System and method for detecting and identifying traffic law violators and issuing citations

• US 6,690,294 B1
• Filed: 07/10/2001
• Issued: 02/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wez & Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Wez & Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Zierden, William E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US09/901,005
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 340/937, 340/933, 340/936, 340/905, 340/540, 340/541, 340/995, 348/148, 348/149, 348/153, 382/224, 382/228, 382/181, 382/104, 701/215, 701/301, 701/119
• US Class Current: 340/937
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a mobile or stationary traffic monitoring system for detecting violations of speed limits or other traffic laws by vehicle operators and issuing citations to an operator and/or vehicle owner suspected of a violation using a digital camera to capture images of the operator and/or the vehicle, transmitting the captured images and other relevant data to an analysis center where the images and data are analyzed to determine whether to issue a citation and, if so, to issue the citation or take other appropriate law enforcement measures. The invention is also directed to a method for capturing images of a vehicle and /or vehicle operator suspected of a traffic violation, determining the time and geographic location of the suspected violation, transmitting the images and other data to an analysis center, issuing citations to violators and deriving revenue therefrom.

Claims

1. A mobile digital imaging device to be used by non-governmental personnel for identifying traffic violators comprising:

a camera mounted on a mobile platform and having a first lens and a second lens aimed in different directions for recording digital images of a target vehicle;

a memory component for storing the recorded images from the first and second lenses;

a global position satellite receiver for determining the location and speed of the mobile digital imaging device;

an information transmission system for sending the recorded images to an analysis center; and

means at the analysis center for receiving the images and for calculating the speed of the target vehicle based on the received images and the speed of the mobile digital imaging device.

2. The mobile digital imaging device of claim 1, wherein the memory component includes means for temporarily storing a plurality of continuous images from the first and second lenses and for permanently storing the most recent images of the plurality of continuous images.

3. The digital imaging device of claim 2, further comprising a control stick connected to the digital imaging device for controlling the operation thereof.

4. The digital imaging device of claim 2, wherein the first lens is facing a first direction for capturing frontal images of the target vehicle and the driver'"'"'s face as the target vehicle approaches the digital imaging device and the second lens is facing a second direction opposite the first direction for capturing images of the rear of the target vehicle as it moves away from the digital imaging device.

5. The digital imaging device of claim 1, wherein the information transmission system is a cellular telephone system.

6. The digital imaging device of claim 1, wherein the digital images of the target vehicle are recorded at a predetermined frame rate.

7. The digital imaging device of claim 6, wherein the frame rate is between about 5 frames per second and about 24 frames per second.

8. A traffic control system for determining a suspected traffic violation by an operator of a target vehicle comprising a mobile digital imaging device having first and second lenses aimed independently of one another for capturing front and rear images of the target vehicle, a global position satellite receiver for determining the geographic location and speed of the mobile digital imaging device, a traffic violation analysis center, a cellular telephone system for transmitting target vehicle information to the analysis center, said information including the images of the target vehicle and the geographic location and speed of the mobile digital imaging device, means at the analysis center for receiving the target vehicle information, for determining the speed of the target vehicle relative to the digital imaging device and for calculating the actual speed of the target vehicle based on the speed of the mobile digital imaging device and the speed of the target vehicle relative to the mobile digital imaging device, and means at the analysis center for issuing a citation if the operator of the target vehicle has committed a traffic violation.

9. The traffic control system of claim 8, wherein said means for determining the speed of the target vehicle relative to the digital imaging device includes means for comparing the difference in size of a given object associated with the target vehicle in successive images of the target vehicle over a time lapse between the successive images.

10. The traffic control system of claim 8, wherein the mobile digital imaging device captures a digital image of a vehicle license plate of the target vehicle for comparing successive images of the vehicle license plate for speed computation.

11. The traffic control system of claim 8, wherein the front images of the target vehicle include images of the face of the operator of the target vehicle, and means at the analysis center for comparing and matching a digital image of the face of the operator with an image from a database of images, the database including digital images of licensed drivers.

12. The traffic control system of claim 8, wherein the first and second lenses comprise one of a digital still camera and a digital video camera.

13. The traffic control system of claim 8, including a display monitor at the analysis center for simultaneously displaying images from the first and second lenses in a split screen format.

20. The traffic control system of claim 8, wherein said operator is non-governmental personnel.

14. A method of determining whether an operator of a target vehicle has committed a traffic violation comprising the steps of:

providing a digital imaging device having forward and rearward facing lenses and being mounted on a mobile platform;

recording a front image of an approaching target vehicle using the rearward facing lens as the target vehicle moves toward the rearward facing lens;

recording a rear image of the target vehicle using the forward facing lens as the target vehicle moves away from the forward facing lens;

transferring the images recorded by the forward and rearward facing lenses to an analysis center;

calculating a distance traveled by the target vehicle using an object of known dimensions on the target vehicle as a reference dimension and comparing the reference dimension in a first image of the object to a corresponding dimension in a successive image of the object to determine the change in dimension of the object between the dimensions in the first and successive images; and

calculating the speed of the target vehicle from the distance traveled and the difference in time between the first and successive images of the target vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the object is a front or rear license plate of the target vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

determining a geographic location where the images are recorded using a global positioning satellite receiver;

determining the speed limit for the geographic location; and

issuing a citation to the registered owner of the target vehicle if the calculated speed of the target vehicle exceeds the speed limit for the geographic location.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

recording an image of the face of the operator and an image of the license plate number of the target vehicle;

retrieving from a database of photographic images of registered vehicle owners a photographic image of the registered owner of the target vehicle based on the recorded license plate number of the target vehicle;

comparing the image of the operator'"'"'s face with the photographic image of the registered owner; and

determining whether the image of the operator'"'"'s face matches the photographic image of the registered owner.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

determining a geographic location where the images are recorded using a global positioning satellite receiver;

determining the speed limit for the geographic location; and

issuing a citation to the registered owner of the target vehicle if the image of the operator'"'"'s face matches the photographic image of the registered owner and the calculated speed of the target vehicle exceeds the speed limit for the geographic location.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the method is practiced by non-governmental personnel.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising a global positioning satellite receiver for determining the speed of the digital imaging device, wherein the actual speed of the target vehicle is calculated by determining the speed of the target vehicle relative to the digital imaging device and incorporating the speed of the digital imaging device to determine the actual speed of the target vehicle.

19. A method of determining whether an operator of a target vehicle has committed a traffic violation comprising the steps of:

recording a front image of an approaching target vehicle using a first digital camera;

recording a rear image of the target vehicle using a second digital camera as it moves away from the second digital camera;

transferring the images recorded by the first and second cameras to an analysis center;

isolating an image of a license plate of the target vehicle at the analysis center;

determining the dimensions of the license plate of the target vehicle based on the jurisdiction of registration of the target vehicle;

calculating the distance traveled by the target vehicle using a known dimension of a license plate from the jurisdiction of the target vehicle as a reference dimension by comparing the reference dimension in a first image of the license plate to the reference dimension in a successive image of the license plate to determine the change in the reference dimension between the first and successive images; and

calculating the speed of the target vehicle from the distance traveled and the difference in time between the first and successive images of the license plate.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the method is practiced by non-governmental personnel.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising a global positioning satellite receiver for determining the geographic speed of the digital imaging device, wherein the actual speed of the target vehicle is calculated by determining the speed of the target vehicle relative to the digital imaging device and incorporating the speed of the digital imaging device to determine the actual speed of the target vehicle.