License to Be Dumb

[Case]

Critics of red light cameras, take note. A woman was given a $50 ticket after the camera didn't catch her license. Yes, didn't! Lisa Sims of Ohio who has never been to New York City was issued the ticket when, (http://www.nydailynews.com/08-25-2006/news/story/446538p-375962c.html) somehow, her license plate which starts with DQN was mistaken for a car with DON that ran a red light on West Houston in June. Sims offered pitch perfect quotes to the Daily News,

"I didn't want to go there to begin with and now I really don't want to go... If I'm going to get tickets like this when I've never been there, then what's going to happen if I do go.. They're pretty much slackers if you ask me. It makes me wonder how many people who don't want to go through the hassle end up just paying the ticket."

Sing it, sister! The city threw out the ticket, but only after Sims had to spend a lot of time and effort proving the car wasn't hers. This is pretty damn embarrassing - now our only question is did they find the true person who ran the red light, because Houston Street is a damn mess and no one should be running red lights or turning right on red there.

Triborough had a funny post on what license plates are available (http://www.triborough.org/blog/?p=257) from the NY State Department of Motor Vehicles. And the city announced it was doubling the number of cameras (http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/06/28/red_light_camer.php) earlier this summer when the ID system aparently does not work all that well...

[kadhal]

do you know how these cameras are triggered ? I guess its something like when the signal is red and if a vehicle crosses the line then it is triggered.

[Case]

Not a 100 % sure on the trigger mechinisem BUT i know they are IR B&W cameras you can get your self a clear coat spray paint that you can spray over your liicence plate on the internet and when u look at it with a NV or any IR Camera it comes out all white it some how reflects all possible IR making the plate some up all white to the camera but from the human eye you could not tell the diffrence..

[Beatrix]

I might have seen something like this from Discovery Channel, but I forgot how it works exactly. I suppose that it is an infrared camera catching the signal. Maybe the camera was worn-out and clouded that it made a false reading of the license plate.

[Case]

well acording to the artical it wasnt that it was fuzzy the recognition system just failed. I mean it happens with automation things like this its never perfect.