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

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

#51

Post by loeg »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #37
judge2020 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know this was a thing in the US until a few months ago - apparently the local police notify insurance companies (somehow) of speeding violations and thus give the insurance reason to increase your premiums.

If the goal is to charge people who take actions that result in higher probability of losses, then it makes sense. Otherwise, drivers that have less probability to cause losses are subsidizing those that do. Also, in the US as far as I know, you can “fight” the ticket in court and pay the local government more to reduce the level of speeding ticket and hence points you get, so that the insurance company doesn’t see a…

> If the goal is to charge people who take actions that result in higher probability of losses, then it makes sense. Otherwise, drivers that have less probability to cause losses are subsidizing those that do.

It's a noisy and weak signal.

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

#52

Post by ehnto »

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…

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 61kmph if they could

We also have demerit points, so if you get caught speeding say three times in a row you will most likely have ran out of points on your license and automatically get a 3 to 6 month license suspension. Most of this is automated, so you may find out you were suspended by getting pulled over before the letter arrives. It's all very strict.

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

#53

Post by beagle3 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #23
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…

> but if you're loaning your car out to someone who speeds, at least some of the culpability falls on you. Not in Germany it doesn’t. Only the actual driver can be found guilty of speeding, even by speed-camera. I understand they’ll take pictures of the front of the vehicle and check against who’s lives at the registered address. Not sure if it’s an infraction for the registered owner to refuse to identify the likely…

In Israel, it is up to the owner of the car to name the driver (or accept responsibility) if no other evidence is available.

Rental companies name the renter, which is what you describe, and it is then up to the renter to accept or name a sub-lesser; by default, the responsible party is the latest to accept, or for court to determine (but that would likely require dissenting potential drivers to file legal complaints against each other)

Occasionally, people use this to equalize penalty points in a household (say, married couples) because other than fines, there’s a point system where 3-5 nontrivial tickets in as many years will get your license suspended or revoked for a while, and other sanctions.

This practice - admitting a crime you didn’t commit - is of course illegal, and not very prevalent - but there have been a few high profile cases involving famous (and infamous) people caught doing that.

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

#54

Post by beagle3 »

ransom1538 wrote: post #28
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…

Take it another level. Every car should have a chip. Once you are in a speed limit - your car can't go faster. Oh wait, this wont generate revenue - so it wont work. Never mind.

Almost all cars can be set to respect a speed limit already; I do that when I drive on highways to make sure I don’t accidentally go over (which is easy to do especially when others around me do it).

Outside of the US (and perhaps a few other places, but not many), speeding tickets are not designed to be a revenue source. (They do produce revenue, of course - but are not optimized or planned for that purpose)

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

#55

Post by gpm »

XorNot wrote: post #22
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 agree speed camera are necessary but "time of travel" speed cameras are absolutely violating the intent of the law, which is to have people drive safely. Part of driving safely is that you may need to speed up to avoid a situation, or change lanes safely or what have you - a time of travel camera (in the way they get implemented which is identical to single-point speed cameras AFAIK) is essentially just a random ti…

Time of travel are the only ones respecting the intent of a law?

Systems that measure your instantaneous speed will ding you for speeding up to avoid (or reduce the probability of) a collision. Time of travel as defined in GP only dings you if your average speed over many km exceeds the speed limit, a few temporary bursts of speed won't change your average speed significantly.

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

#56

Post by lotsofpulp »

loeg wrote: post #51
lotsofpulp wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the goal is to charge people who take actions that result in higher probability of losses, then it makes sense. Otherwise, drivers that have less probability to cause losses are subsidizing those that do. Also, in the US as far as I know, you can “fight” the ticket in court and pay the local government more to reduce the level of speeding ticket and hence points you get, so that the insurance company doesn’t see a…

> If the goal is to charge people who take actions that result in higher probability of losses, then it makes sense. Otherwise, drivers that have less probability to cause losses are subsidizing those that do. It's a noisy and weak signal.

It it was not a good signal, then a competing auto insurance company would advertise that it does not penalize speeding drivers and win more business.

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

#57

Post by jp0d »

mhh__ wrote: post #34
jp0d wrote: post #9

James May must be really happy now. This means the "rozzers" have solved all the existing crimes and are now focusing on petty things like this. James must have gotten his telly back too!

A reference to a 2 minute conversation from an episode of top gear from 10 years ago, beautiful work.

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

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

#58

Post by lotsofpulp »

loeg wrote: post #49
ceejayoz wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The speed limit is an upper bound. If you cannot safely pass someone without speeding, slowing down is generally an option too. If you're speeding to escape a homicidal maniac, challenge the ticket later.

In at least parts of the US, it is not an upper bound. You can exceed the posted limit to pass.

Where in the US?

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

#59

Post by loeg »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #56
loeg wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the goal is to charge people who take actions that result in higher probability of losses, then it makes sense. Otherwise, drivers that have less probability to cause losses are subsidizing those that do. It's a noisy and weak signal.

It it was not a good signal, then a competing auto insurance company would advertise that it does not penalize speeding drivers and win more business.

This is a false dichotomy. It can be noisy and weak without being a competitive disadvantage for the insurance business.

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

#60

Post by loeg »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #58
loeg wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In at least parts of the US, it is not an upper bound. You can exceed the posted limit to pass.

Where in the US?

Washington, for example. RCW 46.61.425:

> a person following a vehicle driving at less than the legal maximum speed and desiring to pass such vehicle may exceed the speed limit

https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.425

This random internet webpage claims that Idaho, Wyoming, and Minnesota have something similar: https://blog.directauto.com/driving-laws/going-over-speed-li... .

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