Calgary to Use ‘Noise Camera’ to Ticket Loud Vehicles

Shhh! If you live in Calgary you might want to think twice about adding an intake to your vehicle. That’s because the police in Calgary have teamed up with a company that procudes what it calls Noise Scan – a camera that comes to life through sound. If your car is too loud it will snap a pic of your vehicle’s license plate and you can then look forward to a $200 ticket in the mail.

Each Noise Scan costs roughly $112,000 but the police in Calgary were lucky enough to snag one for free as a part of a pilot project.

So, what’s the point of it all? Well apparently the creator of Noise Scan, Mark Nesdoly, decided to create it because one night a bunch of motorcylces drove by his house and woke up his daughter. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the only reason why we now have another cash grab for the government. Pretty sweet, eh?

That said, I can somewhat relate to Nesdoly’s frustration as most of the time when you are having a pleasant conversation on a nice summer’s day it will be rudely interupted by a bunch of Harley’s roaring by. But that still wouldn’t anger me enough to invent such a device, I would just chalk it up as a minor nuissance. And it’s not as if it’s the owner’s fault that the particular vehicle he/she is driving is so loud (unless they modded it for that purpose). Case in point, have you ever heard the exhaust note of a Maserati Quattroporte? If you haven’t, click the video above. Not only does it sound like a symphony of greatness, but it’s probably just as loud as certain motorcycles and that’s certainly not the fault of the owner that their vehicle comes that way from the factory.

There has been no detail given as of yet as to what decible level will trigger the Noise Scan but the Calgary police have stated that they will provide free clinics for people who are concerned their vehicles might be too loud. Not sure what that would entail, but at least the option is available.

What do you think of the new pilot project? Do you think it’s worth it? Do you find exhaust notes of certain vehicles to be a problem where you live? Sound off in the comments.

[Calgary Herald]

Bumblebee Gets Into Accident With Police Car!

Bumblebee nooooooooooooo!!

Alright, I’m gonna admit, I have no idea who Bumblebee is. I haven’t seen any of the transformers movies, despite the fact I used to be into transformers as a kid (the toys) and despite the fact that Megan Fox is a major character. But I can deduce from common sense that Bumblebee is a transformer, yes? He appears to be a Chevy Camaro in his car form.

Anyway, apparently producers are in the process of shooting for the third installment of the transformers series and things have not been going so well. The video above shows Bumblebee (or the Camaro that plays him) getting into an accident with an on duty police car that was apparently on its way to a call. It’s not clear if they were actually shooting at the time of the collision, however I would assume if they were, they would have blocked off the street before hand. Unless emergency vehicles are granted special access through movie sets in the interest of saving time or something. I’m not quite sure how these things work.

What is clear, however, is that the crew of the movie seemed to be a bit more concerned about the car than the driver, which is kinda messed up. They wasted no time putting a tarp over Bumblebee so that no sneaky photogs could catch a pic of him in his crumpled state. It turned out the driver was fine though. The police officer sustained minor injuries. Judging from the video, it would seem as though Bumblebee was at fault for not yielding to an emergency vehicle.

This is just the latest bad news for the new Transformers 3 movie. Apparently Megan Fox has not been casted this time around either. An injured Bumblebee and no Megan Fox? Now there’s really no reason to watch this movie.

[Youtube]

FAIL: Texas Police Lock Keys Inside Car

While all the serving and protecting that most police forces provide is greatly appreciated, there’s that little bit of satisfaction in deep down inside when you see the police in embarrassing situations sometimes.

In this case, a Texas State Police Trooper locked his keys inside his car. There’s nothing left to say except, FAIL.