Kansas: Big Rigs Equipped with Ticket Cameras

[BEB]

I sure hope this story was a bad joke.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/17/1702.asp

Kansas: Big Rigs Equipped with Ticket Cameras
Federal gas tax money used to hide Kansas state troopers in big rig trucks so they can issue tickets to motorists.

The Kansas Highway Patrol last week began spying on motorists from privately owned big rig trucks. As part of a new, federally funded effort, a state trooper sits in the passenger seat of each truck and operates a set of five video cameras and a radar gun to identify motorists to ticket. The trooper will then contact a patrol car hidden nearby to issue the citation. The program is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket revenue over the next six weeks.

"I want to thank industry and governmental partners that have agreed to work with the Patrol on this important program," Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent William R. Seck said in a statement.

Yellow Transportation, a Wichita company, provided trucks for the most recent operation at no cost to the state. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is funding the Kansas ticketing program, this month rewarded the cooperative company with its "highest safety rating" -- a valuable endorsement of Yellow's practices. In 2005, the federal agency similarly spent $600,000 in federal gas tax money to fund a ticketing program in Washington state.

Your next cruiser?

[Big Al]

It is no joke----I can't confirm that cameras will be used, but I can confirm that there will be troopers riding shotgun to observe and report obvious violations.

It a Federal Grant funded enforcement and a good way to observe the idiots that drive amongst us!

[213th]

It is no joke----I can't confirm that cameras will be used, but I can confirm that there will be troopers riding shotgun to observe and report obvious violations.

It a Federal Grant funded enforcement and a good way to observe the idiots that drive amongst us!

I believe that Florida LE at one point in time were posing as construction crews to catch people speeding in construction zones...but I have no newspaper article to prove this...it was a long time ago

[10-42Adam]

They should have kept it a secret then came out with an article after the six weeks!

[countybear]

Of course, he won't be checking out the 'seatcovers' in the process...

[Star Man]

They should have kept it a secret then came out with an article after the six weeks!

It won't matter. They will still mop up out there. Even with DUI checkpoints being put in papers they still rack 'em up.

In FL it was a city called St. Petersburg, near Tampa that used a cherry picker with a police officer dressed like a maintenance man to nab speeders. They also stood on the side of the road like construction crews or homeless.

FL Highway Patrol will stand on the corner in broad daylight with a full uniform holding a battery operated laser or radar and still get them left and right. They do the same thing for red light details too.

[dlux]

This story is true and the program is called TOPS. Not a bad idea.

From KHP's website:http://www.kansashighwaypatrol.org/field_op/tops.htmlhttp://www.kansashighwaypatrol.org/field_op/tops.html

The Kansas Highway Patrol has set a goal to reduce the number of fatality, injury, and property damage collisions. With the support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Highway Patrol is instituting the Trucks on Patrol for Safety (TOPS) program. This program recognizes that passenger vehicles contribute to the overall occurrence of collisions with large trucks. The TOPS program has the primary goal of enforcing state laws and federal regulations in and around heavy vehicles. Another goal is to educate the motoring public to the dangers around large trucks.

The TOPS program provides troopers an opportunity to ride with professional semi truck drivers to see what the driver observes on a regular basis. Industry members have donated the trucks, trailers, and drivers that the Patrol will be using. The companies partner with the Patrol for a week in a specific region of the state to make these resources available. Troopers will board a large truck equipped with a temporary five-camera system that records violations by both passenger vehicles and other large trucks. Once these violations are observed, the trooper riding in the large truck will relay information to other troopers in KHP patrol units who will enforce crash-causing violations observed.

The first seven-week deployment of the program began April 9. During a second seven-week deployment this summer, violations observed in the first deployment will be re-evaluated to determine the program's effectiveness.

[10-42Adam]

Sounds like a pretty good idea...