Drive-thru KFC in Gainsborough fines people driving past

mat200

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Looks like they have a camera system setup to ID license plates coming in and going and calculate if you've overstayed the 90 min time limit - sending you a £100 ticket if the system logs you as exceeding the limit.

Appears that the exiting camera is broken or something along that line, and motorists are charged for over staying. Another reported that they thought the camera was aimed toward the street.

"A car park operator at a branch of KFC has been criticised after motorists were fined for simply driving past.

Others using the fried chicken chain in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire reported problems with cameras failing to record them leaving within the time limit.
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Drive-thru KFC fines people driving past
 

pozzello

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KFC in the UK? that's just wrong. :) unless you're talking about Korean Fried Chicken, the original KFC...

hmmm cheeeeken... multi-pass!

Anyways, their algorithm is just wrong... should be able to tolerate false ins & outs, like just nosing into the driveway to turn around, for example.
if something shows up on the 'in' cam and NEVER shows up on the 'out' cam, you can't assume it really came in at all... lame AI, is what it is...
 

cyberwolf_uk

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This is just normal in the UK, McDonald's also has cameras that scan your number plate on entry and you have 90 mins to leave and I believe you can't return for a certain amount of time or you will be hit with a £75 - £100 fine. In general the government and local councils love ANPR cameras to fine people, from driving in a bus lane to parking to near to a school. It's just rip off UK, unless you stick to the rules ;)
 

pozzello

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i have no problem with charging people who violate the rules. private property, bus lanes, etc.
but if they're gonna do it automatically, they need to make sure their cams are aimed properly and the algorithms don't false-positive...
 

IAmATeaf

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Don’t forget to add supermarkets to the ever increasing list. My local now has max 2hours and no return within 2hours. Problem is their petrol station is beyond their entry cams so I used to drive into the supermarket, let the wife out then go round and fill up and then back in again to save some time. This now violates the no return policy so I now have to drop the wife at the petrol station.
 

J Sigmo

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Wow. Talk about poor public relations. The whole thing seems like a bad business idea to begin with, with questionable legal basis as well. That is, fining people. Under what authority is a private business able to impose a fine on an individual? Can they hold (detain) people? Can they impose this fine without due legal process? The whole thing sounds extremely fishy and also seems like absolutely horrible PR.

I do know that fast food restaurants in the US commonly design their seating to be somewhat uncomfortable to keep people from spending too much time, thus lowering "throughput". But I think a business in the US that tried to assess a fine on a customer who overstayed some time limit set by the business might be opening themselves up for some serious legal issues.

I guess you can have cars towed from a private parking lot, but assessing a fine, while similar in its ultimate effect, might not be legal here.
 

J Sigmo

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Don’t forget to add supermarkets to the ever increasing list. My local now has max 2hours and no return within 2hours. Problem is their petrol station is beyond their entry cams so I used to drive into the supermarket, let the wife out then go round and fill up and then back in again to save some time. This now violates the no return policy so I now have to drop the wife at the petrol station.
I would think the logical way to deal with this would be to simply shop elsewhere. I wouldn't give my business to any establishment that implemented such an ill-considered system. If they consider their customers to be a nuisance, then they deserve to go out of business.
 

IAmATeaf

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I would think the logical way to deal with this would be to simply shop elsewhere. I wouldn't give my business to any establishment that implemented such an ill-considered system. If they consider their customers to be a nuisance, then they deserve to go out of business.
Completely agree with you but the place is local to me so convenient, the next one is a few miles away.
 

awsum140

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Tell me about it. Here in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, Commissar Murphy Governor, a rain tax was just instituted. Now they can make money when it rains. Government is like the Mafia, they always want to "wet their beak".
 

cyberwolf_uk

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Tell me about it. Here in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, Commissar Murphy Governor, a rain tax was just instituted. Now they can make money when it rains. Government is like the Mafia, they always want to "wet their beak".
And I though we had it bad!
 

awsum140

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Well, at least we don't have traffic cameras everywhere like you folks do, but I'm betting it won't be long before we do.
 

cyberwolf_uk

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What only traffic cams.... We have 1 camera for every 11 people in the UK!! :lol:
 

awsum140

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We have tons of security cams, heck I have five for each of us in our house, but traffic cams haven't "blossomed" here like they have for you. They are present at major intersections for traffic jam observation, but very rarely along highways or secondary roadways. There's a problem with how our legal system is structured that makes it hard to deploy them as "enforcement" tools. I'm sure some enterprising legislator(s) will get to work on it someday though. Red light cameras are starting to appear more frequently though, especially in cities.
 

bigredfish

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We have tons of security cams, heck I have five for each of us in our house, but traffic cams haven't "blossomed" here like they have for you. They are present at major intersections for traffic jam observation, but very rarely along highways or secondary roadways. There's a problem with how our legal system is structured that makes it hard to deploy them as "enforcement" tools. I'm sure some enterprising legislator(s) will get to work on it someday though. Red light cameras are starting to appear more frequently though, especially in cities.

Fortunately here in our little burb north of Mickeyland, the City after a 5 year "test", has decided to REMOVE the 2 dozen or so red light cameras we have.
If we ever get to the low point where we're being watched for parking too long at a fast food joint, God help us.
 

Ckb3

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Fortunately here in our little burb north of Mickeyland, the City after a 5 year "test", has decided to REMOVE the 2 dozen or so red light cameras we have.
If we ever get to the low point where we're being watched for parking too long at a fast food joint, God help us.
On the East side of the Rat house we still have them. I wish they would have pulled them like your area. The Wife received one downtown and come to find out it a service out of North Carolina that manages all of it. Its a complete racket
 

TonyR

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I would think the logical way to deal with this would be to simply shop elsewhere. I wouldn't give my business to any establishment that implemented such an ill-considered system. If they consider their customers to be a nuisance, then they deserve to go out of business.
+1^^^.

Can you say..."Facebook Post"?....and "subsequent loss of revenue"?
 

TonyR

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One of the first automated speed limit infraction cameras employed in the US of A was in a little city in N. CA. (I won't mention the name, as I worked there 12 years). In place circa '93, the cam was on a portable trailer with a calibrated radar setup. Upon infraction, the cam would snap images of the front & rear plates and the managing vendor would mail the registered owner a ticket which I think was about $50; it included a photo of the vehicle with the measured speed and the posted speed limit.

One guy became a local celebrity for a brief period because he mailed the city a photo of a $50 bill instead of the actual monetary fine payment.

The police chief then mailed him a photo of a pair of handcuffs. The exchange of mail made the local paper. :lol:
 
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