OnConditionofAnonymity

An insider at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), speaking On Condition Of Anonymity, has revealed plans coordinated by the federal government for states to use drones to track speeders, record speeders' license plate numbers, and to send tickets to speeders through the mail.

"States are hard-pressed for revenue," the highly placed source stated, "because so many of them have mismanaged their budgets. Having borrowed against their retirement funds and unable to make up the shortfall, states are looking to drone-facilitated automatic enforcement of speeding limits." The anonymous whistle-blower disclosed that the program, to be known by the acronym DEAF for Drone Enforcement Automatically Facilitated, will be a zero tolerance program. "Drones can operate 24/7, 365 days a year," said the insider. "A drone can read your license plate number and measure your speed from a few thousand feet above the highway day or night. You will be ticketed if your speed exceeds the limit by as little as two miles per hour."

Continuing to describe the DEAF program ("Complaints will fall on DEAF ears," he joked), the insider told how tickets will arrive by mail. Failure to pay a ticket in a timely manner will result in penalties, and automobile license renewal will not be allowed until all fines are paid. "The DOT has calculated that ten drones operating in California, for example, could generate $500 million in new revenue in a year with very low operating costs. When you think about it, using Highway Patrol officers to catch speeders is very ineffective, because they can only catch one per hour on average." The California Highway Patrol and the DOT estimate that a drone might catch as many as 50 to 100 speeders per hour, minimum, on a busy freeway like Interstate 10 in the L.A. area or Interstate 80 in the S.F. area.

"Legislative gridlock has made it impossible for states to increase revenue by raising taxes on citizens or on corporations. Voters elected these people, and apparently they're doing the will of the electorate by refusing to provide funds to run the states. Citizens should expect that government will turn to creative ways to use new technology to enhance revenue. After all, if you don't exceed the posted speed limit, you have nothing to worry about." The insider added that drones will use infrared to count how many people are in a car, so "it would be a very costly error to drive in the HOV lane by yourself."

posted by Shaman Omaha # 9:38 AM (0) comments

OnConditionofAnonymity

Monday, February 18, 2013

DRONES TO CATCH SPEEDERS

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