Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

thedrive.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 525 posts

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

#291

Post by madjam002 »

Closi wrote: post #197
tempestn wrote: post #194

My issue with the strict enforcement of speed limits is that safe speed for a given stretch of road varies drastically based on conditions. These would include weather, light level, traffic density, vehicle capabilities and condition, and driver experience and aptitude. It's not possible to set an optimal speed limit for all these conditions, so normally speed limits are set quite conservatively. Of course it is theo…

The U.K. does have variable speed limits on most major motorways that change with conditions, congestion etc, with LED signs that display the current speed limit.

Smart motorways only adjust the speed limit down, and when there is no speed displayed then there are speed cameras every .5 miles or so enforcing 70mph

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

#292

Post by dabbledash »

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

My concern with this kind of thing is less about the speed limit and more that I believe people should be able to move around in public without being identified and tracked by the police. It’s one thing if the police have to observe something suspicious and then take the time to stop you for ID to find out who you are. It’s another if they can track and identify everyone all the time passively.

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

#293

Post by toxicFork »

fierarul wrote: post #286

I think society will soon discover that a certain % of rule breaking is absolutely necessary for it to function. My car has a speed limiter, radio and a computer. Imagine a near future where speed limits are sent via radio then enforced by the car computer. No more infringement!

People would rip the limiter out.

Or they would chip/crack it.

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

#294

Post by manquer »

buran77 wrote: post #275
Spare_account wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was prosecuted and fined for speeding in the UK on the basis of two Police officers' testimony that they observed their own speedometer while following me. A UK Police officer can assert that he saw a thing recorded on a calibrated device and it will stick in court. I would imagine that a Police officer could testify that he measured the speed using the calibrated device and continued to observe the same vehicle un…

In many countries the word of a police officer carries more weight by virtue of the authority they represent. It's considered that they are qualified to be entrusted with a lot of responsibility, so they are also inherently more trustworthy. This sounds reasonable especially given how many incidents are witnessed with no hard evidence - like jay walking, littering, disturbing public peace, etc. and probably also a lo…

Their testimony is given more weight not because of virtue of authority but by the familiarity and working relationships they enjoy in judicial system.

Same reason they get lesser punishment, a familiar colleague or someone from the organization you work daily with, or any persona you identify with better ( same school, ethnic/ racial background etc) will likely be treated more favourably .

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

#295

Post by kitd »

7952 wrote: post #273
coob wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're really not, there's 2000 of them in the UK: https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2020/09...

That is approximately one for every 200km of road. Hardly seems like a lot.

They're focussed on the heavily used sections though, ie where they are more likely to be encountered. By that measure (kms driven), they're much more common.

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

#296

Post by alkonaut »

dabbledash wrote: post #292
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 My concern with this kind of thing is less about the speed limit and more that I believe people should be able to move around in public without being identified and tracked by the police. It’s one thing if the police have to observe something suspicious and then take the time to stop you for ID to find out who you are. It’s another if they can track and ident…

> I believe people should be able to move around in public without being identified and tracked by the police.

You can. Just not in a car, because cars have license plates so not only can police identify you, anyone who can lookup a plate can. It’s non-anonymous almost by definition.

Where I live the registry is public so if I want I can ask for the owner of a license plate from the relevant authority.

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

#297

Post by konschubert »

fierarul wrote: post #286

I think society will soon discover that a certain % of rule breaking is absolutely necessary for it to function. My car has a speed limiter, radio and a computer. Imagine a near future where speed limits are sent via radio then enforced by the car computer. No more infringement!

If a law is bad when enforced, then the law needs to be changed, not the enforcement.

Arbitrary enforcement leads to discrimination and corruption.

Regarding the speed limit, I think the laws are just finde and should simply be enforced.

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

#298

Post by fy20 »

lillecarl wrote: post #240
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…

We do not have average speed cameras in Sweden and I hope we never will. The privacy implications of taking a photograph of everyone, process "who they are" (reg plate, generally driven by family member) is horrifying.

The UK has a separate nationwide network of cameras for that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recogni...

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

#299

Post by winter_blue »

fierarul wrote: post #286

I think society will soon discover that a certain % of rule breaking is absolutely necessary for it to function. My car has a speed limiter, radio and a computer. Imagine a near future where speed limits are sent via radio then enforced by the car computer. No more infringement!

> Imagine a near future where speed limits are sent via radio then enforced by the car computer.

I think if a law were passed that forced people to adopt that, there would be a backlash, and then the speed limits would very quickly be increased as well — to a far more reasonable level. I would imagine highway speed limits would rise to 110 mph (177 kmph) or something, which is far more reasonable considering how safe cars are today, and the sheer number of hours it would save in commuting times.

(If a road heavily used by commuters changed its speed limit from 55 mph to 110 mph, you’d be cutting each person’s commute time by up to half. That would add up to million of hours of time saved in a large-ish city, and not to mention, less road damage due to the lower amount of time cars are on the road, and probably less energy usage once car manufacturers optimize their engines/motors for maximum efficiency at the 110 mph point.)

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

#300

Post by _Wintermute »

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…

> For example, 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.

What an absurd comment. Scotland has stricter drink-driving laws than England.

Post reply on HN