SA traffic cops super gizmo

Johannesburg - Traffic departments will from early next year adopt a new set of enforcement systems that will read number plates and make comparisons with a fines database in milliseconds.

Developed by a South African-based surveillance company EyeTrust, the system makes use of a locally developed high-speed camera and a "neural network characteristic recognition software package".

This ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) is capable of reading number plates of vehicles moving in excess of 180 km/h and completes the recognition and database comparison in under 100 milliseconds.

It takes two seconds from the time the camera is passed for the Automatic Plate Recognition system to read, compare and print a notification slip.

This slip is handed over to the traffic officer who will order you to the hard shoulder and present you with a warning or your warrant of arrest.

The programme has been developed over a period of two years and has been tested across South Africa and, more recently, in Mexico City where the company secured a Mexican government contract.