Related to this, I'd love to see some in-depth wire brushing done on how the US got blanketed with 4 way cameras at every intersection and how this data is used/kept, and by whom.
I first noticed it in major centers years back, but now it seems even small towns have cameras at every intersection.
From an IT perspective it's a pretty interesting project, but from a tin-foil-hat perspective it's astonishing when you imagine the ability to link all these cameras together in real-time.
We have them all over the place in Michigan. I specifically asked my friend who's a civil engineer with the county road commision when some were being installed just down the road from my house why they were being added. I was personally concerned at the prospect of red light cameras, which are currently banned in the state.
The explanation was that they were updating the stoplight controls. One of the inductive sensors in the road had failed, and it was cheaper to have a guy in a bucket truck stick a couple cameras on the pole than to rip up the road.
The cameras are used to see the volume of vehicles in each lane and dynamically adjust light timings. And since I drive through the intersection multiple times a day, I have noticed an improvement. They skip the left turn sequence if no one is waiting, and rarely have a big backup when volume is high in one direction for the commute. Also, the left turn timer used to be very short (like 2 cars making it through on green, one on yellow, and the 4th car often took control and went on red), which was nice when there was only one car and you wanted to go straight, but annoying when you were one of 6 or 7 cars in line and an extra five seconds would let everyone make the turn but instead you had to wait through multiple light cycles. Now it seems to often hold the turn cycle long enough to let the whole line empty out.
But I totally agree that the idea of a soft update to either issue red light tickets or track license plate activity is extremely concerning. Might end up with a stray paintball from my backyard accidentally hitting the lens if they make that a policy change.
Camera control of lights is a blessing for many motorcyclist, there are just some lights that will not trip. Plus like the guy told you, it is far cheaper. Plus I know in Atlanta they use the cameras to adjust timing and such and did show improvements.
if there is no retention, or a press here to save last five minutes in case they witness an accident that would be good
My 2016 car came with three cameras. My phone has two.
Cameras are already everywhere. As they become even more dirt cheap, that will only hyper-increase, even if governments somehow completely stays out of it.
Sometimes you enter into a new technological era, and you have to accept that things have changed.
Sometimes I ask people about the cameras and the white boxes (those ubiquitous white boxes on poles, often solar-powered, along highways pointing perpendicular to moving traffic). I ask what they think - who put them up, what data they collect, where that data goes.
I am routinely met with blank stares and "I don't know what you're talking about". It baffles me.
I first noticed it in major centers years back, but now it seems even small towns have cameras at every intersection.
From an IT perspective it's a pretty interesting project, but from a tin-foil-hat perspective it's astonishing when you imagine the ability to link all these cameras together in real-time.