Monday, December 22, 2008

Another Use for Speed Cameras

You've heard of speed cameras; like red-light cameras, they are set up to catch speeders (or people who run red lights) by a number of municipalities. The camera takes a picture of the vehicle and license plate; if there's a violation, a ticket is computer-generated and mailed to the vehicle's registration address.

Note what's missing from the above, which is important to understanding the "other use" for such devices.

As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county's Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers.

Students from Richard Montgomery High School dubbed the prank the Speed Camera "Pimping" game, according to a parent of a student enrolled at one of the high schools
.

...students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that "mimic" those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later

What's missing, of course, is a visual ID of the driver.

Critics have long maintained that the "speed/red-light" cameras are revenue-devices, not really enforcement devices. It would be very sad to learn that they cannot be trusted, right?

2 comments:

Joe of St. Thérèse said...

That's exactly right

Anonymous said...

That's how I avoid tolls in Illinois....hope Doyle is paying those fines. Just kidding.

There is a part of me that thinks this is pretty funny.