 Custom Search  How Many Photo Tickets Will It Take Before You Fight Back? GPS is 100% Legal and Pays For Itself. Click Here To Learn More. Edmonton Engineer Promoting Noise Radar CameraJan. 15/09An Edmonton engineer says he has invented a photo radar-like device to catch roaring road hogs, but the product is a tough sell with Canadian police forces. “It’s brand new. Nothing like this exists (anywhere else) in the world,” says Mark Nesdoly, president of Street Noise Reduction Systems. “(But), no one wants to be the first.” He has approached between 20 and 25 police forces with the product, which he says costs less than photo radar. Nesdoly’s device, called the sound snare, measures decibels of noise generated by passing vehicles, matching the sound pattern to a video recording. He presented data gathered by the Sound Snare to a city council committee during a report on excessive vehicle noise Monday. While the city has a noise bylaw to address the nuisance created by modified mufflers, the police force is best equipped to enforce it, says David Aitken, director of complaints and investigations for the city’s bylaw branch. Community members who spoke at the meeting said the noise – most often from motorcycles – disrupts quality of life for those who live near downtown and Old Strathcona. Oliver resident Jim Rose says something must be done, including the implementation of steep fines for offenders. “It wouldn’t take long for the message to get out to bikers that we’re mad as hell and we won’t take it anymore,” Rose says. Nesdoly began work on the sound snare eight years ago, spurred by noise created by a motorcyclist on his street, who regularly woke his infant daughter. “From April to October, this guy would go by on his motorcycle four times a day,” Nesdoly says. He told council normal traffic noise is between 50 and 55 decibels, and he has recorded vehicles tearing through traffic at up to 122 decibels. Nesdoly is offering to give the sound snare to Edmonton Police Service for free, in exchange for a portion of ticket revenue.
Mr. Nesdoly is already too late. Australia installed the first Noise Cameras back in October of 2008.
A computer program processes the audio data to isolate trigger sounds from general background road noise. This allows the device find opportunities to mail a traffic citation to passing vehicles that exceed a predetermined noise threshold. Once configured, the machine will generate up to 10,000 tickets before the on-board hard drive is filled. A 10-second video and audio clip is stored for each incident for use in court proceedings. "In parallel with the development of the acoustic measurement methodology, Transport South Australia has developed camera technology that can be linked with the measurement software," Australia's National Transport Commission reported. "The combination of these systems offers the potential for excessive engine brake noise incidents to be identified and recorded, which may provide a useful tool to enforcement agencies." The commission approved the regulation against engine compression brakes last November. The ticketing system can also be easily expanded to issue citations for loud subwoofers, noisy exhausts, or even an inopportune honk of the horn. So what's next? They are testing cameras in the diamond lanes in Winnipeg, they will be able to ticket someone for 'delaying' the transit schedule! (By not making the right turn and staying in the lane. Even if there are no buses around.) Why not improve the transit system? Or is the plan to take advantage of a poor road design and raise money and then fix it? The camera will likely also be set up for speed and at a low threshold of 9 over, I'm sure there will be plenty of tickets issued at about 10-13 kph over as someone tries to accelerate slightly to get out of the lane. Can you see that whole stretch along Osborne up to River lined with Cameras. Talk about taking advantage of a terrible road design, but then they also take advantage of the Hour Glass effect they have on Route 90 and Corydon which has made that Red light camera the second most productive in the City. Some Cities have cameras for ticketing right turns on red. How long before someone invents technology to detect signal lights etc. In the UK there is an entire highway that monitors you right from the time you enter it till you exit it! I'm not kidding! Check the link. Where will it stop? Governments are downgrading serious offences like red light running and speeding so they can be enforced with cameras, so why should they stop there? They don't care that they are creating huge liabilities by allowing a vehicle to be monitored committing a 'serious' offence with no immediate action being taken so why should they care if they can eventually get you on lesser offences. After all, your still breaking the law right? It's simply by the Grace of God that no one has been injured or killed by an impaired driver or stolen vehicle speeding past a human sitting in a vehicle monitoring a camera that is taking a picture of the offender. If you are going to have a human in there, shouldn't they be capable of stopping a vehicle and perhaps making an arrest? Mobile units don't even report the higher speeds to officers that might be in the area. The higher the speed, the more likely it is something more then just a person exceeding the limit by a few kilometers. Fianlly When you consider that it is the Camera Companies approaching the Cities and providing the equipment at no cost, then you have to ask yourself 'What's going on here?' Slow down, drive safe and keep your money in Your Pocket! Larry Stefanuik
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