Unintended consequences, traffic edition
From Slashdot,
High school students in Maryland are using speed cameras to get back at their perceived enemies, and even teachers. The students duplicate the victim’s license plate on glossy paper using a laser printer, tape it over their own plate, then speed past a newly installed speed camera. The victim gets a $40 ticket in the mail days later, without any humans ever having been involved in the ticketing process. A blog dedicated to driving and politics adds that a similar, if darker, practice has taken hold in England, where bad guys cruise the streets looking for a car similar to their own. They then duplicate its plates in a more durable form, and thereafter drive around with little fear of trouble from the police.
I love it.
January 10th, 2009 at 1:21pm
Haha, that reminds me of the movie “Brazil.” Ever seen it? In the opening moments of the film, an automated typewriter that is processing lifetime jail sentences has a fly get caught in its works, and replaces a single letter in the criminals name. Shortly thereafter, an innocent man with the replaced name is thrown into Prison, without any chance of bail or release due to it being completely automated, and no human really knowing why he was in jail, and therefore, no room for exceptions. check it out.