Building a Traffic Radar System To Catch Reckless Drivers? 483
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the bonus-points-if-it-catches-texters dept.
from the bonus-points-if-it-catches-texters dept.
cbraescu1 writes "I live in a city with a population in the millions (someplace in the Middle East; the country is not important), and I am mad as hell. The car traffic is going from bad to worse, and I'm sick of all the car accidents that keep happening (we have one of the biggest accident and mortality rates per km of road or per 1,000 vehicles). I just witnessed a car accident a few hours ago, and in the last few months I've given first aid at two other car accidents, all happening within 500 meters of each other. Today's victims escaped alive, but the motorcycle driver who was responsible fled and the police weren't equipped to catch him. There are laws, but not much willingness to enforce them, and no traffic lights at all. After speaking with some of my friends, we decided to take the issue into our own hands: build a traffic radar system able to capture a vehicle's speed, install it at our own expense, and share the generated penalties with the city government (all subject of their approval, of course). We want to start on the main avenue (more than 15 km) and to 'roll' the income from the penalties into covering new streets (so that perpetrators will basically finance the system). We're not rich and we will not ask for our money back. We just need to make the system start and we're confident the penalty fees will cover its spread. So, I'm asking Slashdot: what would be a workable way to build such a system? It must withstand drivers claiming the system is cheating, high temperatures, high levels of humidity, and crappy electricity. Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is about technology saving lives — literally."
ummm (Score:4, Informative)
two ways to do it (Score:1, Informative)
Traffic camera systems are already commercially available.
or......
It's not hard with blob detection.... not hard at all using the opensource aForge libraries (google it). Just track the movement of the blob across the cameras frame and calculate the speed based off of that. Adjust the geometry for each site, and off you go.
Re:ummm (Score:3, Informative)
Abrams A1 (Score:3, Informative)
Re:the better alternative (Score:4, Informative)
Re:One additional improvement (Score:2, Informative)
Your biggest challenge will not be finding a solution, but getting the solution implemented. You will deal with a lot of officials who are ignorant, arrogant, or just don't care about human life as much as you do. Even when they do care, you have to deal with their ignorance. They will likely not lean on experts for advice, but instead rely on the local computer guy Bob for advise, or they will shell out big bucks to a local consulting firm where their acquaintance works, even though that firm has no experience in the task at hand.
If you want this to succeed, you will probably have to spend the rest of your life trying to become the head of your Department of Transportation or maybe Highway Safety, or whichever department has authority over the other. So that you can ensure first hand and with authority, that the solution is implemented correctly.
What you are proposing is a pilot project, and at the most you will get a "huh, that's cool." and that will be about as far as you get.
I don't mean to be overly negative, but I have been down this road before, and that fact is the people you will deal with are 9-5 people and all they really care about, despite their huffing and puffing, is how long till it's 5 o'clock.
BTW, reckless driving and speed are two different things. Speed makes little difference if you don't drive intelligently or are distracted and unfocused.
Re:Road to hell... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Traffic Lights? (Score:1, Informative)
IN some places like China or Brazil where I've been, traffic lights do exist and to every motorist they're "optional." Just find youtube videos with keyword "traffic" + country, and you see them running the light (Vietnam, Thailand, India, France). The problem, like the OP states, is that there's no officers to *enforce* the law. They'd much rather investigate murders, kidnappings, or most likely, nothing at all (aka, street patrol).
The fact that Americans follow the light signals was a surprise to me when I first moved to the states.
Re:Private technological gizmos (Score:4, Informative)
will never replace rule of law.
My understanding is that the story submitter is trying to provide the police / government with a means to enforce the law. You'll note the phrase, "but the motorcycle driver who was responsible fled and the police weren't equipped to catch him," implying that the police do not have sufficient means.
You'll also notice that the summary states, "build a traffic radar system able to capture a vehicle's speed," and "[t]here are laws, but not much willingness to enforce them," and hopes with the hypothetical new system that fines will be levied. This, along with the general tone and explicit suggestion of rolling fines into additional technology, would all suggest that the submitter is looking to bootstrap rule of law.
You need a much lower tech solution (Score:4, Informative)
Topes are what they call speed bumps in Mexico (the word means "limit"). They are usually found on the highway as you approach a village, though large cities will put them at strategic places to control traffic speed. They are very effective. They do not require vigilance from law enforcement. They work even if the government is corrupt. They are cheap. They require little maintenance.
Topes [mexadventure.com]
Topes in Yucatan [yucatanliving.com] (including photos of ganada falsos used as topes)