Provided is a
system for identifying vehicles of traffic violators, the
system having elements that include: a
video camera for providing, in real-time, a video
signal that represents plural sequential
video image frames (either perceptually continuous video, such as 30 frames per second, or non-perceptually continuous video, such as 1-2 fps); a
traffic violation detector (e.g., a
radar gun, an in-ground loop, a pair of self-powered
wireless transponders or transmitters, a camera-based speed detection
system, or any other speed sensor) that provides a trigger
signal (e.g., based on vehicle speed and detection of the state of a
traffic signal); a video recorder that receives the video
signal provided by the camera and records the video signal in a buffer until
receipt of a trigger signal, at which point at least a portion of the video signal stored in the buffer is preserved for recording and direct real-time storage of the video signal to a hard drive, or other high-capacity storage medium, commences. As a result, the video signal is preserved during a pre-programmable sliding (or rolling) time interval prior to provision of the trigger signal.