by Alpineandy » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:26 am
From Pistoheads:
New devices are all-automatic and always on
Redspeed digital speed cameraThe new age of digital speed cameras has begun.
On their way out are the familiar Gatsos, with their 'is it switched on, has it got film in it?' fear factor. On average, only about 10 per cent of them qualify on both grounds.
On the way in are digital speed cameras. Made by Redspeed International, they're going up in London -- 66 of them, as reported earlier (see link below) -- and in the Midlands. According to the Birmingham Post, you can expect to see them on motorways including the M5 contraflow near Bristol and the M6 Grayrigg works south of Penrith, Cumbria.
The point of the new cameras is that they remove a lot of physical handling that goes on now. It doesn't use radar like the Gatso, but sensors built into the road. According to the manufacturer, it captures three images: the first is a zoom shot showing the vehicle number plate, the second is a wide angle image including make, model, colour of car and the offence data. The system then delays for a period related to the vehicles speed, and captures a third frame, also a wide angle image showing the time delay between frames. The two wide-angle images can be used as evidence to show that the vehicle was moving at the time of the recording.
And instead of an officer or contractor going to the camera site, removing old film, filling it afresh, and taking your picture to Boots for processing, the digital image captured as you pass over the sensors is zapped over broadband links and a Notice of Intent to Prosecute (nit) issued automatically. It means the device can work 24 hours a day, and that you can assume all of them will be operational -- those that haven't been sadly vandalised, that is.
And it all cuts the costs of sending you a nit. Isn't that nice?
Alpine A110, Renault Safrane 2.5dt, Hudson Kindred Spirit (Renault powered), transAlp (Honda) and Ducati Multistrada