Mysterious Toyota with cameras fining drivers in Fairfield City
It would look like any other Toyota Camry, were it not for the two surveillance cameras staring down from its roof as they scan for cars to fine.
Fairfield
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It would look like any other Toyota Camry, were it not for the two surveillance cameras staring down from its roof as they scan for cars to fine.
The unmarked car patrolling the streets of Fairfield City is the council’s latest tool in dealing with parking infringements. It has been spotted driving through city centres across the district, targeting cars that have overstayed signposted times – a fine that carries a $112 penalty.
“This vehicle is part of a trial being undertaken by Fairfield City Council,” a council spokesperson told the Advance. “It is the only vehicle involved in the trail.”
The spokesperson would not answer questions on how the ‘parking compliance vehicle’ identifies the cars it fines, but council workers familiar with it said optical character recognition technology is used to read licence plates, which then have their location stamped with GPS coordinates.
They said the car works best in carparks – such as the Hill Street Carpark in Cabramatta, just behind the Centrelink – as it can drive through while its cameras read and catalogue the licence plates of cars parked to its left and right.
A little more than two hours later, which is when parking at the Hill Street carpark expires, the car will return to conduct a second scan. Any matching licence plates are identified and then a penalty notice is issued.
During the six months the silver Toyota Camry has been in operation, it has only issued fines to cars that have overstayed signposted parking. However, the parking officers driving it continue to issue fines as usual during their patrol.
The unmarked Toyota Camry is registered with licence plates CH77SA. It is a first for Fairfield City Council, however some other councils have invested in similar patrol cars.