New Speed Cameras installed in Qatar (Mr. Q’s concept becomes reality!)
Well I’m kind of excited! I had written a concept about a new type of speed camera two years ago and it seems like it’s now become a reality. Although the current cameras are a bit different in functionality they acheive the same goal.
In short, my concept was that there would be a speed camera that would tag a car that passed by with an unique identifier. When passing the second speed camera, it would calculate how long it took the car to reach it and calculate the average speed. If the car passed the second camera’s checkpoint too quickly, then you would be fined.
Pros: You can’t slow down at the camera then speed up, you have to follow the speed limit.
Cons: The only way to escape is to be a mathematician. If the limit is 80km, and you drove up to 100km for 50 meters and then slowed down to 60 for 50 meters then you’d be safe. (People who speed aren’t geniuses though right?)
Here’s a picture of the new camera and here’s their explanation of how it works
New Traffic Cameras Qatar are not just nice looking – they are intelligent technology.
First thing is that these cameras do NOT flash. They can take photos in complete darkness through ultra-light sensors, so even if it does not flash, it could have caught you. They also automatically read your number plate from the picture taken.
Now, here comes the catch. These cameras are continuous photo-taking cameras and they will take your photo regardless if you have been speeding or not. Then the next camera in 3-5 kms again does the same. Now, instead of checking your speed through advanced radars, these cameras are very simple and all they do is calculate how fast you traveled between the 2 cameras. If you arrived at the next camera faster than 120 km/h (or whatever the speed limit is) then you get fined.
What does this mean?
It means that you can stop speeding up between cameras and slowing down as it does not matter anymore. If you are speeding in between 2 cameras you will get fined.
Dragos said,
Wrote on January 21, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
good article!
kattan2000 said,
Wrote on January 24, 2010 @ 2:05 pm
This cannot be done either with a bar code reader or that kind of technology. Cameras cannot detect the numbers of number plate by itself.
Kei said,
Wrote on January 24, 2010 @ 5:17 pm
why wouldn’t that work? There’s optical character recognition.
Peter said,
Wrote on January 24, 2010 @ 11:35 pm
Optical Character Recognition works on license plates. California is full of those “friendly” reminder signs, that show your speed when you approach them. Except they show you license plate number right over it. A lot more effective in slowing you down.
Ahmad said,
Wrote on February 13, 2010 @ 1:45 am
I also read about this technology somewhere in one of the news papers before.
however, I’m pretty positive this is not the you’re talking about, Khalifa. This camera shown in the photo is exactly the same cameras they have in Dubai. The ones in dubai DO flash, trust me, I’d know. This yellow square is where the flash shoots from.
I don’t know what Kattan meant but i’m sure this technology can be done easily. It’s already being used for other applications, like Peter mentioned.
Salman said,
Wrote on February 19, 2010 @ 11:43 pm
You talked about how fast to go when you slow down part of the way between cameras. Actually, it’s a little bit better than that. If you went 60 kmh for 50 meters, you could go 120 for the other 50 meters (not 100) before reaching the next camera if the speed limit were 80 kmh.
To simplify it a bit, let’s use a 20 km distance between cameras. Going 80 kmh, it would take 15 minutes to complete the distance. Therefore you would not want to reach the next camera sooner than that.
Going 60 kmh for 10 km (half the distance) would take 10 minutes, so you’d have 5 minutes left for the other 10 km. How fast can you go? 120 kmh if the speed limit is 80 would avoid a speeding fine.
When comes the time that driving gets slow and boring, I hope there will be bullet trains to take us where we need to go instead.
How are you Khalifa? I hope all is well insha’ Allah. Keep up the good work with your blog and website.
Jonathan said,
Wrote on March 1, 2010 @ 7:17 pm
We’ve had these in the UK for a while, and they’re both great and a pain. While they do make everyone slow down they also make you spend longer checking the speedometer, which can’t be as good for safety.
Another niggle we have is that they’re mostly used on motorways when there are roadworks, apparently to protect the workforce – who aren’t there half the time! If there’s no-one to protect why can’t I go 70mph instead of 40?
gene said,
Wrote on May 20, 2010 @ 9:31 am
Don’t be fooled by the similairities between the camera in the photo and the camera’s in dubai. I have a feeling that the Qatari’s purchased from the same vendor, but bought the upscale version as opposed to the UAE.
The artile explains that the vehicle is tagged and photographed as it passes camera (1), tnen the tag is checked at camera (2), if your average speed is above the limit, the MOI will appreciate your donation.
There are many ways to beat the older “flash” type camera’s, just google it and you will find.
However this technology is harder to fool, since there is no signal emmitted from the camera towards approaching vehicles.
Since all modern automobiles have an onboard computer, you know the next technology, is a chip with information that can be read from traffic departments via sensors, that will automatically monitor your driving habits…
Just think about the way you drive…and then think, someone is always watching….
Technology…gotta love it…lol