Odd road camera - anyone any idea what it is?

[Bletchleyite]

I've noticed a few cameras around Norton Canes services and sliproads nearby looking like this:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

They appear to feature a white bulbous bit, two floodlights pointing directly down and two normal looking ANPR type cameras pointing both ways above the white bit.

Anyone any ideas what these do? Not seen many of them but there are a few near there.

 

[John Webb]

Either (a) to monitor traffic on the slip-road or (b) more likely to photograph numberplates of vehicles coming onto the toll motorway from the service area to ensure they've paid their toll? (Most motorway service areas have connections to the local road network to allow staff to get on and off the site, so monitoring slip-roads ensures others can't sneak onto the motorway!)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Either (a) to monitor traffic on the slip-road or (b) more likely to photograph numberplates of vehicles coming onto the toll motorway from the service area to ensure they've paid their toll? (Most motorway service areas have connections to the local road network to allow staff to get on and off the site, so monitoring slip-roads ensures others can't sneak onto the motorway!)

I'm a bit confused, though, why it has the big white dome and the two downward-pointing floodlights - a normal ANPR camera would satisfy the purpose you note. It's like it's designed to look at loads in lorries or to catch people out using phones - but if the latter why do they only occur on the M6 Toll?

 

[AlterEgo]

I wonder if the downward lights are to illuminate a number plate. If they’re only on the entrances and exits to services then I imagine it has something to do with revenue or monitoring car entries and exits.

 

[nlogax]

In recent months SICE has been installing new ANPR gear to enable pre-pay tolls but I'm unsure if or why this extended to the service area. ANPR has been operating to police two hour parking limits there for yonks.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Sure, it has got a couple of cameras on, but it looks like radio technology to me. “Floodlights” to illuminate number plates wouldn’t be pointing straight downwards. I’d say that these, and the bulbous thing are flat panel antennas. Some kind of RADAR? Long range RFID? Mobile phone / bluetooth device tracking? All these things exist and can be used for legitimate or nefarious purposes. Don’t forget your tinfoil hat...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I did wonder if it was to detect people using mobiles, but there's no downward camera.

 

[stuu]

Over-height vehicle detector? It does look more like radar of some sort

 

[John Webb]

Is there any plan to use radio transponders, particularly for commercial vehicles, to automate toll collection without the need for the transponder to be powered, perhaps? IE a signal is radiated from one aerial and a reflected, modified signal picked up by the other?

I can't see why it might be an over-height detector - all motorway bridges should be well above any high vehicle normally on the roads.

 

[P Binnersley]

M6 Toll charges are based, in part, on vehicle height at the first axle. The "flat plates" are probably measuring vehicle height.

 

[Sm5]

Could it be a radiation sensor ?

 

[Amos]

I noticed something similar on the M1 northbound yesterday,just before the off slip at junction 14.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Could it be a radiation sensor ?

I thought that was a possibility, but would they only be needed on the exits of ports and airports?

Then again...

Disposal firm's blunder led to radiation leak

Dangerous radiation was accidentally beamed from a piece of decommissioned cancer treatment equipment as it was transported 130 miles by road across the north of England, a court heard yesterday.

www.theguardian.com