SPEED cameras in space are being tested on British roads, it has been revealed.
Global positioning satellite receivers combined with number plate reading technology on the ground can measure average speeds over long distances.
The cameras can read number plates in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day, are “low-cost” and are easy to install.
This could be the future of road safety speed limits.
Forget sleeping policemen – I mean the sort that cause bumps in the road – and those yellow boxes planted on main roads that provide a hefty clue that it’s time to ensure you are not going too fast. This will be an unseen eye in the sky, capable of tracking every motorist.
The AA are surprisingly sanguine about the new system that is being tested in a London borough and in Cornwall.
A spokesman said they did not believe there was anything sinister. He claimed: “It is a natural evolution of the technology that is out there.”
It is the natural evolution of technology that is worrying.
This system could be adapted for uses other than monitoring road safety. It could plot every move a motorist makes, as well as how fast they are driving.
Before long the company might recognise a niche market not yet covered by mobile phones and satellite navigation.
They could launch a subscriber service that would bring George Orwell’s Big Brother to life.
In such a scenario, a concerned partner waiting at home while the dinner burned would be able to call a helpline and ask exactly where their other half was and where they have been for the last two hours.
Which would prelude a different kind of homecoming to the usual after you had mumbled something about stopping off for a drink with the boys after a heavy day at the office.
“All right, so I know you’ve been in the Pig and Gusset for the last hour, but who, exactly, lives at number 22 Winslow Way?”
I don’t think the AA has thought this through.
