Why It Helps To Understand Math: Driver Proves Speed Camera Lied
from the put-those-skills-to-good-use dept
We've covered the problems with speed cameras multiple times in the past, including the one that accused a brick wall of traveling at 58 MPH or the one that clocked a car at an astounding 480 MPH. Of course, those are obviously wrong. However, much more problematic are speed cameras that are off in a way that could be reasonable. That's much more difficult to prove -- though, it helps if you understand a bit of math. The Raw Feed points us to a story of an engineer who was able to use the photos from the speed camera itself to prove it nearly tripled his speed from 18 MPH to 46 MPH in a 30 MPH zone (using the distance between road markers and the elapsed time between two photos). He then tried to prove this in court, but officials wouldn't produce the photos in court (it's not clear how he had the photos to figure out the problem, but didn't have them to present in court himself). The court tossed out the case for "lack of evidence" over the missing photos and the guy got an apology -- but he's still fighting. He wants it on record that the case was dismissed for it being a "false prosecution" rather than just the "lack of evidence" because he's afraid that these types of cases happen all the time to people who are unable to prove their innocence.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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New Solution...
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The law should require that conclusive pictures ar
Germany has used automated speeding cameras for quite a while. It seems that their equipment is more accurate than ours. They are also quite strict. Only a few MPH over the limit gets recorded. They send you a bill in the mail with your picture attached.
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Relation to speed traps...
This does normally cost you legal fees and you'd need an electronics expert to prove that they couldn't prove beyond reasonable doubt. Better than points on your license though.
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Re: Relation to speed traps...
Not that I would ever do any of these things, I would never speed, it is just wrong :)
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Re: The law should require that conclusive picture
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Re: New Solution...
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never trust a radar
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Re: New Solution...
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Brand of Speed Camera?
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Re: Brand of Speed Camera?
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Re: The law should require that conclusive picture
Again, I'm just a dumb ol' country boy, but we all know mechanical/technical "things" fail, and if it is costing me money in tickets and insurance, it dang well better be able to prove it's case against me!
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Re: New Solution...
at the intersection where an 81 year old man ran a red light blindsiding my fathers car, the speed camera "was unable to catch it". From the time the old guy saw the yellow light, we figured that he was about 400 yards away from the stop light or something. we went out, timed the lights, and did the math to find his velocity, and other factors. In court however, after both cars were totaled the cop wasn't able to present his ticket to my dad for "impeding traffic" or some silly thing.
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Re: The law should require that conclusive picture
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Re: The law should require that conclusive picture
And people say you'll never use that stuff in real life...
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Ethics
It's an easy matter to get a camera to lie, or the interpretation thereof. Most are more willing to take the word of a piece of electronic equipment over that of a person, even when that piece of equipment is far more susceptible to coercion.
But why would anyone want a camera to misinterpret what it sees? It all boils down to the money it can bring in; if you can convince the public a device is trustworthy, and you find a way to secretly manipulate that device, then you obviously found a goldmine. No one will question it, and your agency/department will become very rich indeed.
It's a fairly nefarious, and common, practice. If an agency can increase its profitability, even at the expense of the truth, then it will do so. Just because it may be taxpayer funded does not automatically impart a halo of ethics; it may operate just as sleazy as an unethical private enterprise would.
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Re: Ethics
This is an awesome look at red light cameras and how it is all about the money and not safety.
If police and politicans were really worried about reducing collisions at intersections all they would have to do is increase the length of the yellow light by about 1.5 seconds. But that is not sexy enough for the media and does not create revenue for the municipality.
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Re: Ethics
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Re: Ethics
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Re: Relation to speed traps...
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Re: Relation to speed traps...
If the local governments are hard up for money, why not earn it like the rest of us do.
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Police Radar Problems
If you have been ticketed for speeding in Pennsylvania and if radar was the speed-timing device used, then you need to know about RadarGate.
Thanks!
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pigs
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Driving conditions comparison
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Re: Re: Brand of Speed Camera?
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But a mechanical, non subjective device should not be able to deduct points from ones licence.
Many a time friends of mine have been booked by cameras for speeding out of dangerous(or atleast potentially) situations.
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