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Speed Cameras
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Brits Give Crossing Guards Cams To Catch Speedsters
First off, are crossing guards in the U.K really called lollipop ladies and men? If it is true, is it because their signs look like lollipops. Or even more creepily, do they hand out lollipops to kids? Regardless, these men and women are now being equipped with helmet-mounted cameras to catch aggressive motorists. Apparently, drivers aren't as nice to these lollipop-passing-out guardians of the walkways. There have been 1,400 incidents of aggressive lollipop haters was recorded last year with dozens of crossing guards needing hospitalization. More »
offbeat news
Louisana Traffic Official Fights The Law And The Law's Him
From the department of "do what I say, not what I do" comes this awesome story out of Lafayette, Louisiana playing perfectly into our dislike and mistrust of government nanny bureaucracy. Tony Tramel, the Director of Transportation for Lafayette Consolidated Government, is the chap tasked with monitoring and approving tickets issued by speed cameras. Mr. Tramel was recently caught with a radar detector mounted in the windshield of his personal car. Huh? We're confused. We thought the only reason to install a radar detector is to speed and flaunt the law, which doesn't really make any sense. Couldn't he just trash the camera images of him speeding and be off the hook? Fox guarding the hen house indeed. (Hat tip to Richard!) [TheNewspaper (these guys might want to consider a better marketing department)]
news
French Revolutionaries Blow Up Speed Cameras
After issuing screeds decrying "the owner State which robs its citizens," the Nationalist Revolutionary Army Faction (FNAR) has launched a campaign of direct action against speed cameras in the Paris region. So far they've destroyed six of the radar-based traffic-enforcement devices with crude explosive devices, and an attack on an installation near the village of Baillet-en-France was thwarted by a road-maintenance team who discovered a seventh bomb last Tuesday. The rulers tremble! [Times of London]
news
Next Up, Skynet: Siemens Teaches Cars to Read!
Never let it be said that the Germans haven't done their part for literacy. Besides providing the world with the works of Goethe, Brecht and Werner von Braun, Deutschland also gave rise to industrial conglomerate Siemens, who've developed a system that reads speed limit signs and can adjust a vehicle's speed downward at the driver's discretion to stay within limits. The all-seeing eye cross checks the electrosensory stimulus it takes in with GPS data to ensure it's not wonky. We imagine this would be a highly-useful invention in a Gatso-riddled society. More »
news
Your Camera A-Splode! Gatso'd Briton's Thermite Revenge On Video
A month ago, we brought you the tale of the sorry fate of Craig Moore, a young engineer busted for blowing up a speed camera with Thermite after being flashed. Thisislondon has video of both Moore's work van going by and then the sudden explosion of the camera. The reason Moore's plot didn't work? The camera's data is stored in the base. So here's a note to all of you would-be camera-vandalizers: to kill a weed, you've gotta get the roots. Moore just got four months in the pokey for failing to realize that one. More »
news: weird
Adventures in Dumb: Woman Tosses 69 Speeding Tickets, Faces Time in Hoosegow
You know, we've of course come out vocally against speed cameras, but Francesca Cisneros of Chandler, AZ simply does not give a fuck about them. Or at least, she didn't used to. After racking up 69 speeding tickets since March, all but five of which were camera-capture citations, Cisneros faces eleven large in fines and may be looking at jail time. Reportedly, she told investigating officers that she thought it perfectly fine to throw the tickets away. Wow. We're out of florid descriptors for that level of stupidity. Readers? [Thanks to TexansAreHot for the tip.] More »
news
Disgruntled Motorist Blows Up Speed Camera
Craig Moore, a 28-year-old engineer got nicked by a Gatso, and having some knowledge of explosive compounds, he rigged up a gang of Thermite to the camera that caught him. Unfortunately, the camera also captured his act of revenge, and apparently its media survived the device's destruction intact. The poor, ingenious bastard will be sentenced later this month. [Thanks to Edwin for the tip.] More »
news
Big Brother Says Slow Down: Traffic Control By Satellite; Myth or Coming Soon to the UK?
We've been following the UK's march toward state-controlled motoring with empathetic semi-amusement. With every new municipal proposal to employ technology for the sake of imposing iron will over the motoring public, we're ever more grateful even for the US's anti-driver traffic laws (in urban areas, at least) — the doubling of fines at will, the Boss Hoggian manipulation of "speed zones," the selective enforcement — and even more grateful for the Constitution (even in the shape it's in). But government control of traffic speeds via satellite? Surely that must be over the top? A conspiracy theory for sure, right? More »
news
French to Bust Foreign Speeders, Impound Cars
Nigel McPutt-Putt-Chutneyson is no longer safe from the long arm of Jacques Law. Foreign drivers, under new French legislation, can have their cars impounded for speeding unless they cough up 480 euros on the spot. The Freedomese enacted the law in response to a plethora of unpaid traffic fines by motorists from other nations, especially the UK, Spain and Germany. More »
news
British Tea Party: Speed Cameras Vandalized in the UK
Britons fed up with their local and state governments' obsession with voyeurism have been taking to the streets and burning up speed cameras for years. Why'd we pick now to finally feature such camera vandalism? It's Rebellion Friday! Well, there should be such a thing. More »
news
Jalopnik is Angry, Won't Stand for Persecution of Mighty Boy by Aussie Speed Cameras
We love the Mighty Boy. It might just be the cutest li'l production truckcar ever. And Australian authorities are attempting to frame it for a crime it didn't commit. On Good Friday, Cliff Perrett was having lunch with his family, his trusty Mighty Boy parked right outside. Meanwhile, some other motorist bombed through Mansfield at 109 km/h and was Gatsoed. Mansfield's halfway across the state from Perrett's residence, and his Mighty Boy, well, it tops out at 90km/h. We call a pox on the speed cameras of Victoria for their shameless anti-Mighty Boy bias. But, like the A-Team, we're sure the Mighty Boy will flourish and continue to be a force for good in the world. [Thanks to Scott for the tip.] More »
news
Million-Pound Yorkshire Pudding, Er, Speed Camera
A speed camera in Ferrybridge, Yorkshire has pulled down over a million pounds in fines over eighteen months, and the Brit-types are calling foul, saying the eye of Big Brother is obviously doing nothing to deter speeding, and is instead all about revenue generation. We've gone on record before as saying that we don't like speed cameras; we'd rather have a cop out there on a bike or in a car; at least that seems more honest to us. Ah, for the good old days of pacing. (And yes, we have been nailed that way — honestly twice, and a couple of other times simply because we think they wanted to suss us out and just generally wanted to be dicks to a longhair in an El Camino. More »
news
Australian Sportbike Hoons Giving Po-Po Worry, Speed Cameras The Bird
A group of five motorcyclists Down Under are giving the police fits, as they buzz past speed cameras, front wheel in the air, middle fingers flying, often while carrying passengers. Currently, the cameras only shoot the front license plate, but due to acts of hoonage like this, that's about to change, making the bikers culpable for their speed and recklessness. More »
news
Oh Criminy. They've Got Sound Cameras Now
Red light cameras. Speed cameras. And now...wait for it...yes, sound cameras. Here, children, is the Military Industrial Complex working for your benefit. An Australian defense contractor has come up with a camera that snaps license-plate photos of bumpin' thunderboxes, extra-rumpety exhaust notes and even ill-timed horn blasts. Frankly, the only guy we really wanna ticket is the guy down the street whose oversensitive alarm goes off every time some guy on a Harley roars by. More »
news
Defeat Speed Camera via Dorky Add-On?
We posted earlier that cars with wonky suspensions could render speed camera photos unusable in Australia. Reader Chris writes in with another tip, although it mightily raises the vehicle's redneck quotient. Then again, that could be a plus for some readers. Click through for the tip. More »
news
My Hoopty, Rollin', Speed-Camera Evadin'
Wanna avoid speed cameras? Officials in Australia have a secret you should know about never, ever change your shocks. Vehicles with erratic suspensions can screw the speed camera's view of the plate, thus allowing 10% of the hooptiest rides down under to escape detection. (Apologies to Mr. Jalopy.) More »
news
Johnny Law's Gone Too Far: UK Lawyers Decry "Tricks" Book as Intimidation
Wot!? Apparently, the Greater Manchester Police (of the UK, natch) has been sending along a free gift with all speed camera tickets. That is, a bit 'o literature, a booklet called "A Book of Tricks," that at least one lawyer says contains information meant to intimidate and mislead would-be speeders — and the innocent — into compliance. The book outlines the department's "Operation Cheetah," instituted to catch those who would evade speeding tickets dishonestly. But drivers' rights groups say the book goes too far by scaring the accused from exercising their legitimate rights. Bully for you, constable! More »
