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I didn't get this from the article, but are there no automated cameras in the USA? In Belgium there are tons (I pass 5 on the 10 minute drive to my girlfriend),

I didn't get this from the article, but are there no automated cameras in the USA? In Belgium there are tons (I pass 5 on the 10 minute drive to my girlfriend), but they're a joke. If people know the road they're taking, they drive however fast they like, until they get near a camera. They slow down until they're out of reach and then speed up again. Also only about 1/3 actually have a camera in them, but they get rotated every once in a while. Actual policemen with a camera are rather rare - considering how much road we have - and they get reported to radio stations. Though they're not allowed to tell listeners where they are exactly, only which road they're on.

dfxm12 12y ago
In the US, automated cameras are generally limited to capturing people driving through red lights, if they are used at all.
- apendleton 12y ago
  In many urban areas there are speed cameras as well. I live in Washington, DC, and there are lots.
snowwrestler 12y ago
There are automated speed cameras in the U.S. I know of several in the DC area. They seem to be calibrated a bit over the posted limit, probably to cover themselves for variance in the accuracy. Cars who know where the cameras are drive whatever speed they want until the immediate vicinity of the camera, where they slow down to just over the posted limit. Then they speed back up again. Drivers who don't know about them either follow the social cues ("hey, everybody else is slowing down"), or get flashed for a ticket.
corin_ 12y ago
In the UK we have (only a recent thing, so afaik it's not massively common yet) "average speed" cameras - they take a photo of you at two points along a road, and calculate your average speed by how long it took you to get from A to B, then ticket you for speeding if it was too quick. That prevents people from just slowing down when there's a camera coming up.

dfxm12 12y ago

In the US, automated cameras are generally limited to capturing people driving through red lights, if they are used at all.

apendleton 12y ago
In many urban areas there are speed cameras as well. I live in Washington, DC, and there are lots.

snowwrestler 12y ago

There are automated speed cameras in the U.S. I know of several in the DC area. They seem to be calibrated a bit over the posted limit, probably to cover themselves for variance in the accuracy. Cars who know where the cameras are drive whatever speed they want until the immediate vicinity of the camera, where they slow down to just over the posted limit. Then they speed back up again. Drivers who don't know about them either follow the social cues ("hey, everybody else is slowing down"), or get flashed for a ticket.

corin_ 12y ago

In the UK we have (only a recent thing, so afaik it's not massively common yet) "average speed" cameras - they take a photo of you at two points along a road, and calculate your average speed by how long it took you to get from A to B, then ticket you for speeding if it was too quick. That prevents people from just slowing down when there's a camera coming up.