“There are new lightning boxes in Switzerland…”
Once again we receive many inquiries about a very old picture.
This will be sent on Facebook and also via WhatsApp. It's about these supposedly new speed cameras:
There are new flash boxes in Switzerland... Watch out and share that it's all good!
The fact check
Translated, this means something like: “These are new flash boxes (speed cameras) in Switzerland. Watch and share for everyone to see.”
The surprising thing here is that the picture is 12 years old! Yes, you read that right, these “new flash boxes” are not new at all, but are at least 12 years old!
The photo comes from a Power Point presentation from the Swiss police, more precisely from the Vaud cantonal police.
On this Power Point slide you can clearly see the image that was published on Facebook on September 9, 2017.
From Power Point presentations to chain letters
However, the picture became a chain letter much earlier. Because back in 2006, 12 years ago, it was distributed as a “chain letter”.
Excerpt from the hoax warning at the time (11/2006):
It is true that the photos (as in the earlier case) come from Switzerland. But it is also true that these are traffic monitoring systems for speed measurement. However, the systems work with pulsed laser light and no longer with radar. They can capture up to three lanes of traffic using rotating mirrors and are equipped with two Nikon digital cameras. These are not located in the guard rail, but in a more clearly visible “star box” (see photos below) and take time-delayed photos from the front and back. The devices, introduced in October 2006 in the Swiss canton of Vaud (Vaud), receive the system time from GPS satellites and immediately transmit the digital photos via fiber optic to the cantonal police. Missing or expired vignettes and occupants not wearing seatbelts are also clearly visible in the photos. The measuring devices can distinguish cars from trucks and take different speed limits into account for each.
See also: TU Berlin
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )