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Speed cameras which communicate with each other by satellite are being secretly tested on British roads. The hi-tech devices can follow drivers’ progress for miles to calculate whether they have broken speed limits. Combining number plate recognition technology with global positioning satellites, they can be set up in a network to monitor tens of thousands of cars over huge areas for the smallest breach. Known as SpeedSpike, the system uses similar methods of recognition as the cameras which enforce the congestion charge in London, and allow two cameras to 'talk' to each other if a vehicle appears to have travelled too far in too short a space of time. After a covert national trial which has not been publicised until now, just days after a report showed motorists have been fined almost £1billion in speeding tickets under Labour, authorities hope the new cameras will enable them to re-create the system used on motorway contraflows. The Home Office is currently testing them at two sites - one in Southwark in London and another on the A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267278/New-speed-cameras-trap-motorists-space-trial-UK.html

Drivers who spot hidden speed cameras will be able to alert other vehicles within three seconds with the help of a dashboard gadget. They will no longer need to flash their headlights to oncoming drivers but will simply press a button on a satellite-positioning device. The device, which exploits a loophole in the law, transmits the location of the speedtrap to a processing centre. The information is relayed to other drivers who have installed the same equipment. A car travelling 300 yards behind the driver who first spots the trap would receive the warning in time to slow down before the camera. The device emits an audible alarm and a colour-coded warning telling the driver how frequently the speed trap has been reported. It also displays the car’s speed, the speed limit and the distance to the camera. Most existing speedtrap warning devices use satellite positioning to compare the vehicle’s location with a database of known camera sites. But the database is often out of date and drivers can still be caught out by mobile camera units, which change their location frequently and sometimes operate covertly. Road safety groups said that the new device would undermine the ability of police to enforce the limit because drivers would be able to speed with very little risk of being caught. More than 50,000 drivers in France already have the new device. In September they reported 27,000 traps. If a driver repeatedly presses the button in places where no one else reports a camera, his transmissions will be blocked. The Government has said it intends to outlaw devices that detect radar or laser systems used by speed cameras. But when contacted by The Times yesterday, the Department for Transport appeared unaware of the existence of the Mini Coyote and unsure how to respond to it. A spokes-woman said: “The police do need the ability to carry out unannounced enforcement with mobile cameras.” Robert Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: “It should be made clear to drivers who are thinking of buying these devices that they could be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice.” But Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “We think it would be extremely difficult to prosecute someone for perverting the course of justice if they had warned another motorist of speed cameras ahead.” Nigel Carter, from Novus, said: “This is actually a road-safety device because it will help prevent accidents caused by drivers stamping on the brakes when they spot a camera too late. As far as we can see, there is nothing illegal in the unit.” Pulling a fast one — In 1912 the AA employed 950 “cycle scouts” to patrol roads and alert members to speed traps. The AA car badge helped scouts to identify members — The AA advised members to slow down if scouts or breakdown patrolmen did not salute as they passed, thus allowing the AA to avoid prosecution for helping drivers evade the law — Until 1998 speed cameras had been thought to be illegal under the Wireless and Telegraphy Act 1949 — The Road Safety Act 2006 gave the Government the power to ban radar and laser speed cameras Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5126825.ece Speed Cameras on iPhone

Stay alert near red light and speed cameras! Cams Ahoy! is a handy tool that uses your phone's GPS capability to alert you when a photo enforcement camera is nearby. The European version comes pre-programmed with over 22.000 camera locations licensed from www.SCDB.info, the most complete and accurate source for speed and red light cameras in Europe. Start Cams Ahoy! and you'll be reminded with a ping sound and camera icon whenever you're near one of these locations. This is not user generated content, this is the real deal with close to 100% coverage! Facts: - more than 22.000 EU speed cameras - 99% coverage in 34 countries - Europe's Number 1 - all locations are checked on-site Check http://www.scdb.info/en/software-karte/ for complete coverage. GPS is required, so it only works with iPhone 3G. Please download the app Cams Ahoy! in iTunes.

SPEEDING motorists captured by new infra-red digital speed cameras will escape fines – but only for the time being. The cameras are being tested by SA Police to determine if they will replace existing cameras which use radar and photographic film. The cameras are positioned on the front of cars rather than inside or on tripods. Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens said motorists caught speeding by the cameras could not be penalised as they were only being trialled. "SAPOL is currently conducting an evaluation for the replacement of speed cameras," he said. "As part of the evaluation, field trials are being conducted to test varying detection type cameras against the tender specifications. The field trials will continue until late September when final evaluation will be undertaken and a replacement camera model for the current speed cameras will be announced." The decision by SA Police to change speed cameras comes after the Australian Crime Commission's call for police to use cameras similar to those which help track suspected terrorists in the United Kingdom. The ACC wants automatic number plate recognition technology to be used by all Australian law enforcement agencies. The cameras can scan one number plate each second on cars doing up to 160km/h in traffic. The ACC would use the technology to track the whereabouts of known criminals and the movement of stolen vehicles. source: http://www.news.com.au/

Putting up of the first speedcams in Romania in Copaceni on DN1, see the following pictures.

The same day TomTom announced their new GO 720, they also unveiled the new TomTom GO 520, which is the successor of the older GO 510. GO 520 will only be available in Europe offering only local maps - depending on where you buy it from. Here are the features of the new GO 520:

• 4.3 widescreen 16:9 format LCD (WQVGA: 480*272 pixels)
• CPU 400 MHz, 64MB RAM
• 512MB, 1GB (TomTom GO 520) or 2GB internal flash memory (TomTom GO 720)
• SD card socket
• High sensitivity GPS receiver
• Compatible with RDS-TMC traffic information receiver
• Integrated FM transmitter
• Bluetooth
• Battery lithium-polymer (5 hours operation)
• Optimised integrated microphone and speaker for high quality hands-free functionality
• Dimensions: 118 mm x 83 mm x 24 mm
• Weight: 220 grams

GO 520 will also make speech recognition available in certain European countries allowing the users to speak the address they want to go to instead of trying to typing it in.

New technology allows police to mail automated tickets to cars with loud stereos and noisy exhausts. Noise cameraTransportation officials are looking to expand the use of photo enforcement to cash in on motorists who blast their stereos or use modified, high-performance exhausts. At least one agency has expressed interest in a ticketing system developed by Acoustic Research Laboratories, a New South Wales company that developed acoustic detection equipment for the Australian Navy. The fully automated setup mails traffic citations to passing vehicles that exceed a predetermined noise threshold. It can detect loud subwoofers, a noisy exhaust, or even an inopportune honk of the horn. A combination of sound level meters, cameras and computer processors identify these targets of opportunity. Separate microphone and video modules are pole-mounted in waterproof boxes that communicate with a laptop control unit using WiFi. The manufacturer claims that the system distinguishes predetermined trigger sounds from general background road noise. Once the system is configured, it will generate up to 10,000 tickets before the on-board hard drive is filled. A 10-second video and audio clip is stored for each incident. Similar red light camera and photo radar technology has generated billions of dollars worldwide. In Washington, DC alone, cameras billed drivers more than $171 million since 1999.

VIGILANTES have vowed to continue their campaign of attacking speed cameras - despite claims it has already cost £60,000 in repair bills. Last week Motorists Against Detection (MAD) claimed responsibility for the gutting of a speed camera on the A217 Brighton Road, near the junction with Burgh Wood in Nork. It said drivers had asked them to attack the camera, which was moved to its current site after a triple fatal road accident at that junction last April. MAD says it will continue its campaign as long as people in the area ask it to do so, even though the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership says the repair bill is £60,000 for the last three years. Captain Gatso, the self-styled campaigns director of Motorists Against Destruction (MAD), said: "That money has not come out of the public purse - it has come from fines and is being used for the camera instead of furnishing their nice little offices. source: http://icsurreyonline.icnetwork.co.uk/