11/4/2006
Idaho Highway Cameras to Track Every MotoristInterstate 90 in Idaho will become the first highway in the US with permanent ANPR cameras recording the movement of every passing motorist.
Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will record the movements of every motorist traveling on Interstate 90, a key route between the cities of Seattle and Chicago. The system is expected to begin recording movements early next year in undetermined locations in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls.
Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department used a $125,000 grant from the US Department of Homeland Security to purchase a set of eight cameras that will track every motorist at two points along the highway, day and night.
"I don't anticipate that this will result in an overwhelming amount of work -- maybe a couple stolen vehicles a week," Post Falls Police Lieutenant Scot Haug told the Coeur d'Alene Press.
The UK is planning to install a similar system along every major road in the country. Mobile ANPR vans are also used to track motorists and issue automated tickets for minor violations.
