HighwayRover
Seasoned Expediter
Well here it is... EZ pass being used to track your truck's speed.
Not just tolls: E-Z Pass keeping an eye on speeders
Not just tolls: E-Z Pass keeping an eye on speeders
What I thought about EZ pass all along...
- Thread starter HighwayRover
- Start date
and your point is?...don't speed thru the scanners when it says 15 MPH don't do 30.....that is what they re tracking
HighwayRover
Seasoned Expediter
I guess I should have spelled it out a bit more... but then again I run at much higher speeds.
Of course obeying the law and posted speed limits will keep you from getting fined.
EZ pass as well as other monitors are tools for far more than tracking your speed through a toll plaza. Your speed can be tracked WITHOUT EZ pass with a device called radar. Radar, along with closed circuit TV cameras, can accomplish that. Speed detected over the limit, camera used to identify the vehicle tag number and description, and the troopers catch you. Pretty simple stuff.
With the admission that EZ pass is being used for MORE than user identified purposes, the question is WHAT ELSE IS THE TECHNOLOGY BEING USED FOR OTHER THAN WHAT IS DISCLOSED?
Perhaps it's just me, but maybe others have noticed scanners along stretches of highways where there are no toll plazas or scales. To be clear, there need not be a plaza for you to be monitored.
I suspect that in the future, we'll learn that EZ pass has been used to track and record the speed and location of vehicles.
So, I guess my point, to those who grasp the technological intrusion into their privacy, would be that EZ pass might be less a tool of convenience for the the trucker and more of a tool for big brother.
Of course obeying the law and posted speed limits will keep you from getting fined.
EZ pass as well as other monitors are tools for far more than tracking your speed through a toll plaza. Your speed can be tracked WITHOUT EZ pass with a device called radar. Radar, along with closed circuit TV cameras, can accomplish that. Speed detected over the limit, camera used to identify the vehicle tag number and description, and the troopers catch you. Pretty simple stuff.
With the admission that EZ pass is being used for MORE than user identified purposes, the question is WHAT ELSE IS THE TECHNOLOGY BEING USED FOR OTHER THAN WHAT IS DISCLOSED?
Perhaps it's just me, but maybe others have noticed scanners along stretches of highways where there are no toll plazas or scales. To be clear, there need not be a plaza for you to be monitored.
I suspect that in the future, we'll learn that EZ pass has been used to track and record the speed and location of vehicles.
So, I guess my point, to those who grasp the technological intrusion into their privacy, would be that EZ pass might be less a tool of convenience for the the trucker and more of a tool for big brother.
Yes, it's very simple stuff. They don't track your speed through a toll plaza using your transponder, they monitor it with a radar gun.
The problem is, they made no such admission. The transponder identifies you at a toll plaza and then bills you for the toll. That's it. That's all it does. And that's all they've admitted to.
Oooooh, scanners! What kind of scanners? There are traffic cameras all over the place that monitor traffic flow, accidents, road conditions. There are a few places where there are explosive and radioactive detectors, mainly hydrogen detectors, but they don't really track you. The police can track you using your cell phone and license plate cameras infinitely easier and more efficiently than they can with a toll transponder.
Knowing how transponders work, I suspect we won't learn anything like that at all. Transponders aren't ON and transmitting 24/7. If they were, they'd need to be replaced every 3-4 months when the battery dies, versus every 8-10 years that they currently last. The transponders are activated by a RFID reader signal about half a mile before they are read, and then deactivate once they are read. If you break down on the side of the road between toll plazas, they cannot locate you using your EZ Pass transponder, because it ain't on. They certainly know when you showed up at a toll plaza, so they could do the math and determine the average speed you drove between plazas and give you a ticket based on that, but I've never heard of that happening and I know of no state with a law which allows that to happen. According to the laws of this fine land, it takes an observation or radar by a police officer to charge someone with speeding.
The only (known) exception to this monitoring is something called "Midtown In Motion" where information from lots of sensors (EZ Pass, traffic lights, cameras, microwave sensors, and cell tower data) is passed to New York's Traffic Management System. These sensors are on highways across the city, and on streets in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island, and have been in use for years. The city uses the data from the readers to provide real-time traffic information.
The EZ Pass people will give you a "Tag Bag" or "Faraday Cage" type bag that prevents your EZ Pass from being read. You take it out of the bag about a mile before you get to a toll booth to activate the transponder, then place it back in the bag once you've passed through. Wrapping the bag in tin foil accomplishes the same thing.
There are lots of technological intrusions into our privacy that people should be worried about, but EZ Pass ain't one of them.
I have I-Pass, which is on the same system that EZ-Pass is on. I've had these devices for several years. I have yet to get a speeding ticket mailed to my house through the I-Pass system. It's certainly not because I don't speed on I-294 here in the Western and Southern 'Burbs of Chicago-- I'm usually 10 to 15 over the limit on the Tri-State.
Could they use the tollway-tags for catching speeders? Maybe-- but right now, they seem more interested in using the traditional methods-- with speed cameras sometimes thrown in for good measure at construction sites.
Could they use the tollway-tags for catching speeders? Maybe-- but right now, they seem more interested in using the traditional methods-- with speed cameras sometimes thrown in for good measure at construction sites.
That's the thing, you have to be actually observed committing speeding in order to be charged with speeding. You have to be observed by a cop, a radar gun, or in some states by a camera. Otherwise, you're left with confronting a calculator (your accuser) at trial.
Our government-- I've heard it's possible, but not probable. The North Koreans-- maybe. Not likely though. A "friend" that is angry with you and who happens to possess hacking skills-- maybe. Random hackers-- could happen, but doubtful. Your ex-SO--- if he/she can get in, it's been done before and will be again.
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
And the NSA is a bunch of boloney, right? SMH.
One has to be totally myopic, to believe that the government isn't destroying our rights. And it does so, in part, by unleashing the alphabet corps upon its own people. And yes, the cameras on computers and gaming consoles can be used to watch their users.
Toll authorities could track speeds even before EZ Pass, just by comparing elapsed time between toll booths - ever know anyone who was ticketed for speeding, based on that?
The reason for tracking speed in the plazas is the pedestrians that may be there. Even if it's a dumb driver [like the one I saw soliciting money in Chicago, because she "didn't mean to get on the toll road"], you still need to slow down to avoid hitting them.
The reason for tracking speed in the plazas is the pedestrians that may be there. Even if it's a dumb driver [like the one I saw soliciting money in Chicago, because she "didn't mean to get on the toll road"], you still need to slow down to avoid hitting them.
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
If they have the ability, why would you ever dismiss that they would do it?
I agree in this case it sounds like they are using technology for a great cause....to catch the stupid, idiotic, inconsiderate A-holes....from harming fellow citizens...!!
I guess the people freaking out didn't read the article, therefore, I'll post this paragraph for the big brother is out to get me crowd.
You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass lanes," says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York State Thruway Authority. "You get a couple of warnings. We don't have the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z Pass, which we will."
You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass lanes," says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York State Thruway Authority. "You get a couple of warnings. We don't have the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z Pass, which we will."