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New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

thedrive.com

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Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#161

Post by forest_dweller »

spoonjim wrote: post #74
rconti wrote: post #3

I'm curious about the context of the $13,000 price tag. Is this a slight upcharge? Or an order of magnitude? I'm what the Brits might call a "keen motorist", but as someone who considers speed enforcement a necessary evil, there's a world of difference between paying a bit more for much better tech, versus way more. If this costs 4x what a normal radar gun costs, one must ask "what is the problem we're solving", and…

The point of distributing this technology is to make every motorist feel that nowhere is "safe" for them to speed. It doesn't matter if there are no cops around, their beams can get you and fine you, and hopefully that keeps people at safe driving speeds.

Driving in the UK is stressful enough. If I've driven down the motorway for long periods I am normally wondering if I've got a ticket because of the variable speed limits. I have no intention of breaking the speed limit, but I honestly don't know if I had because the speed limit in some places can be changing all the time. Great so I have more things to worry about when I drive to work. Brilliant.

Most of the drivers that drive at extreme speeds are usually very rich (they are always driving Mercs, Range Rovers, Audis and BMWs) and don't typically give a toss about the fine or the points.

Also there are many people (usually immigrants) who drive without a valid license and insurance.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#162

Post by dazc »

forest_dweller wrote: post #155
dazc wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18940314.three-donkeys-die-... This driver was probably only doing a few MPH over the 40MPH limit which is quite fast enough for a rural road. There is an A-road alternative for those 'in a hurry' but such carnage is a regular occurance.

I actually used to live near there and have driven down that road numerous times. * @7pm in the morning in the winter the whole area can be fogged up and it was dark. I've driven down and cycled down there when it wouldn't have been safe doing 15mph. * Animals can be hard to see, even in good conditions. Especially the donkeys, they are grey, on a black road and the sky is normally grey in England. Many of the animal…

I agree visibility can be poor but is easilly mitigated by driving at a suitable speed. The only problem, of course, is other drivers behind getting frustrated and overtaking recklessly. The other day one person was so determined to pass me that he almost hit a car coming in the other direction. For all that he arrived in Fordingbridge (2 miles further on) literally 3 seconds before I did.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#163

Post by fergie »

bArray wrote: post #77

> To the inevitable dismay of U.K. street racers who > primarily partake in their favorite illegal motorsport > after hours, the TruCam II also features night mode > whereas the first TruCam, which has already reportedly > been in use for the past six years, only worked during the > daytime. I think this really comes down to the letter of the law vs the spirit of it. To the spirit of the law, i.e. saving third-party…

"as I understand it, persons living in Scotland can drive back home drunk in rural areas as the only person they are ever likely to hurt its themselves."

As a person who grew up in the Scottish countryside I can assure you that is absolutely not the case, and drunk driving is _extremely_ frowned upon. In fact Scotland has generally had tougher drink driving regulations than England. (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30329743).

This kind of comment could be interpreted as casual racism (casting Scots as child-like alcoholics living in a semi-regulated playground), but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, since its a Sunday morning and nearly Christmas.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#164

Post by spoonjim »

smabie wrote: post #157
spoonjim wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* raced a car * killed someone That's enough for me. Don't care what the arguments are, how much they were peer pressured or what their home lives were like. Obviously if the argument is "the cops got the wrong guy" then I'll listen to it.

What if there was a bomb in the car that exploded if the car dropped below a certain speed (ala Speed, the movie)? If it was unclear, the point I'm making is that you are awfully quick to judge someone's guilt based on a web page you read. Also, you don't get to decide sentences as a juror, so your statement doesn't really make sense.

I know all of these things, and furthermore, I'm not in the jurisdiction so it's all a hypothetical. I'm saying that in the hypothetical where I am asked to pass judgment on, and sentence, someone who street raced (for any reason) and killed a person, I would with no hesitations sentence that person to life without parole, and would probably only hesitate about an hour before sentencing them to death.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#165

Post by jp0d »

tobylane wrote: post #87
jp0d wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hahaha.. Thank you. James May is a legend. Even though he is friends with two petrol heads, he owns a Tesla and a Toyota Mirai. He has an open mind towards futuristic technologies. I like watching anything by James May. Seems like a good bloke. For some reason he doesn't like the French! :D

I think all three of them have owned electric cars for a while. They’re all futuristic in some way.

Yes, you're probably right. Richard liked the Rimac a lot in Grand Tour. Jeremy liked the BMW i8.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#166

Post by forest_dweller »

dazc wrote: post #132
ISL wrote: post #17

I once saw speed cameras as "un-sporting" until travelling elsewhere in the world where they are commonplace. In those countries, it seems like everyone just drives the speed limit. If the point of speed enforcement is to, you know, ensure that everyone is going the speed limit or slower, they're awesome. Norway's system of timed speed cameras are particularly wonderful -- they simply photograph a car and then photog…

'Beyond that, if you don't want to get a fine, don't speed.' Seems odd to me that Govt's struggle to raise revenue via normal taxes when they have a large pool of stupid people they could raise extra money from? Maybe making a regualr speeding fine a life changing amount rather than the negligable sum it is now would improve people's behaviour, raise some much needed revenue and save a few lives too?

> Maybe making a regualr speeding fine a life changing amount rather than the negligable sum it is now would improve people's behaviour, raise some much needed revenue and save a few lives too

The fine is negligible if you are well off. It isn't if you aren't. If you get points (for SP-30), the increase in insurance is about £300-400. So the actual cost of the fine is closer to £400-500 which is the rent for the month.

There has already been talk of making the fine be adjusted to how much you earn.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#167

Post by fergie »

ISL wrote: post #17

I once saw speed cameras as "un-sporting" until travelling elsewhere in the world where they are commonplace. In those countries, it seems like everyone just drives the speed limit. If the point of speed enforcement is to, you know, ensure that everyone is going the speed limit or slower, they're awesome. Norway's system of timed speed cameras are particularly wonderful -- they simply photograph a car and then photog…

Its worth noting that Norway has an extremely low traffic fatality rate, which is especially remarkable considering the adverse winter driving conditions and remoteness of many roads. (https://norwaytoday.info/news/norway-registers-lowest-number...)

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#168

Post by NLips »

01100011 wrote: post #105
ehnto wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My state in Australia have heavy, heavy fines, even compared to the rest of Aus. It doesn't reduce the amount of poor driving but speeding at least is unambiguous. There is no grey area. If the speed limit is 60kmph then you will get booked for exceeding it by 5kmph, and the only reason you get that 5kmph leeway is to account for camera calibration and some grace for speedometer calibration. They would ping you at 61…

I think that's stupid for one reason. As an engineer I often considered 10% tolerance to be sufficient. I think enforcing speed limits to anything greater than 10% is just silly. I often drift +/- more than 10% of my intended speed. It's just human nature. I pay more attention to potential dangers and obstacles, and less on whether I am within a % of the speed limit, and I really hope other drivers do as well.

Ignoring whether it’s “human nature” to vary by that much, the remedy is simple: in a 60mph limit (the clue is in the name), target 54. +/-10% is now 48.6-59.4, instead of 54-66. It’s within the speed limit, and a smaller absolute speed differential between lowest and highest speed.

Similar arguments have been made against average speed cameras on UK motorways - “I’ll have to be entirely focused on the speedo the whole time!”. No, you just drive within the speed limit.

The speed limit is not a target.

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#169

Post by zhte415 »

smabie wrote: post #157
spoonjim wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* raced a car * killed someone That's enough for me. Don't care what the arguments are, how much they were peer pressured or what their home lives were like. Obviously if the argument is "the cops got the wrong guy" then I'll listen to it.

What if there was a bomb in the car that exploded if the car dropped below a certain speed (ala Speed, the movie)? If it was unclear, the point I'm making is that you are awfully quick to judge someone's guilt based on a web page you read. Also, you don't get to decide sentences as a juror, so your statement doesn't really make sense.

What if there was a shark in the passenger seat with a laser on it's head?

Re: New UK police speed gun can read license plates from half a mile away at night

#170

Post by peteretep »

bArray wrote: post #77

> To the inevitable dismay of U.K. street racers who > primarily partake in their favorite illegal motorsport > after hours, the TruCam II also features night mode > whereas the first TruCam, which has already reportedly > been in use for the past six years, only worked during the > daytime. I think this really comes down to the letter of the law vs the spirit of it. To the spirit of the law, i.e. saving third-party…

> To the spirit of the law, i.e. saving third-party lives, on a non-busy road doing 35 mph in a 30 mph really going to kill anybody

According to: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowle...

That’s 48->56kmh which takes 38% to 66% chance of fatality for pedestrians (eyeballing the graph).

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