, the unfortunate angle of benditure on the number plate can become much less.
edited for crappy spelling
>> Edited by Davi on Tuesday 11th April 11:29
TonyHetherington said:
In all honesty though, what will this REALLY change? I can assure you I don't go through speed cameras over the limit because there's a 10% possibility they're on - I ALWAYS slow down. As such, I would do for these new ones too.
It's to increase operational time (100% I assume or close to), cut costs on maintainance with respects to film, and automatically send NIP's by the looks of it.
The annoying thing is, if these roll-out fully, a cloned plate car could make your life absolute HELL, proving YOU are innocent to the scamerati!
I would hope to see the photo's with every NIP now, considering they are digital AND automated, there is no real additional cost in sending said information to you. But will they? Of course not
Another worry is that now the timing from shot to shot is decided by the device it seems, so we can no longer judge ourselves what any two pictures mean without knowing the delay, which I would assume is callibrated and printed to the imagery, and not tampered VERY easily with (because it could be!!!)
Then we have the requirement for the white lines still, if it works on v=d/t so there will still be pretty visible makrers on the road, even though they are set off by a different mechanism.
Ah well, open to digital attack, so good. Still get destroyed, good.
But seems like more chance for more people to be falsely prosecuted... anyone with ANY sense should buy an RA Compact (ok, RA will make too much money), and make these evil fixed cams a thing of the past by refusing them the income from fines!
Dave
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