breezer said:
sorry about bursting your bubble.
Not at all breezer, like I said "this is what I know out of my head but if you need more details, I try and get a copy from work."
I'm at work now
and got the full letter heading from head office,
Be aware of the new speed cameras which are being erected the complete length of the 'A' and 'M' Roads. They are recognized by tall blue coloured poles and a small aerial pole next to it. SPEEDCHECK SVDD or SPEC went online on the M1, netting 4,300 offenders in a single day. The system does not use instantaneous speed like the camera we're all familiar with, instead measuring the average speed of every vehicle over a distance of about a mile.
How? By reading your license plates and matching them up camera-to-camera. Kent and Leicestershire police are so impress with it that systems are being erected in their enforcement areas too. This is now in service after successful trials on the M1 and M20 in the UK.
SPEEDCHECK SVDD (Sure Video Detection Device) is a system similar in concept to the GATSO, but with a new twist. SVDD deploys camera at either end of a measured baseline, (up to 500 metres) to monitor vehicles 24 hours a day. Using machine vision, vehicle number plates are read, and the precise time of each observation recorded and as a vehicle passes the second camera, the number plate records are matched, and an average speed for the vehicle is calculated. If this is above the trigger speed, then the vehicle's identification is recorded along with it's speed. It is also flashed up on a hugh illuminated sign further down the road to embarrass the driver into slowing down. When triggered, the detection technology used in these cameras automatically records the date, precise time, location and speed of the offending vehicle, along with a detailed image of the front of the vehicle, which clearly records the number plate, the model, who is driving and the colour of the vehicle.
There's five overriding reasons for the habitual speeder to be afraid of this system.
1.It works 24 hours a day.
2.Needs no film !
3.Uses no flash !
4.Uses no rader ! So, bad luck all those of you who think that rader detectors work.
5.It's been proven to be over 99% accurate in almost all weather conditions.
It doesn't do spot-speed checking. A GATSO can only check the speed of a vehicle within a certain range, so the tactic most drivers use now is to slow down for the camera and then speed up again once past it.
SPEEDCHECK measures average speed over a known distance. So if you do 60mph under each camera and the speed up to 80 mph in between, your average speed is likely to be nearer 70mph, 10mph over the limit impose, you're nicked. SVDD say this means that the system can impose a far smoother flow of traffic eliminating slow-fast driving that the GATSO provoke. Because it's automated, the system is entirely self-sufficient. It's hooked up to the DVLA computers, and can automatically process the fines and send out notices in the post.
It's Big Brother. Don't believe for a moment that this technology will only be used to catch speeders. It can be used to keep track of where every single car in the country is at any given moment in time once the network of these things becomes broad enough.