Posted on 04/22/2010 11:48:48 AM PDT by James C. Bennett
As though cameras on top of every traffic light weren't bad enough already: there's now a trial run of satellites that will catch you speeding, over a several-block range, from hundreds of miles up. Hope for clouds, I guess?
The SpeedSpike system is being tested at two locations in London, and works a little differently than your typical trap: cameras on the ground are assisted by satellites that are capable of calculating your average speed between two points. Which to me just means a lot of speeding, then going very, very slowly, then speeding, and so on:
The company said in its evidence that the cameras enabled "number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day". It also referred to the system's "low cost" and ease of installation.
The system could be used for "main road enforcement for congestion reduction and speed enforcement", and could help to "eliminate rat-runs" and cut speeds outside schools, it added. It could also reduce the need for speed humps.
So much for hoping for clouds. Maybe a stray meteor, then? [Telegraph UK via Jalopnik]
Every day, at every level of government, I feel more like a subject than a citizen.
Lemme see your license and insurance please.
We may have to contract with the Chinese for this one. Regular target shooting won’t do.
Much easier to spend millions on schemes to continue ticket revenue coming in rather than protecting nations from illegal immigration, welfare fraud, and threats to national security.
Establishes the technological groundwork for taxing you per mile driven!
Good news! Obama won’t have to cut NASA’s funding now, he’s found a new mission charter.
I already pay by the mile via gasoline taxes and a tollroad that was initially promised to collect tolls for only 20 years (deadline came and went, current county judge over that resource says "I didn't make that promise, that was someone else besides" yadda yadda yadda. They keep "refinancing" it (borrowing money against it to siphon off dollars for other projects).
If I get a ticket from a satellite, then in court I will require a summons from that very satellite to be able to cross examine my accuser...
Going to be hard to get that accuser in court...
“I make a motion to dismiss, since my accuser is decidely out of the country, unable to appear your honor.”
That’s where the traffic cameras come in, I guess.
:^)
Who cares about the speeding tickets? This same system could be used by the government to track all of our whereabouts 27/7. This has to stop.
The era of Big Brother is upon us.
But your honor, I have one of these...
How much more f’ing orwellian can western society become before we finally and justifiably start pushing back?
With the right kind of marketing campaign, someone could make a killing selling flip the bird roof decals to send a message to Big Bird.
England has gone insane a long time ago.
Remind me to NEVER visit there.
This has pretty much been done on toll roads for decades albeit not with gps.......just a clock stamp on a toll ticket. Ya get from point A to B too fast ya get a ticket ! Was done on the indiana and will rogers toll roads in the 60’s at least.
This is nothing but speed cameras with their clocks synchronized by....
wait for it....
The Global Positioning System!
The GPS satellites are used only for a precise measurement of time, so that the average speed between two points can be calculated dividing the distance by the time interval that elapsed.
As a bonus, they could use the GPS positions of the two locations to measure the distance between them, but that would only be useful on a road that is straight as an arrow.
“Establishes the technological groundwork for taxing you per mile driven!”
Yep - but first the VAT.
This comes after...figure 10 cents per mile, increasing by 5 cents per year, until we achieve our required goal in reducing greenhouse gasses.
Change.
Dear James...
Never visit England.
=)
SkyNet???
You kid but we are going to see it go to more of a paybymile system. As people move to electric cars (not just hybrids) we are faced with either raising licensing fees into thousands for a car, taxing electric bills for roads, or paying tolls.
Politicians like toll roads, they are now working to sell them to private firms (sometimes outside America even) for short term funds to balance budgets.
They are also trying to turn existing freeways into tollroads.
Don’t expect to see much new development for high occupancy traffic with no tolls to be paid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.