Automatic speeding cameras on HWY1 and HWY2?

[nobb]

I was driving back to Calgary yesterday heading east on HWY1 (maybe ~10km from the city) and noticed there was a white thing (looks kind of like a duck bill) hanging from a white pole right above the right hang lane. I think on the other end of the device was a round-ish tube (camera?) pointed behind it.

I have also noticed another one of these devices going north on HWY2 at around the Balzac area. Once again, it was setup right above the right hand lane.

Im not really sure what these things are, but I am guessing it is a speeding camera? Can anyone confirm?

I was doing about 130...

[bspot]

Its for trucks. I think there is some kind of automatic system so they can skip the weigh scales.

[Jayson]

Originally posted by bspot
Its for trucks. I think there is some kind of automatic system so they can skip the weigh scales.

:werd: , everytime i see one of those, there's always a weigh station nearby...

[Thaco]

no it's not, it's an AMA weather/road condition camera.

http://www.ama.ab.ca/road_report/camera/camera_station_main.htm?link=nav3

[mo_money2supe]

Both answers are correct actually. Some are the AMA weather/road condition cameras (only if they're just the camera themselves, though they do look a little different), and others are known as "Weigh In Motion" (WIM) scales. The one the OP saw was likely a WIM scale, which are exactly as described above: they can pick up independent axle weights, based on speeds, frequency of axles hitting the sensors, etc. to determine if the specific vehicle is over capacity for the road. If over capacity, the camera automatically takes a picture of the plate and tickets the individual driver and/or the company in charge of the truck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weigh_in_motion

[trev0006]

good to know

[BlkMaxima]

Glad they aren't speed camera's.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by trev0006
good to know

Who the hell let you off your leash

http://forums.beyond.ca/category/4/cars-bikes-machines/

Back you go!

[kenny]

I have seen an Alberta Sheriff use the white camera by the weigh station just west of the city as a speed camera. So while it is not an automated speed camera, it CAN serve that function.

They had about 4 cruisers down the road pulling over people and 1 officer hooked up to the white camera mounted on the pole.

[johnboy27]

Originally posted by mo_money2supe
Both answers are correct actually. Some are the AMA weather/road condition cameras (only if they're just the camera themselves, though they do look a little different), and others are known as "Weigh In Motion" (WIM) scales. The one the OP saw was likely a WIM scale, which are exactly as described above: they can pick up independent axle weights, based on speeds, frequency of axles hitting the sensors, etc. to determine if the specific vehicle is over capacity for the road. If over capacity, the camera automatically takes a picture of the plate and tickets the individual driver and/or the company in charge of the truck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weigh_in_motion
The camera hanging above the road at the scales in Calgary is actually just a camera so the DOT guys inside can see wether or not you have a sticker in your passenger side windshield on commercial vehicles. they do random yearly inspections on commercial vehicles and then they place a sticker on the passengers side windshield. They just watch that camera and if they are in the mood to do inspections and they see you do not have the sticker that corresponds to the year you are in then they will pull you in for an inspection.

[Casa]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Who the hell let you off your leash

http://forums.beyond.ca/category/4/cars-bikes-machines/

Back you go!

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

[Jay911]

Nooooooo...

The cone-shaped device just before the weigh scales, no matter where (Hwy 1, Hwy 2, Hwy whatever), is a system for trucks to send transponder data to the scales without stopping, as mentioned before.

The AMA cameras are on very short radio towers (~20 ft tall) in an entirely different location several miles away from the scales. The one west of 1x22 is on the north side of the highway at the first crossover west of the Petro Canada station. The camera looks like one you'd see on the ceiling of WalMart (an inverted dome) and there is a weather station there as well (most easily identified by the anemometer, the wind speed measuring device that looks like 3 spoons spinning in the wind).

There are no speed cameras - fixed or otherwise - in rural Alberta.

[Ldeibert]

Originally posted by johnboy27

The camera hanging above the road at the scales in Calgary is actually just a camera so the DOT guys inside can see wether or not you have a sticker in your passenger side windshield on commercial vehicles. they do random yearly inspections on commercial vehicles and then they place a sticker on the passengers side windshield. They just watch that camera and if they are in the mood to do inspections and they see you do not have the sticker that corresponds to the year you are in then they will pull you in for an inspection.

That is so wrong... They do random yearly searches?? How about yearly CVIP inspections (Commercial Vehical Inspection Program). Also how could a camera looking straight on the back of your vehicle, see a sticker that is on the top left of your driver's side window?

The other's are right in saying it is an automated system of some sort, which I think is for letting scheduled buses and such pass by the scales without stopping in.

Weigh in motion is not a camera at all... It is a 6x8ft square that looks like it has tar around the edges, and it weighs the vehicle while it's in motion (obviously). It is sensors under the pavement, not a camera.



However I heard that in Alberta or Canada, or laws state that Photo Radar must be manned. Does anyone know if that is true??

[nobb]

^I have never heard that law before but I am curious to know too.

[johnboy27]

Originally posted by Ldeibert


That is so wrong... They do random yearly searches?? How about yearly CVIP inspections (Commercial Vehical Inspection Program). Also how could a camera looking straight on the back of your vehicle, see a sticker that is on the top left of your driver's side window?

The other's are right in saying it is an automated system of some sort, which I think is for letting scheduled buses and such pass by the scales without stopping in.

Weigh in motion is not a camera at all... It is a 6x8ft square that looks like it has tar around the edges, and it weighs the vehicle while it's in motion (obviously). It is sensors under the pavement, not a camera.



However I heard that in Alberta or Canada, or laws state that Photo Radar must be manned. Does anyone know if that is true??
Clearly you do not drive a truck on a regular basis. Next time you are driving towards to scales coming out of Calgary take a real good look at the white thing hanging above the right hand lane just before the scale. It points towards the windshield , not towards the back of the vehicle at all.
CVIP inspections are a totally different thing, they are done by certified mechanics at a shop. The inspections I am talking about are random inspections done by "commercial vehicle inspectors" at the scales . They do them quite regularly, trust me because I know. I have been pulled into the scale at Whitecourt and had one done. While I was showing all my permits and log book and pre trip inspection I asked why I was pulled in. The guy then told me that as myself and the other three trucks I was travelling with were approaching the scale he had noticed that I did not have a random inspection sticker in my windshield and when he ran my unit number when I got to the scale the computer verified that I had not. Therefor they pulled me in and did a random roadside inspection at the scales.
They check everything frombrake function to inspecting for cracks in your frame.

[johnboy27]

Originally posted by johnboy27

Clearly you do not drive a truck on a regular basis. Next time you are driving towards to scales coming out of Calgary take a real good look at the white thing hanging above the right hand lane just before the scale. It points towards the windshield , not towards the back of the vehicle at all.
CVIP inspections are a totally different thing, they are done by certified mechanics at a shop. The inspections I am talking about are random inspections done by "commercial vehicle inspectors" at the scales . They do them quite regularly, trust me because I know. I have been pulled into the scale at Whitecourt and had one done. While I was showing all my permits and log book and pre trip inspection I asked why I was pulled in. The guy then told me that as myself and the other three trucks I was travelling with were approaching the scale he had noticed that I did not have a random inspection sticker in my windshield and when he ran my unit number when I got to the scale the computer verified that I had not. Therefor they pulled me in and did a random roadside inspection at the scales.
They check everything frombrake function to inspecting for cracks in your frame.

PS- here is a link to a page for the CVSA (commercial vehicle safety alliance) and on the page you will see a red "sticker" and this is the sticker I am talking about. It is a random inspection that will only be done one time per year provided the truck passes .

http://www.cvsa.org/programs/nas.aspx