Have you ever seen a set of white lines on the shoulder, then a little further seen another set?
A guy with a stopwatch above you in an airplane times you from line set to line set, looks at his chart, and figures out your speed. If you are indeed speeding they radio ahead to one of many cops just waiting to pull you over. I know this because it has happened to more than one person I know.
Still your basic speed trap, just a whole lot more advanced.
If you think that's advanced, you should see Big Brother Nanny State in the UK. We're now getting pairs of cameras cropping up all over the place that read and digitally store your licence plate passing two points, a mile or so apart. They hook into the central computer, they know who you are, they know which direction you're going, and if you exceed the speed limit on AVERAGE between those two points, by 10% or more, you MIGHT expect a letter and a fine in just a few days. And not one cop, or human interaction, anywhere in the mix.
I believe on the motorways it's usually 3 points, and an average over those. All this information is freely available on the internet, down to the actual physical security on the central "hub" buildings with the racks of servers in. Unfortunately since my Dad passed away, and I can no longer remember the URL, I'm pretty stumped It's definately on the web somewhere though.
I do remember that they have to test the system for about 18 months before it goes active and they're not allowed any false positives. If I remember correctly you also get a letter stating that if the system was in place and fully operational, that you would have been fined.
In relation to the UK traffic cameras, I believe you can buy a map of the UK which shows the locations of all fixed traffic cameras (saw it on Top Gear) :up:
We're getting there in this country because our government publicly blames speed above all else for road accidents and seem to ignore all the other factors that cause them, like lack of skills & experience, fatigue, inattention, cops wanting to drag you in their 300bhp Monaro pursuit cars etc. The revenue from speeding fines doesn't hurt either, especially when the tolerances are ridiculously low - in Victoria you only have to go 63kph in a 60 zone to get fined. But most of our "safety" cameras are mobile and operated by cops with large moustaches hiding behind bushes next to major roads, which doesn't look dodgy at all
Yeah they have those in Mesa, Az. Loop 101 they put cameras up and I believe I heard they are mailing tickets for anything over 2mph over the posted limit. They said on the news that the first night they were activated, they caught 175 people speeding, all of which were going to receive tickets via mail.
EDIT: This reminds me of a funny story I heard on the radio: This guy was apparently caught running a red light on camera. He received a letter from the court with a picture of his car and plate and a fine that said he owed $40. So thinking he was clever, and the lack of an actual cop pulling him over, he took a picture of two $20 bills and mailed it back to the courthouse. So the Sheriff, being even a little more clever, took a picture of a pair of handcuffs and sent it back to the man. The court got their money within a week.
Everyone should move to North Yorkshire, the chief of police there doesn't believe in speed cameras so there arent any! They do station police cars at several points but thats not half as bad because a (nice) cop can at least spot dangerous driving and also they are awlays in the same places...
They use Volvo T5's from what I've seen around York and Scarborough. A bloke I know who lived in Hull said that the use Scoobies around the coucil estates etc
That depends on the system... We've had those bloody things here for years... They just put up a new one near my house, and I promptly received 2 fines... One on the way over at 8 o'clock, and one a couple of hours later on the way back.