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In Europe, Speed Cameras Meet Their Technological Match
- Zenst 14y agoNot all cameras are static in europe, this is were these type of systems fall down. Having a subscription to some service that lists were they are and warns you and is updated by you or somebody else who pays a subscription is ok if you like to speed about on dynamic routes. Though anybody who travels the sameish journey a few times will soon know were and when to be mindful of traffic camera's. I often see policemen with handheld speed kit and mobile camera units, most councils in even have cars with a periscope camera ontop that drive around automaticly processing so many driving violations its just to stressful to drive. But welcome to the UK/Europe and do have a nice stay as we are watching you.
- masklinn 14y ago> Not all cameras are static in europe, this is were these type of systems fall down. Theoretically, these systems can also handle education by pointing out the current speed limit dynamically (as the speed limit may change around accidents or depending on the weather). They can also warn about other "dangers" than radars, and as the article notes the french govt had coyote change this last year: coyote now reports the user has entered a "danger zone" without specifying what the danger is (can be a radar, but can also be an accident or some other kind of issue)
- NameNickHN 14y agoThe number of users is large enough now that even mobile speed cameras are now thoroughly reported for all but the really sparsely inhabited areas.
- namdnay 14y agoCoyote is a dynamic system. You can flag radars (or "danger zones"), and if enough people flag it everyone will be warned. You can also flag zones as being outdated (i.e. the cops have gone home)
- nodata 14y agoAnd on the metro, ticket inspectors are now redundant: not true, they adapted: now the ticket inspectors board for one station and switch trains. Made every service useless in one sweep.
- qznc 14y agoThe state should endorse this technology. Once everybody has one, they can remove the cameras and everybody will still obey their devices.
- nodata 14y agoThat's a very good point: if the cameras are there to prevent accidents, then these databases really are doing their job in making people slow down for them.
- zalew 14y ago> if the cameras are there to prevent accidents cameras are to easily collect fines.
- snogglethorpe 14y agoSo, you can easily show those jerks, simply by respecting the speed limit! win for you, win for the community!
- zorbo 14y agoYou can easily show those jerks by driving at high speed and braking like an idiot right before you hit a speed trap. The reason the Netherlands employs so many mobile speed traps is because people quickly learn where the fixed speed traps are and simply ignore the speed limits in between, or try to "make up for time lost by having to brake for a speed trap" (yes, I've heard and seen plenty of people do this). This is why radar detectors are illegal in the Netherlands.
- dangrossman 14y agoI was surprised the first time my cheap-o year-old Garmin GPS started beeping at me when I drove through an unfamiliar city: apparently it came with a free database of red-light cameras and was telling me every time I came near one, along with displaying the current speed limit. I'm not in Europe.
- btbuilder 14y agoThis system will help you identify the speed averaging plate recognition systems used on a lot of Britain's roads, but you won't be able to slow down and speed up again for the camera.
- zxcdw 14y agoWhat do you do when cameras start calculating the average speed over some distance, rather than doing single-spot measurements? :)
- m_eiman 14y agoThis has been tried in Sweden, and IIRC the court said that since it can't be proven who drove the car between the cameras it's not possible to fine the driver.
- furyg3 14y agoBah, just fine the car owner, it's easy enough for him to have control of his vehicle, unless he reported it as stolen. This isn't a murder trial, it's a minor infraction, like a parking ticket.
- m_eiman 14y agoAgreed, but for some reason that's not allowed by current Swedish law.
- diggan 14y agoBut what if it's not the car owner who drives the car when speeding, should the owner still be fined? I rather see a society where guilty people skip a fine than honest people get a fine.
- raleec 14y agoIn Washington DC, they give the owner the option of specifying who the driver was, and they forward the ticket.
- jrnkntl 14y agoWe have this in the Netherlands (among others), it's called 'trajectcontrole' here, and it works/helps enforcing the speed. See; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPECS_(speed_camera) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPECS_(speed_camera)
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- pjmlp 14y agoThe thing with these systems is when you get caught, you don't pay a simple fine, you just loose your driving license. The journalists should inform themselves better, as European I doubt anyone is easily left of the hook if caught during a police control using such device.
- msh 14y agoIn what country do you loose your license? Certanly not in all eu countries.
- mjwalshe 14y agoIn teh UK if you have to may points on your licence you lose it and if you grossly break the sped limit you get an imediate ban. I know some on who has his 150+ speeding summons framed - he uesed to tune Pro racing bikes and was caught testing one late at night.
- huhtenberg 14y agomjwalshe - you are shadow-banned. Just FYI
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- Patrikvo 14y agoIn Belgium it's legal to have GPS with a speedcamera database. Mobile speedcameras are commonly announced on the radio too. All perfectly legal. Active radar detection on the other hand is illegal.
- NameNickHN 14y agoIn Switzerland, for example, you will lose the device. But in Germany, apps on smartphones or tablet PCs are considered legal. Only devices whose sole purpose is warning of speed cameras, are banned.
- corford 14y agoThere is a system in France called Coyote which is completely legal and works extremely well. It comes with an inbuilt database of static speed traps but the killer feature is a button that each unit has which you press if you pass a mobile speed trap. The device then sends the co-ords via the GSM network back to Coyote head quarters who then relay the info to every other Coyote user in real time. It's really effective. Site is here: http://www.moncoyote.com/ http://www.moncoyote.com/
- ovi256 14y agoCoyote is a nice French startup success story, also an embedded hardware success, similar to Parrot. I'm a bit disappointed that it fits the typical parisian pattern of elder, management consultants founders. No twenty-something founders changing the world here!
- goggles99 14y agoCameras are pretty cheap, can't they just put more in.
- lloeki 14y ago> the use of radar-detection services like Coyote’s, which also monitors a driver’s speed against posted limits and advises of traffic jams, was applauded last year by the French government as a useful driver education tool, which helped legitimize the service. I don't know where they saw that. "Radar-detection[1] services like Coyote’s" are universally criticized by the (past and present) French government: a bill passed recently rendering their use illegal. Now such devices alert you of a "danger zone", and the hypocrisy just grows bigger. I can be controlled for speed up to five times on a 10km, 20min commute, yet I've been controlled only two times in 20 years for alcohol. [1] This term is incorrect, radar detection systems (the little thingies that detect radar EM emissions) are completely banned, whereas radar alert systems (where a geolocation database is filled by professionals and/or the community and checked against current position) were until recently allowed, and banned recently.
- namdnay 14y agoAlso, the article implies that a) Coyote is new b) Coyote is a smartphone app Both of these are false: Coyote is about 7 years old, and the "warner" is an independent module that uses the GSM network
- lloeki 14y agoActually, b) is true: see [1] [1] http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/icoyote-europe/id367345773?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/icoyote-europe/id367345773?mt...
- namdnay 14y agoYou are correct, I wasn't clear enough in my sentence. I meant to say "Coyote was not launched as an app".The article makes it sound like it's a new development.
- josephlord 14y agoAutomated enforcement doesn't catch the most dangerous drivers (erratic tailgaters etc.) and it increases the incentive to steal or clone number plates. It is pretty rare to see a police vehicle on the UK motorways. I probably see one on my carriageway less than once every thousand miles and that includes where they are dealing with an accident or traffic stop. Our roads are pretty safe by global standards so maybe that is ok and money is better spent engineering out accident black spots.