[116745] in Cypherpunks
Re: Speed cameras in the UK - (big brother is watching)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean Roach)
Thu Aug 19 20:57:16 1999
Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990819164729.007af720@mail.intplsrv.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 16:47:29 -0500
To: cypherpunks@algebra.com
From: Sean Roach <roach_s@mail.intplsrv.net>
In-Reply-To: <000001beea61$8bf3f1a0$91f3b094@webadmin>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Reply-To: Sean Roach <roach_s@mail.intplsrv.net>
At 05:40 PM 8/19/99 +0100, foo@maladroit.sol.co.uk wrote:
>
...
>> How?
>>
>> By reading your license plates and matching them up camera-to-
>> camera. Kent and Leicestershire police are so impressed with it that
>> systems are being erected in their enforcement areas too.
>>
>> This is a new system which has now entered service after
>> successful trials on the M1 and M20 in the UK. Speedcheck
>> SVDD (Sureway Video Detection Device) is a system similar in concept to
>> the GATSO, but with a new twist. SVDD deploys cameras at either end
>> of a measured baseline(up to 500 metres) to monitor vehicles 24 hours a
>> day. Using machine vision,vehicle number plates are read, and the
>> precise time of each observation recorded
>> and as a vehicle passes the second camera, the numberplate
>> records are matched, and an average speed for the vehicle is calculated.
>> If this is above the trigger speed, then the vehicle's identification is
>> recorded along with it's speed.
...
Something that was tossed around here in rural Oklahoma for a while are
those little liscense plate protectors. The smoked plastic ones are nice
and popular, and after a few gravel roads and other hazards, they can be
scratched up pretty good. I imagine that they would only work better on
the front, and if it makes it difficult to read the numbers with human
sight, I'd at least hope that it would be worse for cameras.
Granted, I'm no expert, but I have had to put up with a bar code reader and
plastic laminated bar codes for almost a year now at my place of work.
It might be worth a try, and if the speed is posted on the sign reguardless
of the speed of travel, then it might be a nice little experiment to see if
it works without breaking any laws.
could also try angling the plastic to make it hard to read the plates above
about 5 degrees too.
Just a thought.
