Slashdot Mirror
Get Scanned As You Drive Through Ohio
kai5263499 writes "A local news station is reporting on a new license plate scanning system being tested in Ohio. This new system is supposed to be able to scan a passing vehicle's license plates and match it against a database of reported stolen or lost vehicles. Lawmakers are supposed to be briefed at the year's end for further funding and/or implementation in other areas."
To send you a citation for expired tags.
It could also be used to find out whether or not someone committed perjory when they filled out a certificate of non-use.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Isn't Ohio also the state that checks the timestamps on your Ohio Turnpike ticket and cites you for speeding if you get to your exit "too soon"?
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Big deal. This kind of thing is already in place on the 407 ETR highway in Ontario, Canada. It's purely a side effect of the automated billing system (it's a toll highway), but you can get speeding tickets based on how long you went through two toll points ... both that and your toll bills are mailed to your house, by looking up your address via license plate. I'm sure they check for stolen plates/vehicles while they're at it.
Ohio's enforcing the law! READY PITCHFORKS!!
In Toronto (Canada), they have had vehicles that drive around town doing that for years. They say they recover thousands of vehicles a year.
Should be "A local news station are reporting..."
Can you people speak english?
The patrol will report to lawmakers by year's end and won't implement the system or expand it without approval by the Controlling Board or the Legislature, said patrol spokesman Capt. John Born. Some lawmakers and advocates for civil liberties are worried the scanners could invade the privacy of law-abiding residents. "It's a free society, and we're supposed to move as we like without the government tracking us everywhere," said Jeff Gamso, legal director of the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union. Born said the devices don't take pictures or make videotapes and don't create any databases of individuals.
Imagine how much crime could have been prevented in the 19th century if we'd required license plates on horses!
The devices use optical scanners similar to those used in supermarkets to read bar codes.
Somehow, I doubt it uses a laser to scan license tags on passing cars. My guess is that it uses a CCD camera with image processing - a simple task, really. This is what happens when journalists don't research an article and the editor doesn't force them to pay attention to detail.
In Toronto, they have a similar system mounted to a car wich drives up and down streets reading plates. It checks the numbers, and then tries them against a db, no flags, it keeps going..
I couldnt find any reputable sites about it, just a forum post by somebody with more info on it here
OHIO has always been super anal about speeding. I mean they have cops camping the interstates at the border 24/7. If you are going even 1 over and you have out of state plates they pull you over. Then they let you pay with a credit card right then and there. The plan has always been to increase revenue for the state by stealing it from non-Ohionians. While they say that they are looking for lost and stolen vehicles they are no doubt going to use it to ticket every traffic violation they can detect automatically.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
has anyone seen the strange poles on I-95/128 in Mass? Are these the same things? White poles every ~3 miles, two solar panels on top, and a small white box mounted half-way up the poles aimed at traffic perpedicular to the highway about the same size as a boze indoor/outdoor speaker? Anyone have a clue what these things really are???
Replace or take off the license plate. That was a hard one!
Let's tie this to biometric ID's, RFID tags embedded in your underwear, facial recognition cameras on every corner, etc. until we know exactly when someone does anything suspicious or unusual. We should record everyone's habits, so we can alert officials when you do something new. I bet you could even predict when someone's about to commit a crime with enough information about where everyone is and what they're doing.
Has been scanning plates on Interstate 80 for a little over a year. Haven't caught any terrorists yet, but they have nabbed several mules hauling carloads of reefer.
Ben Masel: 51,282 votes for US Senate in the Wisconsin Democratic Primary
muddy plate. Strategic placement of dirt can do wonders for making it difficult for these cameras to get an accurate bead. Sure, there's an outside chance you'll be cited a non-moving violation for obscured plate, but that's better than being tracked like an animal by armed forces of the state and having your movements recorded in a database for ready access by any cop, politician, or person who knows somebody who might take an interest in you or a member of your family.
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
This is actually good news, for once. We already have automated systems that give tickets for speeding and automated systems that give tickets for running red lights... while useful for enforcing the law (and teaching those bastard San Fransisco kids that RED means STOP), none of these helps out the owner of the car. Trying to return stolen vehicles automatically is actually really nice. If your car was stolen, wouldn't you want the automated scanners that they already have anyway to call the police?
Would that mean that a government database somewhere would know that I was passing through Ohio on my way somewhere? Sure. But what do you think happens when you swipe your card to pay for gas?
The ______ Agenda
Pay with a credit card? No thanks, just put it on my tab. They will have a hell of a time finding me in New Mexico anyway. What are they going to do, send a paddy wagon to my house in the mountains for a speeding ticket?
They probably would just so I can pay some marked up fee attributed to "court costs" for the whole ordeal. I got a ticket in Texas a while back for getting stuck on the beach. They plow it up for spring break, putting 3 foot high walls of sand to separate the two lanes of traffic. Real scenic, I must say. There is even a lane in the middle just for law enforcement to roll down. Every few hundred feet there is a turn around and this is where I got stuck. "Spinning out" is how this rookie cop put it on the ticket. Even then I didn't get any help from these "public servants" in getting my truck out. It only took the help of 2 other people to get the truck moving again. Weeks later a huge riot broke out over what was allegedly a cop beating an innocent bystander. I bet that cop wished thats all people were doing was getting stuck.
Like I said, hell of a time picking me up in the mountains of New Mexico. Pricks. I have alot more to say and will forget about it with this statement:
We are rapidly heading into a Police State. Laws on local levels are being passed daily in order to rake in revenue for municipalities and thier corrupt officials. Good luck people, and don't let your auto insurance slip or you will be without a drivers license for 2 years in Texas. A little research will yield a finding that Texas has some of the worst localized ordinances in the country. If you have a few bucks and know a few people you can get your competitors run out of town. Yee-Haw.
You are about to give someone a piece of your mind, something which you can ill afford...
I don't have a problem with this. As soon as you stop for fuel or to take a leak, and factor in 15-20 minutes at zero miles per hour, your average speed for the trip goes way down.
Goddamned kids! Get off my lawn!
'Course, I'm sure they are free to change their minds at any given time. I've never had an issue with it, though.
*yawn*
This was initaited in London years ago suposidly in resopnce to a large IRA bomb attack.
And dont even get me started on the automatic congestion charge cameras.
More details here
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
Oh great, does this mean I'm going to have to wrap my license plate in tinfoil too???