Hacking Speed Cameras

My pal Robb sent along this article from Ars Technica that talks about Maryland high school kids who deliberately forge license plates of their foes and run red lights with them to stick their foes with 40 dollar fines.

From ArsTech here:

High school students in Maryland have begun playing the “Speed Camera Pimping Game,” wherein they attempt to punk the not-so-accurate cameras by creating faux license plates that can be traced back to peers and teachers they have it out for. The trend has parents and law officials worried, and it raises even more questions about the cameras’ usefulness.

Students at Montgomery High School in Maryland have discovered that they can duplicate the license plates of their archenemies by printing a Maryland plate template on a sheet of glossy photo paper and digging up a handy license plate character font. This may sound like a janky craft project at first, but these cameras are not sensitive enough to pick up the differences between these paper license plates and the real things. The students then tape the faux plate over their own and purposefully speed in order to be caught by the speed camera, causing the real owner of the license plate to receive a $40 citation in the mail.

There is something that is basically unfair in using cameras to enforce traffic laws.  They should be used to monitor the effectiveness of laws in an area, and if there are frequent violations, cops should be dispatched to take care of the infractions.  I hope this forces law enforcement to abandon the use of cameras to issue tickets.