SPECS and Poor Lane Discipline
Discussion
Has anybody else noticed how SPECS cameras seem to bring out the worst in many drivers who completely disregard the 'keep left unless overtaking' rule?
Normally at between 2 and 5mph below the speed limit, these enforced middle/outside lane owners pootle along obliviously for mile after mile with an entourage of vehicles stuck behind, slow undertaking, etc going on. There seems to be a higher concentration of these MLM's at these sites than elsewhere.
What a contribution to road safely this system provides. A classic symptom of the effects of speed enforcement over every other aspect of driving.:rolleyes:
Normally at between 2 and 5mph below the speed limit, these enforced middle/outside lane owners pootle along obliviously for mile after mile with an entourage of vehicles stuck behind, slow undertaking, etc going on. There seems to be a higher concentration of these MLM's at these sites than elsewhere.
What a contribution to road safely this system provides. A classic symptom of the effects of speed enforcement over every other aspect of driving.:rolleyes:
I wonder is this has anything to do with the fact that Spec's can only monitor one lane at a time (as in each camera has to be lined up with where it's likely to see the number plate).
thus is you are in the 'other' lane, it can't see you.
On the M6 section with Spec's they seem to be looking at alternate lanes for each set of cameras, so I suspect that people are moving into the 'blind' lane past each post.
thus is you are in the 'other' lane, it can't see you.
On the M6 section with Spec's they seem to be looking at alternate lanes for each set of cameras, so I suspect that people are moving into the 'blind' lane past each post.
cptsideways said:
Don't fall for that one, each camera can monitor its own full screen for a number plate about 200 times a second.
Neither of those 'facts' are likely to be true. What's the source of this information? Partnership web site?
If a numberplate was read anywhere in the full screen we wouldn't know how far away it was and a significant error would be introduced to the speed calculation.
All common UK video systems work at 25 frames per second (50 fields per second), so '200 times a second' sounds like complete bull.
I don't believe that a specs camera can monitor more than one lane.
safespeed said:Agreed. Normal video type cameras are used (VGA-ish resolution), so the quality of a photographed/digitised VRM would be pretty poor if the camera was to monitor more than 1 lane.
I don't believe that a specs camera can monitor more than one lane.
I also don't believe that lane hopping is an effective way to beat the system. The data from the next set of cameras are highly likely to be processed through the same frame grabbing card and scanning software. Hence the data from all lanes will be output via a common pipe to the speed enforcement software.
So don't even risk it!
streaky said:
SPECS reads registration plates in 3.7 metre 'virtual windows'. These windows can view any 3.7 metre section of the carriageway and one camera can have virtual windows defined to record over 'n' lanes. Changing lanes between two cameras will not 'confuse' the system - Streaky
Have you got a source reference for that information?
timtonal said:
Has anybody else noticed how SPECS cameras seem to bring out the worst in many drivers who completely disregard the 'keep left unless overtaking' rule?
It's probably the "rabbit caught in headlights" syndrome.
i.e. some drivers are so terrified of doing something "wrong" which, in this case is exceeding a certain low velocity, that nothing else matters - their velocity is all they can concentrate on, to the detriment of their driving of course.
james_j said:
Has anybody else noticed how SPECS cameras seem to bring out the worst in many drivers who completely disregard the 'keep left unless overtaking' rule?
It's probably the "rabbit caught in headlights" syndrome.
i.e. some drivers are so terrified of doing something "wrong" which, in this case is exceeding a certain low velocity, that nothing else matters - their velocity is all they can concentrate on, to the detriment of their driving of course.
I must say that a lot of them do give that impression!
Similarly, it is said that SPECS on a single carriageway road won't get bikes because it's forward-facing... but the camera gantries come in pairs, one facing one way, the other facing the other way on the opposite side of the road. Is there anything in the way of hard fact to say that the one facing the other way won't get you from behind? All I've ever seen is speculation and wishful thinking. Not even a testimony from a biker saying "I averaged 100mph from Northampton to Bedford and didn't get specked", let alone a technical elimination of the possibility.
(Not that it makes much difference on an MZ
)
(Not that it makes much difference on an MZ
) GreenV8S said:
SPECS reads registration plates in 3.7 metre 'virtual windows'.
What happens if you are mid lange change as you pass through the 'window'?
3.7M is about the width of the lane?
I find this hard to belive as for the OCR to have a cat in hells chance of resing the plate in the time it has (as in 3 cars per sec) it can't just scan though a big box to 'find' the plate, then OCR it, think about all the trucks etc with writing all over them, it has to find the numberplate.
this is the very same problem that TFL have with the conjestion charge and they are only just trying to log numbers, not do any calculation on them, with much slower traffic flows.
timtonal said:
Has anybody else noticed how SPECS cameras seem to bring out the worst in many drivers who completely disregard the 'keep left unless overtaking' rule?
They don't do it to get away with a penalty and avoid the cameras or anything as sophisticated as that. They are just stupid ignorant idiots going about there business at 30 or 40 mph, minus 5 mph for good measure (they know nothing about speedo's either). The speed limits been set so why should they move, if you undertake or overtake the camera will GET YOU and then they will be proved RIGHT. They think they are being exemplary in their driving skills, poor sad t
ts. Sorry but I really hate these people. I'd love to bulldoze them out of the way. We need a slow lane for muppets and a faster lane for drivers. Boosted.
scuffham said:Finding the number plate is easy. Due to the retro-reflective properties of the VRM and the fact the camera operates in a solar blind spot, the plate will usually be the brightest object in the frame:
I find this hard to belive as for the OCR to have a cat in hells chance of resing the plate in the time it has (as in 3 cars per sec) it can't just scan though a big box to 'find' the plate, then OCR it, think about all the trucks etc with writing all over them, it has to find the numberplate.
www.pipstechnology.com/album_hardplates/tough_plates.htm
After the plate is found, the brightness normalised, the image resized and the characters separated, (surprisingly simple) OCR algorithms will have an easy job of recognising a character in an image of 20 by 20 pixels (rough estimate).
smeggy said:
I find this hard to belive as for the OCR to have a cat in hells chance of resing the plate in the time it has (as in 3 cars per sec) it can't just scan though a big box to 'find' the plate, then OCR it, think about all the trucks etc with writing all over them, it has to find the numberplate.
Finding the number plate is easy. Due to the retro-reflective properties of the VRM and the fact the camera operates in a solar blind spot, the plate will usually be the brightest object in the frame:
www.pipstechnology.com/album_hardplates/tough_plates.htm
After the plate is found, the brightness normalised, the image resized and the characters separated, (surprisingly simple) OCR algorithms will have an easy job of recognising a character in an image of 20 by 20 pixels (rough estimate).
Easily flummoxed by non retro reflectives plates - oooops did I just say that
Slightly OT, does the SPECS system work at night? I use the A77 every day and whilst one or two of the camera positions have street lights on the approach, most don't.
I can't believe that the cameras can read a front-facing numberplate in the dark, irrespective of whether I've got dipped beam or full beam on. In fact, I'm slightly wary of their ability to read numberplates even in the sections with streetlights, as I suspect the focused light from the headlamps outweights the ambient light from the streetlamps...?
I can't believe that the cameras can read a front-facing numberplate in the dark, irrespective of whether I've got dipped beam or full beam on. In fact, I'm slightly wary of their ability to read numberplates even in the sections with streetlights, as I suspect the focused light from the headlamps outweights the ambient light from the streetlamps...?
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