Traffic Camera Vanity Videos

A few weeks ago it rained quite hard in the morning on my way to work. I hit a puddle in the road, and didn’t do what they tell you in driving school. (I blame the cast I was wearing on my foot, but that’s another story). Next thing I know, my car is spinning almost completely around. I was very fortunate: I didn’t hit any other cars, and slid off into a grassy part of the shoulder. The car and I are undamaged, which is more than I can say for my pride.

Thinking about the incident later, I found myself wondering what it looked like from outside the car. My city has a quite elaborate traffic management system, with hundreds of cameras on the freeway covering almost every inch of it. It occurred to me that one of those cameras may have caught my little adventure live.

This inspired an idea for a side business for the Department of Transportation (or whoever runs the traffic cameras in your area). When they catch an accident on the video, set the video aside. Provide a way for motorists to identify the date, time and location of the accident and they can order a video of it happening.

This could be useful for both the curious, and have practical uses for the insurance industry. The money charged for the tapes would help supplement the budget of the traffic management department. Perhaps a “highlights” video could be compiled at the end of each year, and used as a tool in driver’s education classes.