BBC News : Congestion charges face legal challenge

[Roland Perry]

In message <15668.15586.847458.587207@chiark.greenend.org.uk>, Ian 
Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes

>Here in Cambridge we have a number of roads with rising bollards,
>which are only open to authorised vehicles.  These roads have perhaps
>a dozen enormous bright orange warning signs, flashing lights, no
>entry signs, etc. etc. on the approach.

Yes, I live in Cambridge too.

> The question perhaps is whether people with so little
>situational awareness should be operating half a tonne of lethal
>machinery in a public place.

For the Cambridge bollards, perhaps. As I'm sure the road pricing 
signage will be less intrusive, and there won't be any bollards (or road 
narrowings) then I'm less inclined to blame someone, who is trying to 
duck and dive the taxis and white vans, for safely driving down a wrong 
turning.

>To bring the discussion back on topic: the question of the database
>structure is very interesting.  I would like to know, for example,
>whether the licence numbers the system sees which belong to authorised
>vehicles are stored along with the time and location (despite not
>being needed for anything to do with the charging), or if the system
>can easily be amended to store this data (or pipe it elsewhere).  I
>strongly suspect the answer is `yes' but that we won't be able to
>confirm or convincingly deny it.

I'd expect the Information Commissioner to put the system through a 
thorough vetting process.
-- 
Roland Perry