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Category: Technology Author : Steven Hodson Posted: December 22, 2008
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Speed cams pwned in Maryland


speed cameras

I have never been a proponent of CCTV surveillance of any kind as I believe once you start down that road it can become a very slippery downward journey. However more and more states are finding different uses for them in order to build up their coffers and primary among the uses is to catch speeders. Such is the case in Montgomery County in Maryland where they have a Speed Cams program that allows them to catch speeder and send them their fines in the mail.

Except a group of students at Wootton High School have been using those same camera to pull pranks on people they feel have wronged them in some way or another.

Originating from Wootton High School, the parent said, 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.

Students are even obtaining vehicles from their friends that are similar or identical to the make and model of the car owned by the targeted victim, according to the parent.

"This game is very disturbing," the parent said. "Especially since unsuspecting parents will also be victimized through receipt of unwarranted photo speed tickets.

The parent said that "our civil rights are exploited," and the entire premise behind the Speed Camera Program is called into question as a result of the growing this fad among students

Programs like this should be called into question as far as I am concerned. I’m just surprised it has taken this long for something like this to happened.










Comments


One Archived Response to “ Speed cams pwned in Maryland ”

  1. ontarioemperor
    Dec 22, 2008

    Steven,

    Actually, there's a possible technological fix for this. (Disclaimer: I work in the biometric industry.)

    If the cameras also capture the face of the driver at the same time that the license plate is captured, then the facial image could be matched via 1:1 comparisons to the stored faces of registered drivers that are associated with the same address as the vehicle. Failing a match, the face could then be compared via a 1:n match against the faces of all registered drivers in Maryland.

    Some caveats apply – facial recognition accuracy, while better than a few years ago, isn't perfect, and there are some issues in the capture of moving faces at an angle. However, perhaps within a few years such an approach would be feasible.

    I realize that this doesn't alleviate your “slippery slope” concerns, but at least it provides a better chance for such automated systems to charge the correct person with the crime.