Photographic Enforcement of Traffic Laws

Photographic Enforcement of Traffic Laws
Author: Robert R. Blackburn
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 80
Release: 1995
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780309058605

This synthesis will be of interest to state and local highway agency administrative and executive officers, enforcement agency personnel, attorneys, traffic engineers, and others concerned with managing and enforcing traffic laws at all levels of government. It will also be of interest to manufacturers and marketers of automated speed enforcement (ASE) technology. The synthesis describes the requirements, applications, effectiveness, and issues related to the use of ASE technology. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the various types of ASE technology as applied in several localities, including descriptions of operational requirements and performance characteristics of these technologies. The synthesis also discusses how citations are processed, and examines the legal and acceptability issues related to ASE technology and public views on these actions. The various technologies on the market at the time of preparation of this synthesis are also described. It should be noted that, as with any application of public surveillance technology, officials are well advised to exercise proper cautions when employing such enforcement procedures.

Video Enforcement for HOV Lanes

Video Enforcement for HOV Lanes
Author: Shawn Turner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 58
Release: 1998
Genre: High occupancy vehicle lanes
ISBN:

This report documents a study conducted to assess and test promising technologies for HOV lane enforcement. After a qualitative assessment of video, automatic vehicle identification, and infrared machine vision technologies, the study was suspended because no preferred infrared technology was available for testing. The study was resumed when a vendor demonstrated promising video technology. The highoccupancy vehicle enforcement and review (HOVER) system was then developed for an operational test on the East R.L. Thornton (I-30) contraflow HOV lane in Dallas, Texas. The results of the operational test indicated that the HOVER system, in its current state, could support a program that mails HOV information to suspected violators (similar to the HERO program). The study's limited budget prevented several improvements that could improve the capabilities of the HOVER system. With several enhancements to the system (e.g., improved license plate recognition and "whitelist" license plate database, etc.), the HOVER system could be used to perform enforcement screening. Significant enhancements to the system (e.g., high-quality video cameras and additional camera views, improved video signal transmission, improved license plate capture and recognition, etc.) could enable its use for HOV ticket-by-mail programs, although enabling legislation does not currently exist in Texas. The author recommends implementation of these enhancements and further testing to determine future system potential.