What are these things?

[coredumped]

Can anyone tell me what these things are?

I've seen them all over pinellas county on the side of the road.

[thekillingwax]

I'm pretty sure they're solar powered traffic counters/classifiers.

[buckethead]

Nope... Brain scanners. They can be easily thwarted by placing tin foil between you and the source.

A preferred method:

[ChriswUfGator]

Those units are all over Florida, if you pay attention. They are traffic data collectors. They pick up a variety of scary information, actually. For example, since the early 2000's many tire manufacturers have embedded RFID chips in tires, those can read them as you're driving by and transmit the data for collection. The state can tell where you were and when you were there, without you even knowing it. My Dad (also an attorney) has a capital felony case going right now where that's an issue. Unfortunately, the data didn't work out favorably, it showed the guy being where he said he wasn't. The tires with the RFID chips in them in that case were Michelins, so if you're a tinfoil hat person, don't buy Michelins.

[urbanlibertarian]

[coredumped]

Thanks guys! I haven't seen them around Jax yet - but maybe I've overlooked them.