The value of having a camera on a motor vehicle

[BillyVance 34]

ryoder

The deputy mentioned three possible charges;
Improper passing, reckless driving, (and I forgot the third one).

Third one would be "being an asshat to deputy despite the evidence"

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Andy9o8 0]

ryoder

The deputy mentioned three possible charges;
Improper passing, reckless driving, (and I forgot the third one).

Littering. And creating a nuisance.

[BillyVance 34]

Traffic cops, usually state troopers and some local cops, will write in their ticket book a note to the judge not to give any slack, when the driver they're ticketing, is being indignant or argumentative, or giving the cop an attitude.

Hey, I accidentally drove through a bridge replacement construction zone, at night, too fast. Noticed the blue lights behind me. Pulled over. Cop came up to my window, and I had my license ready, but let him know I couldn't hear but could lipread. He said I was speeding. It took me a couple tries to get what he was saying, but it turned out to be 61 mph in a 25 zone. Normal speed limit is 55. I told him I was sorry, I didn't realize it was that low. Produced the registration and proof of insurance, and the cop went back to his car. Then came back to me and simply said, "55mph all the way" pointing in the direction I was going.

No ticket. Wow.

36 mph over the limit and he let me off. There was no traffic anyhow. So I pulled out and went on my way with him behind for only a minute before he does a 180 to go after a car that just passed me going the other way.

Be courteous, even apologetic. Provide all paperwork. If your record is clean, you might just get a break.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,381]

Speaking of speed:
When I was talking to the deputy on the phone, I mentioned that the truck I was following was traveling at a speed I thought was pretty reasonable for the road, and only slightly less than I would have been doing with no traffic.

Deputy: "Yes, I know exactly how fast you were going. I could read your speedometer."

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[BillyVance 34]

ryoder

Speaking of speed:
When I was talking to the deputy on the phone, I mentioned that the truck I was following was traveling at a speed I thought was pretty reasonable for the road, and only slightly less than I would have been doing with no traffic.

Deputy: "Yes, I know exactly how fast you were going. I could read your speedometer."

He could? I'd think he was joking... Looking at the video, I couldn't read the speedometer due to the light reflections

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[JohnnyMarko 1]

BillyVance

***Speaking of speed:
When I was talking to the deputy on the phone, I mentioned that the truck I was following was traveling at a speed I thought was pretty reasonable for the road, and only slightly less than I would have been doing with no traffic.

Deputy: "Yes, I know exactly how fast you were going. I could read your speedometer."

He could? I'd think he was joking... Looking at the video, I couldn't read the speedometer due to the light reflections

It's not the clearest, but looked to be around 35 when he passed the first time.

[Remster 24]

JohnnyMarko

******Speaking of speed:
When I was talking to the deputy on the phone, I mentioned that the truck I was following was traveling at a speed I thought was pretty reasonable for the road, and only slightly less than I would have been doing with no traffic.

Deputy: "Yes, I know exactly how fast you were going. I could read your speedometer."

He could? I'd think he was joking... Looking at the video, I couldn't read the speedometer due to the light reflections

It's not the clearest, but looked to be around 35 when he passed the first time.

The speedo is pretty clear. The Tach is harder to read.

And suuuuuuure.... 30-35 in the twisties..... I'm sure that would have been your unimpeded speed ;-)

Remster

[JohnMitchell 14]

jackwallace

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the guy is going to get a $100 fine for illegal passing. He'll send in the check or hire a local lawyer and be done.

Even if he gets off that easily, it's still a pain in the @$$ to have to do all that. Well worth it, our tax dollars at work, if it makes him think twice about pulling that kind of crap in the future.

[JohnMitchell 14]

BillyVance

Be courteous, even apologetic. Provide all paperwork. If your record is clean, you might just get a break.

I've talked my way out of maybe 50% of my tickets or more, including "reckless driving" (I think he was stretching that one a bit). Polite, sober, and good paperwork go a long way.
So far I am a "wreckless" driver too.

[DSE 3]

The Replay Prime is a tad better for this, and it can be configured to start/stop when you start/stop the bike (used by LEO).

www.replayxd.com

It's what I use on my bike too, but don't have it configured for auto/on/off

[ryoder 1,381]

DSE

The Replay Prime is a tad better for this, and it can be configured to start/stop when you start/stop the bike (used by LEO).

www.replayxd.com

It's what I use on my bike too, but don't have it configured for auto/on/off

I'm using a Contour Roam 1.
I thought 1080p @30fps would be good enough to read plates, but I'm disappointed I could only read the plate of the idiot, and was unable to read any of the plates of oncoming traffic, (or the black truck). I had hoped to get them as additional witnesses.

I'm thinking for oncoming traffic, maybe higher frame rate would be more valuable for reading plates, than higher resolution. What is your opinion?

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[DSE 3]

higher resolution would allow for reading the licence plate, but the Contour itself has some serious abberation in the corners (most of the cheap cams do).
The Prime (another reason it's used for LEO) has an all-glass lens structure, and no abberation in the corners. It's not quite as wide, but it's very, very clean.
Resolution is only a small part of the solution; you need to feed good images into the resolution. Then, you need a good compression scheme.

The old Contour is a very, very old 12Mbps compression with a challenged lens system. Good for general use...but not for what you're hoping to achieve with it.

if you want to send me the original video, I could run Fractals on it...

[Andy9o8 0]

jackwallace

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the guy is going to get a $100 fine for illegal passing. He'll send in the check or hire a local lawyer and be done.

From my quick & dirty online research:

In CO, Improper passing gets you 4 points. Reckless driving gets you 8 points. That's a total of 12 points, if it was a CO license (I realize it wasn't). In CO, that's enough, with 1 incident, to get one's license suspended. Also, virtually all states have reciprocal traffic violation reporting & enforcement with each other, and it's all electronic, so it's pretty rapid. So no matter what state this guy is licensed in, once CO reports the violations to his home state (and they will), that will be a lot of points on his license, albeit calculated using his home state's formula. It might still even be enough to suspend his license, depending on his home state's license laws.

Also, these days, moving violations generally get entered into an interstate computer database that is accessed by all the auto insurance companies for rate-setting & renewal purposes. So his insurance co. will find out about this & act accordingly, too.

It seems that in CO although state fines max out at $100 per offense, certain counties and cities can tack on additional amounts; plus there will also be court costs. The money is probably less onerous than the points and insurance consequences, but with per-infraction fines and court costs he's probably looking at about at least $400.

[BillyVance 34]

Andy9o8

***I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the guy is going to get a $100 fine for illegal passing. He'll send in the check or hire a local lawyer and be done.

From my quick & dirty online research:

In CO, Improper passing gets you 4 points. Reckless driving gets you 8 points. That's a total of 12 points, if it was a CO license (I realize it wasn't). In CO, that's enough, with 1 incident, to get one's license suspended. Also, virtually all states have reciprocal traffic violation reporting & enforcement with each other, and it's all electronic, so it's pretty rapid. So no matter what state this guy is licensed in, once CO reports the violations to his home state (and they will), that will be a lot of points on his license, albeit calculated using his home state's formula. It might still even be enough to suspend his license, depending on his home state's license laws.

Also, these days, moving violations generally get entered into an interstate computer database that is accessed by all the auto insurance companies for rate-setting & renewal purposes. So his insurance co. will find out about this & act accordingly, too.

It seems that in CO although state fines max out at $100 per offense, certain counties and cities can tack on additional amounts; plus there will also be court costs. The money is probably less onerous than the points and insurance consequences, but with per-infraction fines and court costs he's probably looking at about at least $400.

$400+/- court costs
$200-400 roundtrip airfare to appear in court
Insurance coverage getting jacked up, maybe double the amount
getting license suspended, having to pay for re-instatement

When its all said and done, he's looking at possibly $2000, give or take as a consequence of his selfish actions.

In all seriousness, the guy fucking hosed himself just based on his reaction when Ryoder pulled up and started talking to him and the guy just got back in the vehicle without saying anything, and whatever his wife was yelling, didn't help either.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Guest]

BillyVance

***Another update:

BWAHAHAHA!
The asshole is denying that he passed me, even after the deputy told him he has already seen the video!!!
So the deputy is planning to file charges that will require a mandatory appearance in court, (and the idiot is from out-of-state)!

Is it wrong to get such a warm, fuzzy feeling for helping an idiot dig himself a hole?

Fucking A! Baby! Hang that motherfucker!

Love these stories. Years ago coming up north out of Mobile in my old Porsche 914 going about 75-80, I came up on some non-descript POS car full of people. The driver sped up trying to keep me from passing him. We eventually got up to 100 mph before I gave up and let the dick go... then, coming over the top of the I-65 bridge over the Mobile river delta, I spied blue flashing lights off in the distance.

Turns out it was that same car. Two cop cars pulled him over, had all occupants out with hands on the car and all doors and trunk lid open. The fact they were all black didn't really matter. The driver was easily hauling ass at over 100mph.

I had a huge grin the rest of the drive home.

I love a happy ending
.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

In all seriousness, the guy fucking hosed himself just based on his reaction when Ryoder pulled up and started talking to him and the guy just got back in the vehicle without saying anything, and whatever his wife was yelling, didn't help either.

You know, I was thinking the same thing: if only he'd told Mr. Yoder: "You know, sir, you're right, it was a stupid mistake, I have no excuse and I sincerely apologize" (and his loudmouth wife had stfu), we might not be having this conversation.

To your similar point above: I can think of at least twice when I've avoided a ticket outright simply by being very respectful and apologetic to the cop who stopped me, and at least once when the cop only gave me a non-moving violation (so less fine and no points) because I behaved properly with him.

[ryoder 1,381]

DSE

higher resolution would allow for reading the licence plate, but the Contour itself has some serious abberation in the corners (most of the cheap cams do).
The Prime (another reason it's used for LEO) has an all-glass lens structure, and no abberation in the corners. It's not quite as wide, but it's very, very clean.
Resolution is only a small part of the solution; you need to feed good images into the resolution. Then, you need a good compression scheme.

The old Contour is a very, very old 12Mbps compression with a challenged lens system. Good for general use...but not for what you're hoping to achieve with it.

if you want to send me the original video, I could run Fractals on it...

I'm not familiar with using fractals in video processing, but here is the clip with the three oncoming cars, and the clip where I was closest to the truck. If you can get legible license numbers out of them, it would be great!

It is a tar file containing (2) 11MB MP4 files:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9RZ1aIuU5qqRkN2N3dLLVM1Yjg/view?usp=sharing

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Remster 24]

Quote

tar file

What's more nerdish: using tar files, or knowing it means Bob's on Linux? :D

Remster

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

ryoder

Is it wrong to get such a warm, fuzzy feeling for helping an idiot selfish and dangerous driver who easily could have killed someone[/i dig himself a hole?

FIFY.

No.

As was noted, if he hadn't been such a jerk about it, maybe you wouldn't have gone to the cops.

But it was pretty clear in the video what/who he is.
And it's even clearer from what he tried to tell the cop.

Maybe, just maybe, the next time he's in that situation, he'll think about it. And not risk the lives of himself, his wife (no great loss there) and everyone else on the road (which could easily include me).

I've called in a few erratic and dangerous drivers. I got the plate off of a car that caused an accident and left the scene (he didn't make contact, but his dangerous actions resulted in an accident). The cop I gave that info to was pleased to receive it. She called it a "Phantom Car" when I told her what happened.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[The111 0]

Haven't read this whole thread yet, but LMAO at "don't care what you have to say."

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[ryoder 1,381]

Remster

Quote

tar file

What's more nerdish: using tar files, or knowing it means Bob's on Linux? :D

I've rarely used Google drive, but when I uploaded the first video file, it told me: "Processing video...".
ARGH!
I did not want them "processed"; I wanted them in the exact form they came out of the camera.
So i put them in a tar file, so the file would not be altered.

And my desktop is a Mac, and my redundant servers are running FreeBSD.



I do have multiboot machine, (for experimental purposes), with 7 different OS's on it, including a couple flavors of Linux.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JohnMitchell 14]

Andy9o8

Also, these days, moving violations generally get entered into an interstate computer database that is accessed by all the auto insurance companies for rate-setting & renewal purposes. So his insurance co. will find out about this & act accordingly, too.

I love it when you give us good lawyer news!

BTW, fines schmimes! It's the raised insurance rates that'll get you.

[DSE 3]

no luck. Although the motion blur would be managed better by higher FPS, the aberration coupled with the blur...it's a goner. I can get one letter out of the white car... nothing more. Sorry!

[BillyVance 34]

JohnMitchell

***


Also, these days, moving violations generally get entered into an interstate computer database that is accessed by all the auto insurance companies for rate-setting & renewal purposes. So his insurance co. will find out about this & act accordingly, too.

I love it when you give us good lawyer news!

BTW, fines schmimes! It's the raised insurance rates that'll get you.

Oh yes. Do something stupid like that guy and if your insurance was $80 per month for one vehicle, it just might go up to $200 a month and stay up there as long as 3 years until the points lapse and no new ones are added.

Expensive lesson for the prick.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,381]

DSE

no luck. Although the motion blur would be managed better by higher FPS, the aberration coupled with the blur...it's a goner. I can get one letter out of the white car... nothing more. Sorry!

Well, I appreciate your efforts.
Thanks!

Latest update:
I missed a call from the deputy yesterday, and got his vmail when I called back.
I expect to talk to him today.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.