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New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

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Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#121

Post by indymike »

antisthenes wrote: post #14

Can we start using something like this with light meters to ticket obnoxious LED beams that have not been properly retrofitted into older cars? It's extremely obvious which cars these are when you're driving at night. That these people are endangering dozens of other cars on the road is lunacy.

In most states those are actually illegal to turn on when driving on a street or highway. Source: owned a 4x4 for off-roading that had a bunch of KC lights on top. I was advised by the installer to keep the covers on them because it's illegal to have them on the street in an uncovered state. Other source: got pulled over for something, and the cop let me go because someone drove by in what looked like a UFO landing sight.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#122

Post by chucksta »

Hammershaft wrote: post #64
woah wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

This is such an inane justification for intentionally killing a neighbor's pet. Children are intensely harmful to the environment over their lifespan. Had our conception of property rights legally permitted land owners to shoot people on their lawn, would you be chiding commenters for being angry that a neighbor had shot somebody's child for wandering on their lawn on the basis that that child was so harmful to the e…

Stand your ground laws exist, although i'm not sure how you would prove you were threatened by a child

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#123

Post by pedalpete »

About 7 years ago I was toying with making an open-source raspberry pi with a decibel meter you could stick to your window and it would listen for loud noises and tweet the police department to say that a loud noise (likely motorcycle groups that ride up and down my street) had been located at X location.

I had a few friends who said they would also put them in their windows, so we could have a few devices coordinate to confirm it wasn't just a loud neighbour or something.

I built a prototype, but when I started measuring how loud the motorcycles were, it was often within the legal limits (I think 80db or something).

Partly, this is because it was inside my apartment, but they sure sounded loud.

I spoke to a police officer friend about what to do, and he said the police just didn't care. I pointed out how easily they could use a decibel meter on their phone to measure how loud, but it was a complete non-interest for them.

Good to see NYC taking action on this. Hopefully more cities follow suit.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#124

Post by someguydave »

hellisothers wrote: post #63
cassac wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s because the last thing anyone wants is a loud noise complaint to escalate into a shooting.

Not sure why this is getting downvoted, increasing exposure to police increases number of shootings, especially for minorities. And don’t ask for citations, this is and has been all over everywhere for years.

Only 13 unarmed black men were shot by police in 2019 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/23/fac...

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#125

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

asdfgasdfgasdgf wrote: post #51
Maximus9000 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But loud pipes save lives! /s Bikers actually say that with a straight face. It drives me bonkers. If I look at any list on the internet about top 10 ways to stay safe on a motorcycle, none of those lists will include "loud pipes". Yet, those same bikers will ignore other items on those safety lists like wearing brightly colored high visibility jacket/vest.

Next time you are in a car driving next to a Harley, listen to it. It will be quiet even at a stoplight and inaudible at speed. The road is a noisy place. Cars are soundproofed to deal with that. A loud engine antagonizes everyone not driving but drivers won't even hear it.

A stock Harley is relatively quiet, although it's still a bit louder than any modern car I've seen. The problem is that people regularly install aftermarket mufflers which do not muffle, even in states where this is theoretically illegal, and I've definitely heard them drown out my car radio in chk-chk-chk a few times.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#126

Post by bogwog »

oversocialized wrote: post #86

Illegal. One has a right to face their accuser per the Constitution. I also knew a guy where the toll booth reader sent him a ticket for a car from another state with the same license plate digits. Took him forever to prove it wasn't him. More draconian AI computer police is not the answer to this problem.

Yeah this is a slippery slope.

But if the system instead forwards the videos to like the police department where a human reviews it before writing a ticket, it’d take the AI dystopia down a few notches. At that point it’s just an AI-assisted security camera.

There’s still the question of the integrity of the system. How do we know the microphone was working properly at the time of the recording? Or that the video wasn’t tampered with, etc.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#128

Post by throwaway984393 »

bequanna wrote: post #112
rbanffy wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cops ignore loud honking and loud cars when its right in front of them. It allows for discretionary law enforcement. Cops love it. They can ignore it you if they like you, or fine you if they don't.

But, this system does kinda work and allows for police to charge antisocial assholes with a crime while letting normal, reasonable people who made a simple mistake off with a warning.

And to charge black people and not charge white people.

Noise is noise. There's no need to be discretionary.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#129

Post by JKCalhoun »

alistairSH wrote: post #8
jmpman wrote: post #2

Good. I look forward to this enforcement in my city. I currently live against a major road. During the night, the traffic noise isn’t disturbing, except for about one vehicle in a thousand. And that motorcycle wakes me at 3am. For weeks on end. My neighbor’s kid’s motorcycle. On his way to work at 3am, has to gun it when turning out of the neighborhood, waking everyone. These are neighbors who had shot their next doo…

But loud pipes save lives! /s We have a similar problem. Replace "motorcycle" with "bro-dozer" and make it 4am. Noise sucks. And since the pandemic lockdowns have lifted, it's even more abrasive. Those few months of relative quiet were marvelous. Where I live, it's a lot of tire noise from a highway over a mile away - just a constant background "brrrrrr" that I didn't notice before and can't ignore today.

Curiously, Harley sounds don't raise my hackles the way a loud sport-bike does. What are they, Ducati's or something? There is just something just so shrill about their sound.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#130

Post by leephillips »

jfk13 wrote: post #91
leephillips wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m with you. The problem is the people who let their cats outside, not the people who kill the cats. Why is a cat’s life more important than the many wild birds that it will kill?

Why are the wild birds more important than all the insects they will kill? You should be grateful to the cats for helping to protect the bugs.

They’re not, intrinsically. But on an ecological level, domestic cats kill so many birds that they are responsible for severe reductions in some species populations. I happen to think that species preservation is important. So people's free-roaming domestic cats should be considered fair game.
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