Britain Weighs "Smart" Speed Cameras

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

In yet another salvo in the UK's ongoing war on speeders, the British government is considering installing motorway cameras which track the average speed of individual vehicles. The move is aimed at those sick, twisted individuals who slow down for cameras only to speed up again after they pass the eyes in the sky. The new cameras would track the speed of a vehicle, and then compute its average velocity between two cameras on a given stretch of road. Although simple in conception, the new approach would be far more effective in convincing Britain's drivers that the smallest violation of speed limits would be instantly caught and penalized. The cameras have already been deployed for testing at road construction sites, and apparently can't be fooled by lane changes and other "evasive techniques."

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 46 comments
  • John Williams John Williams on Apr 17, 2008
    # yournamehere : April 16th, 2008 at 4:50 pm handguns should flat out be illegal for use by the public. to easy to hide/conceal. to easy to acquire. I think gun ranges should have a storage facility on site, so if you want to go shoot your gun, go to the range and shoot it. then leave it there and go home. if you want to take it somewhere you are not aloud to buy or have bullets on your person. every other gun should be painted BRIGHT pink. if you dont like it, i dont care. Once again, criminals do not respect anti-gun laws. If they want to get a gun, they'll get one regardless of what laws are there in place to prevent that. Bright pink guns? Whip out a can of Krylon and paint it black. Bullets aren't that hard to come by, either. The only thing your recommendations (which as I suspect were more of a emotional response rather than a rational one) will do is to rob law-abiding citizens the means to protect themselves in the circumstances that the police cannot come flying to their aid in a matter of minutes.
  • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Apr 17, 2008

    Actually, shooting speed cameras should be a use for guns that we all can agree on. Somebody should submit some photos of blasted cameras to Faux News. Even they couldn't twist the intent of what that indicates. I suspect that there will be more and more attempts to milk drivers for using the increased capabilities of today's cars.

  • Adonis Adonis on Apr 18, 2008

    Wow, another reason not to live in the U.K. Honestly, I think Americans can look to the U.K. to see what our government will try to pull if we let it. Let's see, your metropolitan area has a budget shortfall and needs to make $150 million? Install some cameras! It pays for itself, and if people protest, well, they must be lawbreaking criminal speeders, so you can discount their opinion. At least they admit that the cameras are for money, if that's any consolation. btw, the comments actually make me want to go and buy a gun, specifically to exercise my 2nd amendment rights.

  • 2ronnies1cup 2ronnies1cup on Jun 17, 2011

    "Oh right, I forgot for a moment. Her Majesty’s gracious government has taken away all the guns belonging to the citizens" Really? - I must be imagining that Parker-Hale 7.62mm rifle that I legally own, along with a couple of shotguns. (but it's true that we all have a picture of the Queen on the wall, by law, we all have rotten teeth and we say 'What what!" all the time...)

Next