Networked cameras to seek out parking violators

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 12th 2007 at 5:02AM

The folks in England just can't catch a break. As if hovering surveillance drones, camcorder-wielding traffic wardens and helmet cam-equipped officers aren't enough to keep you on the straight and narrow, London's city of Westminster is apparently looking to "install networked security cameras that can recognize parking permits and the plates of offending vehicles." Essentially, the system would enable parking violators to be ticketed without an actual human witnessing the offense, and it's being dubbed "the most significant application to be deployed on the Westminster's WiFi network." Eventually, the council plans to roll out about 250 of these sure-to-be-hated cameras, and it should ruin enough people's days to "pay for itself in two to three years."

[Via CNET, image courtesy of BBC]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Transportation

Tags: britain, cameras, crime, england, illegal, london, park, parking, parking ticket, ParkingTicket, security, ticket, tickets, wifi

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

eEZER @ Sep 12th 2007 5:20AM

Why does it always rain over there?

Highly Ranked

Carbonize @ Sep 12th 2007 5:40AM

Why do people who've never been to a country always believe the stories they hear about it? Yes it always rains in the UK which is why we've had water shortages in recent years (although not this year).

I wonder how long until these cameras start getting torched by the same no life losers who torch speed cameras?

Neutral

nick @ Sep 12th 2007 6:42AM

Ha!
You mean people who believe in the freedom that on an open road at night doing 35 miles per hour in a 30 zone is not a bad thing.

How many times do we hear from people like blair about freedom and democracy, all we get is cameras and fines.. its hardly democracy when the ruling classes who can afford to park where they like do, and the rest of us have to suck it up.

Your comments ridiculous, I hope more people torch speed cameras, I always cheer when i go past a burned down one.

Labour scum in power.

Highly Ranked

Wonderkid @ Sep 12th 2007 5:46AM

As a resident of London and concerned observer of what is going on in the UK, please believe me when I say that this is not about enforcing parking, it is about a) Making money b) Keeping track of the public. It does not deter the wealthy drivers of silver Mercedes cars from parking illegally and paying the penalty charge. What is £60 to them for the luxury of parking outside their favourite shop? If the deterant was points on ones license or jail time, then the deterant would work. But as it's really all bout squeezing money from the poor and middle classes who may not always find public transport convenient or pleasurable (have you taken a bus or tube on a hot day in London, packed with hot sweaty people?), things will never change and we will blindly continue to walk into a total privacy-less existence. Oh wait, we're there already! Help!

Neutral

mat @ Sep 13th 2007 8:21AM

No war but the class war, eh?

Neutral

Lawrence @ Sep 12th 2007 6:27AM

Oh dear

Neutral

poorlilkid @ Sep 12th 2007 11:21AM

Britain is now officially a police state!

George Orwell's 1984 and the Hollywood movie "V for Vendetta" are no longer just works of fiction.

Neutral

CB @ Sep 12th 2007 6:25AM

I do believe the UK is a model for the future of civilisation, we are just OK'ing everything if it shows the slightest advantage regardless of the social/moral/philosophical consequences.
And every step is cheered on by the 'If you haven't done anything wrong' brigade.
Allready in this country I have recieved fines for failing to tell the government I 'm not breaking the law.
As in recieving a fine for not telling them I haven't used my motorbike on the road and that equals assumed guilt and an automatic computer produced fine in the post.
OK it's petty stuff, but you know they are saying 'well this works great, let's apply it to absofrukinlutly everything else'
It amazes me that the great British public have become so used to being f*ckd over/spyed on/electronically monitored that they don't raise a whimper about this fundamental change in the relationship between government and citizen.
They have just simply invented a law that requires you prove you aren't breaking the law and everyone rolls over dead simply because it 'gets tax cheats'.
No wonder the UK is seeing the largest emigration in it's 1000 year history.

Neutral

Martin @ Sep 12th 2007 6:27AM

London already has something similar that's been around for a while. They have a "congestion charge" (of about £8, I think) to drive into the centre of the city, to try to cut down on inner-city traffic. If you don't pay the charge at a official outlet, cameras automatically detect your car registration upon entering the "congestion zone" and check it against the database of purchased permits for that day. If you haven't coughed up, you get an automatic fine. Martin.

Neutral

mg @ Sep 12th 2007 6:41AM

I live in Westminster, the parking inspectors are a nightmare, but as a resident, I say "go for it": the council makes a lot of money out of the suckers who can't follow the signs, and it helps keep our council tax rates amongst the lowest in the country. As a resident, I can get a parking permit (although we don't own a car: who needs to, public transport and massively available black cabs are far more useful and economic) and there are stacks of resident parking spaces.

Neutral

olliem @ Sep 12th 2007 6:45AM

CB, if you looked at the actual statistics rather than the daily mail headlines you may realise that the large scale emmigration you mention is predominantly eastern europeans returning home after working here for a couple of years.

Neutral

CB @ Sep 12th 2007 9:58AM

No it don't read the Mail, and I 'm still talking about 'classic' Britons.
OK many are an older population retiring to the sun, but this increasing electronic intrusion into our lives, and it will get much, much worse is hardly going to endear people to the place.
Everything you can think of will happen, as sensors get smaller and databases get bigger.
When I was younger people use to rant 'I'm a name not a number!' We have totally given up on that one.

Neutral

Jake @ Sep 12th 2007 6:55AM

It will cost more than they expect, it won't work properly, it will waste peoples time, it will cause a lot of aggravation and anger. Why don't they think of a proactive solution to parking? The public sector is useless - parking should be run by a fully private company.

Neutral

simon.nutsy @ Sep 12th 2007 7:35AM

Not that I like the government. But setting everything to the Private sector i s really bad idea...

Everything thats been privatised in this country has been abused, ripped off and the service has got worse. The railnetwork the london transport the engery companys...

If you privatise it you bring in the fat cats to riup of fthe beneral public...

So no Privatisation isnt the awnser...

The fact Traffic wardarns are privatised is part of the overbearing problem. The reason we hate them in the first place is they are little nazi warderns roaming the streets... If they see a cars Ticket is going to go out in 15 minutes they would stand there by the car waiting for it to go out... They even start righting the ticket before the parking slip actualy runs out....

I've had a car get a ticket when the parking slip was still valid, And i actualy drove off before the slip ran out... Yet when i tryed to contest the parking fine they didnt let me off...

So no privatising the warderns and sub contracting the system isnt the right thing to do.

As for this.... Its scary how much this country is turning into a totalitarism dictatorship... Voted in by the great british public. :/