I like the system in the video! [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]
All departments should have this system to locate stolen cars, wanted person,cars used in crimes,those vehicles owned by drivers with suspended or revoked licenses etc. Maybe even used to catch drivers with DUI restrictions such as to and from work driving only ,or no driving after dark drivers too.
As far as speeding and red light cameras go, one safety area is for the officers. They won't run a risk of getting run over, shot or assaulted during a traffic stop. The bad side is, with a camera that the officer is not on the scene to make an arrest on a wanted person or discover other crimes. What if that speeding car is stolen,fleeing a robbery or just abbducted a child. There would be a photo of the event that may be used later but it may be too late compaired to an officer making the stop.
Think of it as a great way to increase revenue for the jurisdiction with minimal risk to the officers. Most folks will just treat the ticket as a speed tax and keep on driving fast unless you affect their driving record or insurance. Then how would you handle a speeding car that is registered to two people and may be driven by a third party like a child,neighbor or friend? It could be a drawn out process to affect the right person's record.
Red light cameras seem to be a good idea at first on a public safety standpoint to prevent accidents. They do tend to slow down the number of front and angle collisions but most people have not heard of the fact that they INCREASE the rate of rear end collisions because people slam on the brakes to stop in time for the cameras then they get rear ended by the car behind them. Then like in most cases where cameras are installed after awile people forget they are there and they revert back to their old ways. Some folks would also treat the intersection cameras as redlight tax and just pay it. Again you need to affect their license or insurance.Then you have the same issues as above.
Many localites use a private company to administer the day to day operations of the cameras and fine mailings. They get a precentage of the fines gathered and I have heard that they have some instances of tampering with the timing to shorten the cycle and increase the number of violators so revenue goes up. That would have to be cross checked to make sure it's accurate.
Remember the camera companies are trying to make money selling and maintaining their product. The government is thinking of all the revenue and selling the idea as public safety.
The red light cameras would be best for evidence at trial for showing who caused the accident.
Also when you look at the ultimate objective of public safety the cheapest and easiest way to make intersections safer would be to set the timing on the lights so that all four ways go red for 4 or 5 seconds to allow for the intersection to clear before anyone goes on a green.
All intersections could be changed today if they took the time and effort to do it.
And in reality what is 4 seconds in your life if it prevents you or a loved one from getting in a wreck?
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Topic: Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) (Read 6914 times)