Speed cameras worldwide were plagued by accuracy problems this week. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a black man received a white man’s tickets on five occasions. Because this man happened to be Larry Fitzgerald, one of the top wide receivers in the National Football League, his case was received the attention of TMZ. In five of six automated ticketing photographs mailed to Fitzgerald, who is black, a white man is unquestionably behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety insists that a human police officer personally verifies the each and every photograph before it is issued. No such review took place for the alleged speeding incidents that took place August 23, August 27 (three tickets) and January 5. The identity of the driver in the sixth photo is uncertain. This is far from the first time such an incident has happened. In Louisiana, a white man received a black man’s ticket. In 2006, another Scottsdale black man received a white man’s ticket.
In Chevy Chase, Maryland, WTOP News reported that hundreds of duplicate speed camera citations are being generated as motorists drive past a fixed camera and a mobile unit parked right next to it. Despite a “rigorous” screening process conducted by the vendor that actually operates the program, a total of 174 duplicates were generated in the first three weeks of January alone. The Village cannot guarantee that only valid tickets were mailed.
“The duplicates are supposed to be eliminated, but some do slip through the screening process,” Police Chief Roy Gordon told WTOP.
A similar problem is apparent in the town of Pecs, Hungary where a man received two speed camera citations for the same alleged offense. The tickets were timestamped less than two minutes apart, Dunantuli Naplo reported.
In Nottingham, England, motorist Jeff Buck, 55, received two speed camera tickets while his car was parked outside his home on Watnall Road on December 13. According to The Nottingham Evening Post newspaper, police insisted that his immobile Vauxhall Zafira was traveling at 37 MPH in a 30 zone. Far from an isolated incident, parked cars through Australia and Europe have received speed camera tickets, including England, France and The Netherlands.
It surprises me that in a relatively weapons dense country like America that no one has used one of these devices as target practice.
Shh. The first rule of Speed Camera Target Practice Club is that you don’t talk about Speed Camera Target Practice Club.
Fun to talk about, irresponsible to try.
Barrett or McMillan 50 cal? Yikes. Those things carry literally a mile and a half (that’s more than 2 klicks for you commie metric types).
Ain’t that overkill? Aren’t these things being thwarted all over Europe by vigilantes wielding paper bags?
My guess is that the camera housings are bullet-resistant. They appear to be of thick steel. Perhaps people attempted to shoot up cameras a few years ago when they were first deployed, but have given up due to their toughness?
The most effective method of disabling them seems to be to dress up in a santa claus disguise and plop a gift box over the camera’s lens!
I assume you’ve never fired a modern .50 cal. rifle? Cut through those cases like butter – just be sure what’s behind the camera, though.
There are many, many things that can be done to an obnoxious fixed speed camera location. MANY things. You can use your imagination … and Youtube is your friend. Just don’t get caught.
Post-it notes
http://www.psfk.com/2005/02/armor_etch_some.html
Must be a pretty big problem with the recognition software in these cameras. A workmate received a ticket for an unpaid toll. My workmate drives a tan Toyota Camry. The photo was of a black VW Touareg. They had similar license plates, but not exactly the same car.
Well, it’s said that justice is blind, you know…
Paintball. Only don’t use the sugar based stuff, use the paint they mark trees with that doesn’t wash off in the rain. they can clean it off with strong enough chemicals.
After all the publicity, they’re going to go over the photos with a magnifying glass . . .if it turns out it’s just this guy in a Nixon mask . . . I’ll mail him $10 towards court fees on general principal :D :D :D