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

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

#431

Post by honkdaddy » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:07 PM UTC

fudged71 wrote: post #426

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…

I am a huge fan of replacing instantaneous speed cameras with average speed cameras. Our city has the most dangerous road in Canada, speeding is the norm not the exception, and I haven’t seen any debate about average speed cameras

I'm curious - which road is that? In Brampton maybe?

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

#432

Post by louthy » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

hhmc wrote: post #361

swarnie_ wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its the "one size fits all" rule which annoys me. My car will comfortably sit at 110mph all day long, if I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? It certainly isn't about safety because that same car will stop from 100mph in less distance than the highway code requires for 70.

> I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? - your loved ones - the emergency services that have to clean your body off the road - subsequent road users -- when the road is closed -- to clean your body off the road

These are reasons to ban driving. Anybody can have an accident at any speed that could lead to a fatality.

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

#433

Post by ta988 » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

hhmc wrote: post #361

swarnie_ wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its the "one size fits all" rule which annoys me. My car will comfortably sit at 110mph all day long, if I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? It certainly isn't about safety because that same car will stop from 100mph in less distance than the highway code requires for 70.

> I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? - your loved ones - the emergency services that have to clean your body off the road - subsequent road users -- when the road is closed -- to clean your body off the road

Plus the pollution from the car, your embalming or cremation etc. And You are clearly endangering other people coming behind your flat body later and putting lifes of emergency service and cleaning crews at risk, just for your the enjoyment of breaking a rule you feel isn't fair.

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

#434

Post by ta988 » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

wizee wrote: post #407

hhmc wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? - your loved ones - the emergency services that have to clean your body off the road - subsequent road users -- when the road is closed -- to clean your body off the road

Fact is that people drive that speed regularly on German autobahns without any widespread carnage. Driving aggressively when below the speed limit, or being distracted, is far more dangerous than just driving quickly on a clear road. The emphasis on speed is mainly because it’s easy to measure and enforce. There’s standard etiquette there to slow down when there are vehicles in the distance ahead or curves or imperfe…

In Germany not all drivers want to go fast even on unlimited sections. And people are much more respectful (both fast drivers and slow drivers) of who use which lanes and to not push you if you are in the right lane. Statistically you would be safer anyway at 130km/h on that same highway than at 160km/h. Lets compare apples to apples.

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

#435

Post by lillecarl » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:14 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #314

lillecarl wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is automated and centralised surveillance. The government can aggregate this data and build movement patterns on all citizens. They might not do it, but they could. And once something to exert power is possible, It'll be done eventually.

They already have access to everyone’s movement patterns via mobile networks and mobile devices.

This is indeed a problem too, but it's avoidable if you want to put in the work

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

#436

Post by lillecarl » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:21 PM UTC

thrwyoilarticle wrote: post #375

lillecarl wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is automated and centralised surveillance. The government can aggregate this data and build movement patterns on all citizens. They might not do it, but they could. And once something to exert power is possible, It'll be done eventually.

>The government can aggregate this data and build movement patterns on all citizens. Yes. So? Sounds useful. Sounds like the Google maps data that people used to track lockdowns. Now you don't need to pay for traffic censuses.

Ask someone in China how they're feeling about being constantly monitored in every concieveable way. You'll of course think "Well that's China, we don't have that kind of mass surveillance here". And then one bill after another you're right there in the boat with them.

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

#437

Post by mFixman » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:21 PM UTC

Traster wrote: post #353

Lio wrote: post #321

There's the old joke: "All those present that object to receiving speeding fines please raise your right foot". People object to speeding fines but receiving them is entirely optional. Personally, I'd rather they clamped down harder on tailgating, poor lane discipline and uninsured drivers than on motorway speed limits.

My main objection is that enforcement, at least in the UK is absolutely useless. The likelihood of actually coming across a speed trap is tiny, the likelihood of coming across a speed trap that isn't one of the ones that are regularly used is close to 0. So it's not like people who speed get fined. It's people who speed and get unlucky get fined (and points). I just think it's bad policy to have relatively huge penal…

0% of good drivers get caught in speed traps.

The main issue is using fines as punishment, since people can affordably keep speeding if there aren't enough speed traps. The only way to solve most road problems is to forbid speeders from ever driving.

You already need a driving exam to drive, it doesn't seem crazy to now allow criminals who don't care about speed limits or safety from taking it.

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

#438

Post by ta988 » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:25 PM UTC

slumdev wrote: post #370

swarnie_ wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its the "one size fits all" rule which annoys me. My car will comfortably sit at 110mph all day long, if I'm alone on a motorway in the early hours who am i hurting or endangering? It certainly isn't about safety because that same car will stop from 100mph in less distance than the highway code requires for 70.

Someone not as perfect as you won't know to slow for blind hills and blind corners. Someone not as perfect as you won't know to back off in wet conditions. Someone not as perfect as you won't anticipate when to brake early to accommodate the extra stopping time. Someone not as perfect as you won't be as meticulous about vehicle maintenance. Someone not as perfect as you doesn't have your quick reflexes. Someone not a…

We had THE ONE software engineer that is better than everybody that ever does a single mistake. But we also have THE ONE driver that is better than every other driver. It has been studied drivers are overconfident in their abilities...

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

#439

Post by umvi » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:26 PM UTC

In Maryland I-270 is capped at 55 mph. However the general flow of traffic is closer to 75 mph. This gives police the ability to turn on the money faucet (speeding tickets) at their whim and leisure which I think is bogus. If 90%+ of cars are going more than 10mph over the limit, it means the limit is way too low.

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

#440

Post by lillecarl » Sun, Dec 13, 2020, 4:29 PM UTC

krapp wrote: post #312

lillecarl wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is automated and centralised surveillance. The government can aggregate this data and build movement patterns on all citizens. They might not do it, but they could. And once something to exert power is possible, It'll be done eventually.

Governments arguably have a public safety interest in aggregating traffic data and being able to identify potential criminal suspects by vehicle. Yes, they could abuse that in some nebulous Orwellian future, but data collection and analysis isn't evil in and of itself. Also, this is public data. Anyone sitting behind you in traffic has your license plate number, your employer and anyone you schedule appointments with…

Governments have their own self interest at heart, second comes everything else. My license plate is indeed public information, should someone follow me around and document evertything I'm doing. I'm fine with that as the amount of resources required to perform this far outweighs any potential gains. When It's automated by computers It's very cheap. I'm no expert in image classification technology, but i imagine a top of the line Xeon could extract license plate information and the parts of the images containing humans (for later cross reference with some other dataset) a couple thousand times a second. Meaning it'll cost close to nothing.

Yes, we should be vary of the data everyone is collecting. I remember a friend of mine saying his grandmother was so suprised she always got offers in the mail from ICA (Big grocery store company in Sweden) on the products she purchases. Completely unaware that they're tracking every purchase she makes because of her membership card.