For chases or hit and run incidences, or when you just cant read the plate, aim a "gun" at the plate and it reads it from a computer chip. You could also keep track of cars if they are stolen, gather statistics, and find out how fast people are going over the speed limit and track certain cars...
Obviosuly, this feature is for law enforcement and police to find people...-- DarkRanger, Jun 21 2003 The Tornado/radar gun urban legend http://pub11.ezboar...age?topicID=4.topic [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004] communicating black boxes for cars?-- Zimmy, Jun 21 2003 I want CHiPs on license plates. Make mind Eric Estrada. No, make mine... what was that other guy's name?-- Cedar Park, Jun 21 2003 My front license plate has chips in it but my back one doesn't.-- bristolz, Jun 21 2003 [bris]: You need to drive backwards faster.
I just though of this. I saw this in Back to the Future Part 2. A barcode was a part of the license plate.-- Cedar Park, Jun 21 2003 So you'd get this 'gun' out quicker than aiming your eyes at the number plate? Or, if it's more range you want, keep some binoculars in the pocket where the 'gun' would be.
Seriously, this is kinda baked, in the UK at least the authorities are putting up cameras which look like speed cameras but aren't. This is public knowledge, but not publicised. They capture the numbers from passing cars, and they are fed into a computer.The system is infra-red, and works at night as well as day, with no flashing. So if someone hits and runs, and some sort of description of the car is given, they will see the crim pass a camera.
Also, if there's a spate of burgularies, say, they can check if the usual suspects entered the area that night. etc, etc.
The worrying thing is that this is all a bit 1984, and has happened without any public debate.-- RusNash, Jun 21 2003 [rusnash] the system to which you refer is called TrafficMaster and as you say, it reads license plates. However, it is not used for anti-criminal purposes, it is merely used to measure the speed of passing traffic
so... this is not quite baked as far as I know-- jonthegeologist, Jun 21 2003 This is possibly well-baked but we just don't know it....-- git, Jun 22 2003 What about the traffic cops in the NEast of Scotland. They had a radar gun and were putting it down a coast road. It was a shame that they picked up a Tornado that effectorised (sic) the 'gun' and only didn't fire on them because the pilot overrode (did override!) the controls-- gnomethang, Jun 22 2003 Wha?-- snarfyguy, Jun 22 2003 According to the last time I looked, that's an urban legend (see link).-- DrCurry, Jun 23 2003 I'm glad someone called foul on that inane weapons radar/police radar tale.-- bristolz, Jun 23 2003 New Indiana plates are barcoded. Simplifies the transaction at the BMV. As far as shooting it with a reader at highway speeds, it's way too small (and could be hidden by plate frames). Might make it easier for meter maids to give out parking tickets though.-- TitaniumZ, Jun 23 2003 With the Mint Chocolate Milk idea bouncing around, I keep getting really confused about this one.-- DrCurry, Jun 23 2003 I thought this was about getting a free meal every time you register your car.....oh well.-- silverstormer, Jun 23 2003 Re: my pissed anno My apologies all - Had a day of Golf and beer on Sunday. Will leave the message here as a salutary lesson to myself.-- gnomethang, Jun 25 2003 Or police helicoptors...-- DarkRanger, Jun 25 2003 OK, so radar guns are not likely to spook a anti-radar counterstrike. I'd love to build something that could ... and mount it on the roof of someone I disliked.
Regarding the idea, I think it has technical merit, but I'd hate to live in a society where crime detection was absolute. I have completely clean licence, but only because of police ineptitude. I believe 99% of drivers would be banned after a year or so if they were automatically ticketed every time they exceeded the speed limit. That being the case, those living in areas that were more heavily policed would be unfairly discriminated against.-- FloridaManatee, Jun 25 2003 I could go on for days about the techno powers the uk police have got at the moment just from the stuff I have have seen on TV in the last few weeks. -- sufc, Jun 25 2003 Reminds me of the "you know you're a redneck if... your license plate is personalized because your dad made it just for you in prison." Along with the ever-popular "you know you're a redneck if... you hand the nice police officer your beer while hunting in your wallet for your driver's license."-- laserider, Jun 25 2003 I want this. Don't need to pul out a gun if all cars have readers that collect an electrnic log history of other passing cars (tiny amount of data: timestamp and a plate-easy to bake this one). You just need to go back and check your log to see a list of possibles for what ever crime (speeders in my neighborhood would be my favorite targets) and then give the list to the cops with a description, and they could run a check to find which plate it was. (+)-- oxen crossing, Jun 26 2003 //the techno powers the uk police have// Yeah, apparently they've got sanctioned control of Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin and Laurent Garnier.-- my face your, Jun 26 2003 (my_ face_your) Bring on plastikman as the new siren on police cars and as The Bills new theme tune.-- sufc, Jun 26 2003 Oh boy! Make the flashing car roof lights strobe, too. And then get the cops arrested for 'repetitive beats'.-- my face your, Jun 26 2003 You could also keep track of cars if they are stolen, gather statistics, and find out how fast people are going over the speed limit and track certain cars...-- DarkRanger, Sep 06 2003 I saw something on the Discovery Channel about this parking enforcement department (I forget the state and locality) that has this gun type of thing that can read license plates as they drive through parking lots and down city streets. The gun is linked to a computer that searches for people who have unpaid fines or some other infraction and once the gun detects one of these people the enforcers put a boot on the wheel and a big orange decal over the windshield.
Having said that, there is no need for a chip in the license plate when the technology exists to read the letters and numbers on the surface.-- Jscotty, Oct 17 2005 There is talk of using this system in London to implement the congestion charge. This would allow them to charge motorcycles as well - currently they can only charge cars as the cameras only work on forward facing plates. Bah! Humbug!-- wagster, Oct 17 2005 random, halfbakery