High Tech License Plate Frame Beats Red-Light Cameras

Red light cameras have nothing to do with making traffic corridors safer, it is purely a revenue generator. If you want to get people to slow down, randomly park police cruisers on the medians or side of roads in areas where speeding accurs alot. THey do this in SWFLA were I live and it is much more effective for slowing down traffic than using redlight camers. Law enforcement should be concerned about making the roads safer not about to generate revenue.
 
WtBadAss said:
Red light cameras have nothing to do with making traffic corridors safer, it is purely a revenue generator. If you want to get people to slow down, randomly park police cruisers on the medians or side of roads in areas where speeding accurs alot. THey do this in SWFLA were I live and it is much more effective for slowing down traffic than using redlight camers. Law enforcement should be concerned about making the roads safer not about to generate revenue.
Click to expand...

The only problem with this is that people then complain about the police not working on "real" crimes ... a cheaper and easier approach might be to just put up a sign that there is a red light camera and not tell people it isn't installed ... most would actually slow down or stop at the light and it only costs you the sign :D
 
Only see one problem with this. NONE of the modern cameras in my area use flashes anymore, unless its actually nighttime/very dark outside. Haven't seen a flash go off from a speed or red light cameras in over a year now with the newer models, and virtually all of the older/original cameras have been replaced, at least along my driving routes.

I use my handy Escort 9500ix RD to beat them, with its built in GPS enabled camera DB, and the ability to tag new ones directly myself. Saved me from several camera tickets this year alone, probably already paying for itself by now.
 
Ok, lots of good points being made in this discussion. The one thing that bothers me most about red-light cameras is the fact almost all of them are administered by private, for profit, non-governmental companies. Doesn't that fact bother anyone else?
 
I don't understand why people here keep on saying ":why dont you just stop running red lights"... its not running red lights ya idiot. In TN you have to stop 5 full seconds before making a right on red. Police officers wont pull any one over for this but the camera will be more than happy to mail ya a picture.
And Like I said before when I was in AZ I was cruising 70mph in a 65 on a state hwy. It was at night and I never saw the sign but all of a sudden in the middle of no where (and Im not kidding there was no town or buildings or construction or anything) it dropped down to 25 or 35. (this was 6 years ago so I don't remember the details of the ticket). I just remember seeing the bliding fucking light of a flash as it flashed my face and then flashed the back of the car as I nearly swerved off the side of the road after being temporarly blinded and not knowing WTF just happend.

30 minutes later happend again. ITS NOT ABOUT RUNNING RED LIGHTS its about the BS I went through above with "speed" cameras that are set up to screw ya
 
Tudz said:
It's not a bogus ticket, just a bogus law :p
Click to expand...
Yup, they should change the law to not allow you to make a right on red at all, then this all gets cleared up!

steal said:
Use your head, for once.

Red light cameras cause more accidents than they'll ever hope to prevent. They're a revenue tool that at the same time puts motorists at risk.
Click to expand...
That's a pretty bold statement that holds zero merit without some sort of evidence to back it up. Claiming that intersections turn into strobe light raves at night hardly is evidence.
 
TMCM said:
I don't understand why people here keep on saying ":why dont you just stop running red lights"... its not running red lights ya idiot. In TN you have to stop 5 full seconds before making a right on red. Police officers wont pull any one over for this but the camera will be more than happy to mail ya a picture.
Click to expand...
So stop for 5 full seconds FFS, geezus people. You act like making a right on a red is the same as making a right on a green... it's not.
 
sfsuphysics said:
So stop for 5 full seconds FFS, geezus people. You act like making a right on a red is the same as making a right on a green... it's not.
Click to expand...

Actually it pretty much is. I always look to check if there's cars approaching that aren't stopped and travelling too fast to stop. One thing I've learnt to hate driving on American roads is how much you bastards love to make people stop all the bloody time when there's no good reason from a safety perspective.
 
Where I live the price of a single ticket with a fairly minor speed infraction would pay for one of these easily. Totally worth it if it works.
 
It's traffic cameras now and most of you say well, it's for the safety of my family. So when they want to put cameras in your house to make sure you aren't cooking meth or doing some other illegal activity will you feel the same? Problem is by the time it comes to that it will be too late. They are constantly eroding our freedoms in this country and traffic cameras are another instance where this is happening. I drive as carefully as I can, but I cannot agree with surveillance of the public on a 24 hour basis. That's all this is. But hey, keep believing they are only doing this for your safety. I will sit here with my tin foil hat on and repeat day after day, "I told you so."
 
Wait a second. Nobody is complaining about the ridiculous price? This thing is going to cost $350 people. At most its worth $40. Probably costs about $5 to make. I mean for $350 you can buy a nice radar detector with GPS. Then not only do you get all the benefits of a radar detector but it tells you where all the stoplight and speed cams are. Doesn't matter if its daytime doesn't matter if they are using video. Lets you know when to be extra vigilant. If your state requires you to stop for a full 3 seconds stop and count out 5 seconds. You know its there. The databases are updated constantly.
 
wonderfield said:
That isn't important. What's important is the opportunity to get Jon's autograph.
Click to expand...
And Freedom™

This would be totally worth it if Jon's autograph is what showed up on the photo. Of course, that would increase tickets...

Still worth it.
 
Anyone who thinks red light/speeding cameras with automatic ticketing is purely a safety measure is incredibly deluded.

It's all about the $$$, people.
 
Top Gear did something on these a while back: all you had to do was drive through at 170 mph and you were too fast for the camera. :D
 
jpm100 said:
Because with near absolute public surveillance, the adversarial legal system breaks down in the face of corruption.

Right now the system usually works by the police creating a narrative based off of facts of the crime. They challenge you with that scenario, maybe in court, and you produce facts that attempt to refute their narrative. One of those ways is to prove you didn't have the opportunity.

Now they can do the opposite. They can custom fit your opportunity to a crime. Sometime somewhere you've parked near a restaurant where a store was robbed or stopped for a long light at a street corner where drugs are sold. The police may not even realize they're doing it, but if they're convinced you are guilty of something they can probably generate a long list of crimes that match your opportunity and you also don't have any witnesses.

Add some corruption to that and it gets far worse. The intersection you stopped at where drugs are sold, all they have to do is wave a deal to the pusher for his help as a witness against you and voila, they now have opportunity and a witness.

Now technically they could do this without the cameras but they would have to be surveiling you heavily ahead of time without justification leaving a trail that they were doing such a thing.
Click to expand...


You are an idiot, the camera is just evidence in your adversarial legal system not different than any other type of evidence. Except it is harder to fake, it is far more likely that cameras will lead to less false convictions than more as you seem to be suggesting.
 
So the sensor in the frame is faster than the speed of light, right? I mean how else can it sense the flash from the redlight camera and then activate it's own flash in time? Someone please explain this to me...

U.M.
 
Well first of all we dont know if this actually works that well in practice, but cameras have an exposure time so if the sensor receives and reacts to the flash fast enough it can saturate the exposure at the end and give the desired effect.

Think of it like there is 20 ms of exposure, if the last 5 ms of exposure see the bright light that can be enough to ruin the picture.
 
What I hate is how there are soooo many fucking people afraid of these cameras. They have sprung up like weeds around me (Chicagoland area), so now about half of the drivers out there don't turn on red. Then you end up with the two cars behind the jackass that honking their horns, and five minutes later, you're allowed to turn.

All my other issues with these have been stated by the intelligent people in here.
 
Uncle Meat said:
So the sensor in the frame is faster than the speed of light, right? I mean how else can it sense the flash from the redlight camera and then activate it's own flash in time? Someone please explain this to me...

U.M.
Click to expand...

I don't know much about cameras, someone will probably come along and tell me how wrong I am, but I believe the way a flash camera works is to flash for some period of time, then take the image within that period. The flash and image aren't taken instantaneously at the speed of light, there's a delay between flash and image capture (and there has to be, otherwise the image would be taken before the light from the flash has reflected back into the lens). So the licence frame doesn't need to be faster than light, it just needs to detect the flash and emit it's own flash before the actual camera takes the image.
 
Pezzy said:
What I hate is how there are soooo many fucking people afraid of these cameras. They have sprung up like weeds around me (Chicagoland area), so now about half of the drivers out there don't turn on red. Then you end up with the two cars behind the jackass that honking their horns, and five minutes later, you're allowed to turn.

All my other issues with these have been stated by the intelligent people in here.
Click to expand...

The problem seems to be in the US the intersections are designed in such a way as you turn right on red... so if it's ambiguous how long you have to stop and if the camera is going to take your picture, it makes life much harder.

In other countries, you typically aren't allowed to turn on red, but will instead often have slip lanes or green arrows so that even though you can't turn on "red", there's more "green" opportunities.

We use red light cameras in Australia, but it's never been a concern to me, like, ever. However I can see how it would be problematic in the US.

Of course, the end result of all of the cameras is purely revenue raising. If you think they're for safety, you're delusional.
 
Red light running is something I don't play with -- if I can safely stop, of course I will. I'm 30 and I can count on one hand the number of red lights I've run. one or two was 100% due to carelessness.

That being said -- red light cameras are nothing, I repeat, nothing but a money grab. Instead of people acting in their normal manner, you now have anxious nervous drivers afraid they are going to get nailed from a ticket. Erratic behavior behind the wheel when it comes to stopping or turning means they get nailed from a driver behind them for slamming on the breaks when you still had a safe and legal way to go through the light.

Would I buy this tech? Even if it worked 100% of the time? No.

Just like "speeding" itself doesn't increase or decrease overall safety levels of drivers on the road. I can go 100mph, while granny goes 55mph as long as we are both paying attention and operating a vehicle inside of the limits (mechanically, mentally, and weather wise) then who cares?

I wish getting a license over here in the US was much much harder - the reason the Autobahn can even exist over in Germany is because they take driving seriously. You won't see some lardass stuffing his face while doing 100mph, you won't see a woman doing blind lane changes while applying lipstick.
 
Anaerin said:
Using IR LEDs to bathe the plate in IR light (or to flood the camera with IR light) won't work either, as they typically use off-the-shelf cameras (Nikon DSLRs, I believe) which all have IR blocking filters installed. And if it's the plate you're bathing in IR light you're just helping the flash do it's job - the letters/numbers on the plate don't reflect IR in the same way they don't reflect regular light.

Oh yeah, and it's illegal anyway.
Click to expand...

I see. Just read about the idea of putting ir lights in theatres to try and stop the cam pirates and I curious if it would work the same way. Thanks for explaining :)
 
Acer_Sheep said:
I don't understand why people are always concerned about public surveillance, only people who are either doing something illegal and/or immoral and have to hide something are worried they are going to be captured and caught. When I'm outside I don't care at all who seen me, who captured me and so on, because I know I won't go over a speed limit, I wont destroy anything, harm anyone and I wont be cheating on my partner. I infact welcome surveillance in cities because it helps to resolve many crimes and speeding is also big issue.
Click to expand...

Just an example, and this isn't red light cameras but license plate scanners. In Minneapolis, the scanned data is currently public data. This is a reason why you should be concerned about public surveillance.

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/168014676.html
 
InorganicMatter said:
Isn't this our very own cp3? Dude's name is "Jonathan Dandrow", and Genmay always called him John.
Click to expand...

Haven't seen him in awhile but he sounds very much like our certain new poster that starts with a "d".

I like this part of the article: "It's a microprocessor controlled, 100% made in the USA, professionally engineered license plate frame designed to do one thing - let you drive like you were meant to."

I'd like to see a complete list of components used to put it together. I notice the word "100% made in the USA gets thrown around a lot when it should be "assembled in the USA".

Anyways, no thanks on the NoPhoto frame. I drive through downtown Chicago 5 days a week for work and for 7 years straight, not a ticket in the mail. Just another case of overblown, overly exaggerated "false positives DO happen" excuse to cover up the fact that some people just loves to speed (excuse me, I mean go over the speed limit).
 
MooCow said:
Red light cameras are all about profit, has nothing to do with "safety". Fuck Red Flex Systems.
Click to expand...

The painful truth. Public safety is only a false pretense. I see too many cameras setup at intersections that don't have dedicated left-turn lights but desperately need them. I would imagine a single green arrow is much cheaper than a strobe light, digital camera, and weather-proof enclosure. But WTF do I know, I'm just a taxpayer.
 
Yea, they are a lot safer, until you are behind the guy that already got a $500 ticket. Then, when the light turns yellow, he hits his breaks. Hard. 10' before the line. If he doesn't get rear ended, he has to back up a car length. I've seen both.

That's why I dress like a woman when I drive. When the picture gets in the mail, I can say it wasn't me. Who has my car!? Weird. Must be a mistake... Ghost image? :) I've had my phone tell me where these things are, and I do get paranoid when going through. I make sure my speed is exact, and I half expect a flash every time. It puts me on edge and I get a bit more tense. Yea, it shouldn't and I should be better than that, but I do stress out a bit. I admit it. It doesn't make me safer. It makes me watch out for ME and what I'm doing, not anyone around me or a pedestrian. Sad, but that's the way I am.
 
@damicatz

Speed limits actually do increase safety

Shall we go look up the amount of cars which wreck -DAILY- in the Autobahn? Its not just a few daily, its a lot.

Also it has to do with air pollution also, a car going near redline guzzles fuel like 10 cent per liter beer at a frathouse.
 
Once we all get the Google car this will be academic ... we can just sit there relaxing watching the youtube videos flashing on our monitors while we click the Google ads ... and all the cars will gently stop at the reds, while following the speed limits, with the proper safety distance between vehicles :p
 
1) Whoever said basically that speed limits don't save lives is just plain wrong. (I have worked in a few ER's in my day...) Just like seatbelts...true, sometimes, rarely, they do more harm than good...everybody has an uncle who knew somebody that got injured by wearing a seatbelt....but to argue that on our current roads with our current traffic system and our largely unskilled drivers who may or not be paying attention....well, frankly, SPEED KILLS. Duh. Really....this isn't the argument here, please!

2) As for the slow erosion or civil rights and why some of us worry...take this loose hypothetical example...

A - Live in a society where anybody can be criminalized for no reason = BAD

B - Live in a society where innocence is presumed and due process is protected = GOOD

C - Live in a society where (Due to a combo if obscure/arbatrary/unreasonable laws and the ability to criminilize nearly anyone due to 100% survalience) people who break the law can be harrased/intimidated/coerced into anything the govt wants for fear of punishment, or if the govt deems you a persona non grata you can get the book thrown at you for the type of minor infractions taht are usually ignored= ???

If you have broken any law, ever, no matter how petty or unfair then this last scenario is at least of interest to you...with 100% survalience, (not just cameras but all your phone conversations, web searches/browsing, credit card bills, medical records, etc...) then virtually anyone can be criminalized and that could be used to control a population.

Paranoid? Well, the above scenario certainly does not exist right now in this country, but...well, just food for thought...thats all.
 
If the government really wanted that level of control they wouldn't need to put cameras everywhere ... Nazi Germany didn't have any cameras and even some of the larger cities only had a few Gestapo stationed there ... it was your friends and neighbors that turned you in ... if you want to worry about something worry about our adversarial political system where we want to define everyone associated with the other group as "the enemy" ... down that road some of these paranoid dreams might just come true ... but not due to cameras - it will be due to hate and fear ;)
 
Here in Washington state we have sign that say "Stop Here On Red" It doesn't say no right on red.......So I stopped then went right and got flashed.

I'm never going to pay it though. They'll have to take me to court and then I'll get a lawyer. I'd rather pay a lawyer 1000 bucks than to pay 150 for bull shit.

I wouldn't buy one of these on the slight chance a cop checks for it or something.

Washington is a shitty place to be a driver. Slow Speed limits, camera's and cops everywhere......but the great weather makes up for it.
 
People that run red lights are some of the biggest assholes in this world. To think that there are enough people out there to make this a marketable item makes me sick.
 
So if another person had this feature driving the other way, then the camera's flash could trigger your flash, which would trigger another car's flash, and then back and forth they'd strobe until you were out of range.
 
Uncle Meat said:
So the sensor in the frame is faster than the speed of light, right? I mean how else can it sense the flash from the redlight camera and then activate it's own flash in time? Someone please explain this to me...

U.M.
Click to expand...

Supercondoctors, the power of the Intel Core i7 processor and Linux. All electrical components within the system act at the speed of light. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top