[LINK] Hidden device in parking bays

[Kim Holburn]

On 2006/Nov/28, at 1:57 PM, Ivan Trundle wrote:
> On 28/11/2006, at 1:30 PM, Gordon Keith wrote:
>> On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:12, Paul McGowan wrote:
>>> Having read the article, it occurred to me that the same devices
>>> could be used to make the council into heroes _and_ fix the traffic
>>> problem by erecting signs advising motorists that they can be warned
>>> when the time was nearly up by sending an SMS to a particular  
>>> number.
>>
>> Unfortunately SMS is not guaranteed to be delivered in a  
>> reasonable time
>> frame.
>>
>> Who bears the cost if the SMS takes 4 hours to get from the  
>> council machine to
>> the motorist?
>>
>> It wouldn't take many late SMS's with fines to make the motorist  
>> unhappy.
>> Council isn't going to forego revenue because the motorist claims  
>> they didn't
>> get the message.
>> Teleco don't guarantee SMS delivery.
>>
>> Nice idea, but would it work?
>
> And for those of us who do not have or use SMS in their daily lives?
>
> I read an article (some time ago) that demonstrated parking meters  
> with cameras, which then used its OCR abilities to read the number  
> plate, and begin timing the parking period from the moment that it  
> was able to get a fix on the plate. Quite simply, it not only was  
> capable of determining the exact time of a car's park, but also to  
> issue a fine the moment that a vehicle overstayed, with the added  
> 'bonus' of being able to detect that a vehicle was parking or  
> stopping in the same spot twice in a 24-hour period, and thus  
> issuing a fine on the spot. In other words, a much greater  
> comprehension of what a vehicle was actually doing in any 24-hour  
> period. Of course, it was also suggested that it would be possible  
> to link all of these meters together, so that even finer control  
> over parking conditions could be exercised, if warranted.
>
> I'm all for it, personally. Parking restrictions are generally in  
> place for good reason. It's all a matter of equity.

[rant]
I really don't like that the government is creating hugely complex  
road and parking rules and now applying very accurate technology to  
enforce things like speeding and parking without giving people  
technological help to obey those rules.  When you get speed limit  
changes many times in a short space of road, many, many different  
speed limits 40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 90, 100, 110 some of them only  
for certain times of the day, certain days or temporary periods.  And  
parking restrictions are sometimes very complex.  All of this stuff  
is much harder to work out for non-locals than locals so it penalises  
travellers (and humans generally).

Largely the way parking restrictions and speeding restrictions are  
applied is as revenue raising activities rather than seriously for  
safety or "parking congestion"

For instance they could encourage people to get radar/laser detectors  
and put in lots of radar emitters!  They could place transponders  
with speed-limit information on roads and sell detectors for cars.
[/rant]

--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph/F: +61 2 62577881 M: +61 417820641
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961