Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal
"Indestructible" speed camera coming to the UK
As Americans are well aware, angry drivers are a dedicated, relentless, and unpredictable bunch. Angry drivers in Britain, fed up with the scourge of Gatso speed cameras, have destroyed them in all manner of ways. How are the authorities (or rather, capitalism) fighting back? A Dutch company has created a camera it wants to sell in Britain that could actually survive a day on the corner of a Baghdad street, let alone whatever purturbed British motorists can throw at it.
The camera is 13-feet tall, sits on a steel base placed in the ground, has cameras hidden behind strengthened glass, and has a fire-resistant body. It can monitor four lanes of traffic moving in both directions and doesn't use flashes so you don't know when you've been caught. And due to new regulations, it can be painted to blend in with its surroundings. Not only is it practically indestructible, but if it senses a threat via onboard smoke and vibration detectors, it will alert the nearest police station and upload all of its data to a central database so that no scofflaw gets away. Pending Home Office approval in England, it will be one giant leap for law enforcement, and one step closer to Robocop. We can think of only one achilles heel for this indestructible speed camera... a setp ladder and some spray paint.
Thanks for the tip, Spluch!
[Source: This London]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gardiner Westbound 7:08PM (8/31/2007)
"When you invent a better mousetrap, the mice tend to get smarter." - Willie Gingrich
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F451 7:09PM (8/31/2007)
A 13th feet high dark condom should do the trick.
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Don 3:37AM (9/01/2007)
Geeze. Mandingo!
Logik 1:05AM (9/02/2007)
:-D Ha, ha, ha.
origereh 7:15PM (8/31/2007)
Can it be defeated with $0.01 of duct tape ?
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EM 9:08AM (9/01/2007)
Pretty much my thoughts exactly.
British Parliment: Neener Neeener Neeener, beat that citizens!!
Citizens: *****rrrrriiiipppppp********
6 rolls of duck tape later...
Citizens: Ha Guvnah! Clean that mess up.
jas12niss 7:15PM (8/31/2007)
A car mounted spotlight would help.
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PRC 7:54PM (8/31/2007)
I was going to suggest a little bit of spraypaint, but duct tape should work just as well...
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seoultrain 1:30AM (9/01/2007)
lol, i was thinking paintballs
naggs 8:04PM (8/31/2007)
i hope that the government does try to spend astronomical ammounts of money to protect its cameras. it wont help. i dont care how thick the steel is or how tall it is. the second you turn your back, its done.
btw, the recipie for thermite is all over the internet
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Ken 8:25PM (8/31/2007)
Arm the British Youth with duct tape/Sharpie's/spray paint and let the games begin. 50 quid per camera taken out of service.
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saneAppraisals 8:26PM (8/31/2007)
Nothing a ladder and some duct tape won't cure!
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Chris Ice 8:37PM (8/31/2007)
Two words: paintball gun
Takeo 8:37PM (8/31/2007)
Of course it's only a matter of time before explosively formed penetrators start showing up turned away from the street (at these things) rather than toward them (as in Iraq).
Should make for a helluva fireworks show.
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RWD fan 8:47PM (8/31/2007)
I wonder how safe one of these fortified things are when impacted by a vehicle. Doesn't the UK have all sorts of safety signs and lightposts that collapse and self destruct in the name of vehicle safety? Is there a UK equivalent to the US DOT (MOT?) that might have something to say about something 13 feet high with a "thick steel base driven into the ground"? Sounds like just the thing to launch a speeding Jag into low earth orbit when struck...
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phil 2:52AM (9/04/2007)
Exactly what I was thinking. Don't they test roadside things by running cars into them? Perhaps they just want to put a bunch of energy dissipating water barrels in front of all of them. Sounds like a bad idea to me though, the more immovable objects on the side of the road, the more people will be rendered immobile.
Rob 8:47PM (8/31/2007)
Before I even got to the bottom, I was thinking "Spray paint". :) Then "paintball gun". I'm glad the USA isn't dumb enough to invest heavily in these things around here, because I'd definitely be destroying them.
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Tom 9:17PM (8/31/2007)
don't come to New Jersey then. they're starting to show up. they like to put them over the traffic lights.
sauberkraut76 9:14PM (8/31/2007)
how about saran wrap? that oughta drive them nuts.
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alex 9:40PM (8/31/2007)
yes this will work.... Can anyone say thermite, duct tape, spray paint, paint, and im sure you could also drill through the back if motivated enough. And yes putting an armored steel pile into the ground just sounds like the safest thing ever....
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