what the hell is this?

[imers]

driving down a busy road in essex i came across this.i was in a line of cars but i was doing more than 35 in a 30. i saw a parked police patrol car further down waiting in a side road. decided to ask them what it was. the police officer said it is to check numberplates. is this correct?
[pic]http://pics-96.hi5.com/userpics/896/644/64499896.img.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://pics-03.hi5.com/userpics/903/644/64499903.img.jpg[/pic]

[SotonS2]

It looks like an ANPR check:

Nice place for them to park, btw

>> Edited by SotonS2 on Friday 2nd September 17:12

[Alice Cupra]

Yup, I would say ANPR too.

the usual giveaway is the patrol car further down the road.

Vehicles which are flagged by the system are comunicated to the marked patrol car, which stops the vehicle in question.

Saw some on the A1 a few weeks ago. Slightly different vans, though. These had CCTV-style "goldfish bowls" on a large boom out of the top of the van.

1/4 mile later, there was a shed of a car at the side of the road, and a police motorcyclist with a large pad of tickets.......

Much prefer these to Talivans.....

[imers]

phew.thank god. no speeding ticket! im so scared in getting a speeding ticket these days. makes every white van i see a suspect! evil! thanks for you help

[john57]

Definitely ANPR

[ya55erm]

i'm suprised that this is the first time you've seen these vans,

they sit around every other week where i live and you can always tell there out in force cause of the 4-8 traffic cops just after and before you see the van

[The Boy Lard]

There is one of these most Fridays at the end of the M275 in Portsmouth, jsut where it drops to a 40...

[xxplod]

That is an ANPR van. It does not detect speeding offences. It serches PNC/DVLA dtabases plus local intelligence and then the traffic Officers pull over the wanted, the criminal, the unisured, the untaxed etc...

They are an excellent piece of kit.

[The Boy Lard]

Sorry - my apologies, good to catch those with no tax / insurance, only make it more costly for the rest of us...

More of these and less speed ones me thinks!

[bga]

It's great fun when they have one of these near me. You suddenly get lots of drivers U-turning in a U-turn prohibited area who get picked up on the way back

[FunkyNige]

imers said:

Why the generator? A bunch of computers can't take that much power can they?

[puggit]

FunkyNige said:

Why the generator? A bunch of computers can't take that much power can they?

Not allowed to sit with the engine running - EU laws on emmisions and all that

[toffoboy]

Puggit,

you say they are not allowed to sit there with engine running.

The one I see on the way home sits on the grass at the side of the road, with engine running and no-one in the cab.

I thought that it was illegal to have the engine running with no-one in control of the vehicle - can i therefore report it to the officers further up the road that there is an illegally parked vehicle with the engine running and no-one in the drivers seat? What woudl they do if I did report it?

[deva link]

puggit said:

FunkyNige said: Why the generator? A bunch of computers can't take that much power can they? Not allowed to sit with the engine running - EU laws on emmisions and all that

So it's a zero emission generator then?

[C C]

toffoboy said:

Puggit, you say they are not allowed to sit there with engine running. The one I see on the way home sits on the grass at the side of the road, with engine running and no-one in the cab. I thought that it was illegal to have the engine running with no-one in control of the vehicle - can i therefore report it to the officers further up the road that there is an illegally parked vehicle with the engine running and no-one in the drivers seat? What woudl they do if I did report it? Probably smash your rear light with a truncheon and then nick ya for it.

[towman]

Nicely obstructing the view from the junction!