Flash! Busted!

Topic
Traffic Enforcement Cameras

Group Members

 * Victor Diec
 * Shelby Riege
 * Marshall Heaney

Statement
Flash. Busted! Has that ever happened to you while you were driving? As technologies advance and more vehicles are on the road, there are more frequent traffic collisions. In Canada, a method being tested to reduce collisions and speed violators is the use of speed and other traffic cameras. Some issues raised in other countries are protests, violence and vandalism because of these cameras. Our main goal for this project is to see whether traffic cameras will be efficient in Canada based on the results of other countries such as the USA, Australia, and the United Kingdom. A survey was taken from Computer Science 203 students to see their opinions on this subject. The history, the issues, and the technology of traffic cameras will also be discuss.

History


The first speed camera was developed in 1958 by a Dutch engineer and rally race driver Maurice Gatsonides. He invented the world’s first reliable speed-measuring device, the “Gatsometer” also called the “Gatso”. Gatsonides’ primary purpose of the speed camera was to help him to go faster around corners in rally races. After he developed the speed camera, he started his own small family business called Gatsometer. The speed cameras were introduced to the world market in 1961 and by 1965, the first red light camera was launched to the market followed by the development of the handheld radars. Speed cameras also play a vital role in sporting events, the gatsometer timers were introduced to the Olympics at the Munich Olympic game in 1972 to measure the speed of athletes. In 1980, the first speed camera was built into a vehicle, which started giving law reinforcement advantages in chasing down speedy drivers. Throughout the years, speed camera technologies have been advancing dramatically. In 1997,digital red light cameras had replaced the traditional red light camera. In 2004, close point digital cameras were developed, allowing to capture the license plate and the face of the driver. Today there many types of cameras and radars that are developed to reduce traffic offences.



Technological Advancements
There have been many technological advancements in traffic cameras since they were first instated in the 1980’s. Two of the most commonly seen are Piezo-electric strips and Doppler Radar.

Piezo-electric Strips


These strips are placed couple of centimeter beneath the roads and they are pressure sensitive. These strips are placed couple of distance apart from each other and it calculates the time it takes a car to go from one strip to another. If the time is less than the expected time it takes a car to travel the distance from one strip to another, then the camera will take a picture of the license plate and the driver will receive a speeding ticket.

Doppler Radar
This is used mostly by police who sit in their cars on the side of the road. When a car passes, the radar sends a radio signal, and based on the change of frequency the car has on the signal, the police can tell if the car is speeding or not.

Monitoring Traffic
Also, there are 3 systems where cameras are used to monitor traffic and record law violators.

Mobile Systems


The first are mobile systems. These systems can be mounted on vehicles, hand-held, tripod mounted and can also be concealed in places likes trees. If the mobile system is mounted on the dashboard of a car, or hand-held, the car doesn’t necessarily have to be stationary. The observing car can also be in motion, usually against the flow of traffic but it can also be with the flow of traffic. If the observing car is in motion, the camera has to calculate the violating cars speed by first subtracting the observing cars speed. In order to do this accurately, most cop cars’ speedometers are regularly calibrated.

Fixed-Speed
The second system is fixed-speed and red/green light cameras. These cameras are in fixed positions in intersections and along roadsides. Also, these cameras can commonly be found in playground zones. As technologies advance, red light cameras are also being used as fixed speed cameras.

ANPR


The third system is ANPR or automatic number plate recognition systems. These cameras differ from the previously mentioned cameras. They are set at distances along the road and measure the time it takes for cars to travel that distance. It is a similar system to the Piezo-electric strips. These cameras use infrared and they are connected to computers in order to read license plates. These cameras are effective in finding speeders because it calculates the average speed of the driver over a certain distance. So if the driver slows down before the first camera or before the last camera it is still possible to be caught. These cameras are also used in order to track stolen cars or criminals in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom.

Political Issues

 * Government accused of “Big Brother tactics” -Over monitoring of public roads.
 * The issue of raising government revenue instead of focusing on making the roads safer.
 * Many of the States have rejected speed and red light cameras due to public vandalism
 * In Edmonton 2006, 2 police officers were suspected of accepting bribes from private contractors who received lucrative contracts to provide photo radar. They now all face criminal charges before court.
 * In the Wiltshire, UK the town of Swindon was the first to completely eliminate speed cameras. They feel the focus needs to be on improving road safely without trying to raise revenue for the government.

Legal Issues



 * A serious issue is the conflict of interest when private contractors are given a commission based on the number of tickets that they issue.
 * The accuracy of these cameras is an issue. False positive results can happen to people who were not speeding and these result in the prosecution of innocent drivers.
 * With the introduction of digital photos replacing film, this raises the issue if the photo is being artificially altered.
 * In some Canadian provinces like Alberta,  “owner liability” jurisdictions are put into effect to avoid the issue of driver identification. This means that no demerit points are awarded for camera infractions but the fee must be paid in full.
 * This raises the issue of “license to speed”. For those who can afford to speed they will continue to because no demerit points are given.


 * The problem with speed and red light cameras was taken to a whole new level in Texas. They have completely banned speed cameras and made a law that there has to be a warning sign for red light cameras. Both measures “were adopted in the state House by unanimous votes.” This will come into effect starting September 1st.

UK

 * A 3 year study done by the Department for Transport in the UK showed at sites where cameras had been installed there was a 7% decrease in vehicle speeds and 100 less fatalities. There were also 870 fewer people killed or seriously injured and 4030 less personal injury collisions per annum.
 * One criticism of this study was that it was taken from sites where a high number of accidents had occurred so a lower number of accidents were expected to occur just by chance alone.
 * In a 2006 follow up report it was said that 12% of fatal road accidents and 5% of all road accidents were due to exceeding the speed limit.

US

 * A 2005 Virginia Department of Transportation study found that red light cameras decreased the number of right-angle crashes but at the same time increased the number of rear end crashes and there was an overall increase in the number of accidents causing injuries.
 * A 2004 Texan Transportation Institute study found, “crashes decrease with an increase in yellow interval duration and reduction in speed limit.”
 * This was shown to cause a 35-40% drop in red light accidents compared to only a 6.4% reduction with the installation of red light cameras.
 * Recent studies in North Carolina and Arizona State also proved the increase in yellow light time reduced crashes significantly.

Australia

 * In Victoria, Australia, $400 million of revenue in 2003 to 2004 were collected from speed cameras. This has raised the issue of fairness and equity. Also, it takes nine months for violated drivers to receive their tickets.

Green Light Camera Issues


Effective in Calgary April 1st, 2009, green light cameras will be snapping photos of vehicles speeding through intersections that also have red light cameras. Seeing as red light cameras brought in $3.465 million of revenue in 2008, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation are raising the issue of if these cameras will really slow people down. They want to see the data proving that intersection collisions are being reduced by Xpercentage or they will be convinced these cameras are just “cash cows.” They are also concerned by how regular these cameras are going to be tested to see if they really are effective in reducing collisions. Other Calgarians like Dan Colburn, 40, believe that the cameras will definitely bring cash in for the city. “But they will make people slow down.”

Deerfoot Permanent Speed Camera Issues


On March 15th, 2009 the permanent speed cameras on Deerfoot won the support of Calgary MLA. The challenges of recruiting enough officers to patrol Deerfoot along with the safety improvement issues are mainly what won them over. Many Calgarians feel that this is just a cash grab and won’t actually improve the safety of Deerfoot Trail. But on the other hand some people feel that it is a danger to themselves as well as their families to travel on the Deerfoot because of the amount of vehicles speeding.

Alberta’s Transportation Minister is considering putting up permanent speed cameras along the 42 kilometres of Deerfoot that held seven of the top ten collision spots in 2007. Calgary city officials are on board with the idea of fixed radar. The city’s manager of traffic engineering told the committee that cities in Australia and the Netherlands had seen up to 40% drop in collisions after these cameras were installed. A 20% decrease was also seen in other Canadian cities by the installation of this pilot project. Since Deerfoot is a provincial road, this movement would need legislative change at a provincial level. The fact that this is a highway and not just an intersection raises the issues of how far is too far. If this movement is passes then what other major highways will be next? Ald Andre Chabot claims that “Once people know the cameras are there, sure they’re going to slow down, and then after the camera it’ll be pedal to the metal.” He also considers these cameras as a cash grab and doesn’t see why officers can’t just pull vehicles over when they are speeding.

If speed cameras are installed along Deerfoot Trail, there will be issues and questions raised about the speed cameras' accuracy. The link below is a video focusing on some issues on speed cameras that are installed along one of the freeways in Victoria, Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KFJJA96HPY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edelonixradar%2Ecom%2Eau%2Fspeed%2Dcameras%2F&feature=player_embedded

Statistics
A survey regarding to traffic cameras was taken from students in Computer Science 203. The following responses collected represents the percentage of students.

1.The Alberta Government is planning to install speed cameras all along the 42 Km  Deerfoot Trail to prevent speeding and collisions. It will cost around $270,000.

a.Do you think it's worth the cost? Y/N

b.Do you think it'll reduce collisions? Y/N



2.Do you feel that speed cameras are just another way for the Government to collect revenue? Y/N



3.In countries like the USA, there were negative responses to traffic cameras such as vandalism and protests, while in other countries such as the Netherlands collisions were reduced up to 40%. What do you think the response in Canada will be?

a.	There will be vandalism, protests, and violence.

b.	Collisions will be reduced.

c.	There will be no effect.

d.	Traffic cameras will cost too much and they won’t last.

e.	B & D



According to the responses we received from our survey, many students think that the cameras that are being installed along Deerfoot are not worth the cost, and they think it is just another way for the government to collect revenue. Although, there were just as many students who thought traffic collisions would be reduced, despite the cost, as students who thought the traffic cameras would be useless. Finally, the response of how Calgary will react to these cameras in question three is what us as a group expected; that the traffic cameras won’t last because they cost too much.

Conclusion
Traffic enforcement technologies are being used throughout the world and many research studies has demonstrated traffic cameras bring many benefits to road safety. However, the public have raised many negative issues against the use of traffic cameras.