La Dolce Veloce

The latest technology in speed enforcement is using a regular video camera to catch speeders. A computer analyzes the video feed, and calculates the distance the vehicle is moving with respect to fixed objects (read more about it here). Since there is no radio or optical emissions, it is impossible to detect (though the location of fixed systems may be determined by GPS and that data shared). The good news for Californians is that I believe this system is not legal for use in this state. The California vehicle code defines a speed trap as measuring the time it takes for a vehicle to travel a known distance. This is exactly the technology being used here. The good news is that the vehicle code also defines a speed trap as being illegal. For the other 49 states…I’m not really sure, but you can count on this technology to become more and more common (and don’t be surprised if the vehicle code is revised to allow for this!).