When you thought gatsos where bad.....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zip
  • Start date Start date
I don't know if it's just recently, but Aus seem to be going almost zero tolerance on speeding at the moment. I remember watching a test match there on tv and there were big banners all over the stadium about speeding. Can't see this taking off over here though.
 
Burned_Alive said:
Very much doubt the police will be mounting High Definition cameras to patrol helicopters
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The point is such things exist, movie quality at 2 miles won't be necessary, but decent quality to make out a number plate at a couple of hundred metres isn't a big deal.

Jokester
 
There are a few places near me which have had them for a few years, off the top of my head most of the (nice, straight) NSL over the peak district, and some roads going to random towns . I think they have lines painted on the road (quite thick/big lines) which allow them to measure the distance.
 
I worked on RADAR systems over 20 years ago that used the speed of vehicles to diferentiate between cars & tanks from a couple of miles up.

Easiest/cheapest way to measure speed would be to 'paint' the car with a Laser & use doppler to calculate speed difference between the car & GPS on the helicopter.
 
A couple of things:

1) It costs about £1500 an hour or more to keep the helicopter in the air: I can't see how it can hand out fines fast enough to pay for that.

2) It measures speed by a rather simpler method: what do you think those big white squares on the road are for? It times you past two of them (good old VASCAR) and knows how far apart they are (0.5 miles IIRC). Simple bit of math for the VASCAR.


M
 
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It's just one more thing to keep your eye out for and distract your attention from the road. Like all other speed cameras, when you pass them, how often do you just look at your speedo rather than the road??
 
well the government are apparently testing number plates with radio transmitters built in for toll charging, no reason why this couldnt measure speed as well I guess, simple timing from road side receiver to receiver.
 
ok heres something to keep you guys interested, yes i live in the UK, in South Yorkshire, now for the last few days, there has been this funny looking chopper flying around, not the usual copper chopper, bright yellow, with a blue underside, and blue tail, and attached to one of the skids was this funny looking thing, it was fully moveable, and this chopper was just hovering over the town centre and 2 of the main roads, it was hovering in the same spot for 15 mins (they have 25 mins flying time) he would go refuel and come back to the same spot. maybe this is just the start of Air Mobile Gatso's
 
I think it's a recipe for disaster - people will be driving and looking out through their sunroofs, rather than their windscreens!
 
Thats what I said (or at least tried to get accross). I'd like to see some statistics on how many speed cameras actually cause crashes rather than stop them.
 
Mackass said:
I think it's a recipe for disaster - people will be driving and looking out through their sunroofs, rather than their windscreens!
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At least there looking out a window, not just fixating on their speed dial just incase..
 
With all the cameras pointed at us driver already, is this really necessary? :mad:

EDIT
Maybe it is time i purchase and fit that radar,gatso and electronic jammer on the fto. :D
 
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Im not sure if they are worrying about cost too much. They have decided to crack down on speeding and crack down hard.
Drink driving also gets even more attension then what it did aswell which is good.
I cant hear or see any choppers today so it might be just a weekend and school holiday thing. But who knows, they might be out in the afternoon sometime.
 
Zip said:
Im not sure if they are worrying about cost too much. They have decided to crack down on speeding and crack down hard.
Drink driving also gets even more attension then what it did aswell which is good.
I cant hear or see any choppers today so it might be just a weekend and school holiday thing. But who knows, they might be out in the afternoon sometime.
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unless i'm mistaken haven't the US police been using helichoppers to catch speeders for almost three decades?
 
The_Dark_Side said:
unless i'm mistaken haven't the US police been using helichoppers to catch speeders for almost three decades?
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Im not sure, they might have. They are always using them in pursuits but im not sure. Someone from america will have to answer that one
 
The_Dark_Side said:
any idea where these costs come from as that seems way too high to me.
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It's the standard figure quoted. There are very high service costs, they drink fuel, and there's the (highish) pay of the two crew. But mainly it comes I suspect from writing off the costs of a VERY expensive bit of kit over its life.


M
 
At the end of the day these are simply enforcing the law.

Now the question of whether the money could be better spent etc is a very different argument but fundamentally this is about enforcing the law.

With so many comments about having to fixate on your speed dial how many of you are incapable of judging your speed without looking at the speed dial. Remember most cameras have a built in tolerance so you are safe to go a couple of mph above the limit.
 
Meridian said:
It's the standard figure quoted. There are very high service costs, they drink fuel, and there's the (highish) pay of the two crew. But mainly it comes I suspect from writing off the costs of a VERY expensive bit of kit over its life.


M
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a good friend of mine is qualifying as a heli instructor and to amass enough hours he's having to hire a 'copter at around £200/hour plus VAT
the pilot in a plod-copter is almost always a civilian but i can't remember if there are two officers as well or just the one.

if £1500/hour is accurate it is indeed a hell of a lot of money.
 
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