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Road Stud Traffic Camera Reads License Plates
A traffic camera that can be concealed in a road stud has been developed by Astucia and is being tested in Australia. The traffic surveillance camera can take pictures of the licenses of cars speeding by at up to 150 miles per hour.
(From Latest Traffic Cameras are here)
The traffic surveillance camera protrudes from the road surface only 5 millimeters; it is linked to a computer that can read and decode license plates written in either italic or cursive scripts. The camera is so sensitive that it can tell if your tires are balding as your car moves by at speed. The road stud measures the speed of the vehicle as well; it can flash the car license plate and speed on a display at roadside, warning the driver to slow down.
Fans of Science Fiction Grandmaster Robert Heinlein may recall his 1957 story Methuselah's Children. People outwit the traffic control cameras with a special feature of their cars.
See this traffic management systems overview at Astucia: World Leader in Intelligent Road Studs; they really have a remarkable set of products that have gone a long way towards making roads safer. Original article from The Independent; story via Gizmodo.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/23/2004)
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