Spy in the sky will help police keep an eye on drivers
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:32 pm
Spy in the sky will help police keep an eye on drivers
By David Millward, Transport Correspondent
(Filed: 14/03/2006)
High-powered cameras capable of reading number plates from several thousand feet up have been bought by five police forces.
Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Met are among forces who have invested in the technology which is already used in America, Canada, Norway and Luxembourg.
The cameras can calculate whether a motorist is breaking the speed limit, with the information being transmitted from a helicopter to the police control centre on the ground.
Any hope the motorist might have of escaping the prying eye in the sky is slim, especially with Wescam, the Canadian manufacturers, developing a device capable of working at night.
A number of forces have expressed interest in this technology. The use of military hardware is the latest evidence of the importance Government and police forces attach to monitoring motorists.
In the short term, tracking drivers is seen as important in the Government's campaign to cut the number of road deaths. It will also be essential if "pay by the mile" road pricing is introduced in Britain.
Last week in Pwhelli, North Wales, a woman caught on video camera putting on her make-up while driving was fined £200, ordered to pay £55 costs and had six penalty points added to her licence.
Other motorists have been prosecuted after being filmed fumbling with a map while driving.
Surveillance of motorists will be stepped up with the Government planning a sharp increase in the number of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras over the next 12 months. They will run alongside the existing network of closed circuit television cameras on main roads and in town centres.
Ministers have still to decide whether the ANPR network is to be self-financing, with the money it raises from fines being invested in more equipment. Some within Whitehall believe that the Government will step back from this, fearing it could provoke the same level of outrage as speed cameras.
Cameras are only one tool in what is becoming an increasingly sophisticated armoury. The European Commission wants every car built from 2009 to have an electronic chip under the bonnet.
The chips will be read either by devices on roadside gantries or possibly by satellite.
This will help police track down - and, if technology allows, slow down - stolen cars or vehicles used by criminals. The devices could also be used to charge motorists should they be obliged to pay for road usage.
In Singapore motorists must have a readable card which has to be topped up - much in the same way as "pay as you go" mobile phones - before they can drive into the congestion zone.
Every time they pass a gantry money is deducted from the card, according to when and where they are driving.
Ministers in Britain are also considering proposals that cars should be equipped with black box data recorders similar to those used on aircraft which would enable the police to piece together events leading up to a road accident.
But it is not only police and the authorities who are using technology to track motorists.
Norwich Union has installed black boxes in a number of cars. Linked to global positioning satellites they enable policy holders' premiums to be based on their driving patterns.
In America rental companies use the same technology to impose additional charges on motorists who "abuse" the cars by using unauthorised roads or breaking the speed limit.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
By David Millward, Transport Correspondent
(Filed: 14/03/2006)
High-powered cameras capable of reading number plates from several thousand feet up have been bought by five police forces.
Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Met are among forces who have invested in the technology which is already used in America, Canada, Norway and Luxembourg.
The cameras can calculate whether a motorist is breaking the speed limit, with the information being transmitted from a helicopter to the police control centre on the ground.
Any hope the motorist might have of escaping the prying eye in the sky is slim, especially with Wescam, the Canadian manufacturers, developing a device capable of working at night.
A number of forces have expressed interest in this technology. The use of military hardware is the latest evidence of the importance Government and police forces attach to monitoring motorists.
In the short term, tracking drivers is seen as important in the Government's campaign to cut the number of road deaths. It will also be essential if "pay by the mile" road pricing is introduced in Britain.
Last week in Pwhelli, North Wales, a woman caught on video camera putting on her make-up while driving was fined £200, ordered to pay £55 costs and had six penalty points added to her licence.
Other motorists have been prosecuted after being filmed fumbling with a map while driving.
Surveillance of motorists will be stepped up with the Government planning a sharp increase in the number of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras over the next 12 months. They will run alongside the existing network of closed circuit television cameras on main roads and in town centres.
Ministers have still to decide whether the ANPR network is to be self-financing, with the money it raises from fines being invested in more equipment. Some within Whitehall believe that the Government will step back from this, fearing it could provoke the same level of outrage as speed cameras.
Cameras are only one tool in what is becoming an increasingly sophisticated armoury. The European Commission wants every car built from 2009 to have an electronic chip under the bonnet.
The chips will be read either by devices on roadside gantries or possibly by satellite.
This will help police track down - and, if technology allows, slow down - stolen cars or vehicles used by criminals. The devices could also be used to charge motorists should they be obliged to pay for road usage.
In Singapore motorists must have a readable card which has to be topped up - much in the same way as "pay as you go" mobile phones - before they can drive into the congestion zone.
Every time they pass a gantry money is deducted from the card, according to when and where they are driving.
Ministers in Britain are also considering proposals that cars should be equipped with black box data recorders similar to those used on aircraft which would enable the police to piece together events leading up to a road accident.
But it is not only police and the authorities who are using technology to track motorists.
Norwich Union has installed black boxes in a number of cars. Linked to global positioning satellites they enable policy holders' premiums to be based on their driving patterns.
In America rental companies use the same technology to impose additional charges on motorists who "abuse" the cars by using unauthorised roads or breaking the speed limit.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
