Story Tips From the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory September 2009.

Specialized cameras at weigh stations in Kentucky are helping ensure that operators of commercial vehicles are abiding by all state and federal laws with the payoff expected to be safer highways and more money in the coffers of the Bluegrass State. The system takes advantage of a technology developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Cyrus Smith. In seconds the system can determine a vehicle's safety rating, whether it is stolen or has out-of-service orders and myriad other information. Commercial vehicle enforcement officers typically select trucks for inspection at random, but this system helps them to inspect based on safety ratings and other discriminating factors. And because the system instantly checks registration, …