New Service Maps Speed Traps By Cell Phone 404
esocid writes "In a modern equivalent of flashing your headlights to warn other motorists of police speed traps, you can now warn fellow drivers with a cell phone or personal digital assistant about speed traps, red-light cameras, and other threats to ticket-free driving. And as you approach a known threat, you'll get an audio alert on your mobile device. The developer of Trapster, Pete Tenereillo, said the system, which requires punching in a few keys such as '#1' to submit information to Trapster's database, should comply with laws banning talking on cell phones. The free service can automatically detect location using mobile devices' GPS capabilities or tap their Wi-Fi and get location from a database run by Skyhook Wireless. Police officials that Tenereillo has talked to haven't complained about the service because it inevitably encourages drivers to slow down."
Prior art - not that it matters (Score:3, Informative)
But I posted on about an almost identical system, which I called "copwatch" here on Slashdot, about a year ago...and it was something I 100% thought out on my own. Pretty cool someone did it.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=227045&cid=18394299
March 18 2007
Basically, it uses the same principle, but every time you see a traffic cop, you press a button somewhere in your car. Your car, with the use of a GPS, then beacons the location of the police car. Other cars then repeat the beacon, which does have a TTL value on it as well.
To prevent false positives, there is a limit to how many reports someone could generate in a set time period, and multiple reports in the same area could mod the threat up.
This would all be happening pretty transparently to everyone, unless they were within a set distance of an active alert, at which point they would be alerted to the danger.
Re:Another way to avoid tickets (Score:4, Informative)
A tax is something you have to pay. It is entirely possible to drive, for years, without getting a single ticket. I've done it.
It's only a tax on the poor of those particular people can't drive. If that's the case, then I don't mind. The system should discourage those who can't drive from driving.
Should it be based on your income? That's fine with me. But don't call it a tax.
Re:GPS (Score:3, Informative)
I think that's a lot safer because in this part of the world you can be penalised quite severely for touching your mobile phone while driving. Additionally the gps has a much more accurate idea of my position and is aware of my actual speed and the limit in force on my particular stretch of road.
The databases I use are - static speed cameras, regular locations of mobile speed cameras, average speed cameras, and stoplight cameras. Each type of threat is alerted by a different sound effect and a visual reminder of the speed limit.
I feel that using SMS is a solution to a problem which doesn't exist, especially since phones are increasingly coming with built-in gps receivers.
Re:If getting drivers to slow down was the point.. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:False Positives? (Score:4, Informative)
As an aside, when I submitted this the trapster website was pretty slow, and I'm pretty surprised it's holding up so far. Way to go.
Re:Another way to avoid tickets (Score:4, Informative)
For example, note this article [caranddriver.com] from Car and Driver magazine that outlines how fatalities remained static and even went down in some states after the national speed limit was lifted in 1995 and states began raising speed limits, yet authorities claimed they had gone up by not including all of the data. From the article:
This is exactly what one would expect, because the highways with the higher speed limits attract drivers from slower roads. More drivers on the highways mean more accidents and fatalities on the highways, but fewer drivers and fatalities on other roads. Charles Lave, an economics professor at the University of California-Irvine, examined this phenomenon in a study in 1989. He also found that raising highway speed limits allowed police to spend less of their time writing speeding tickets and more time apprehending drunk drivers and patrolling dangerous roads.
Re:If getting drivers to slow down was the point.. (Score:3, Informative)
In my city people commonly drive very dangerously - not signaling when they turn, aggressively weaving around in lanes so they can get to the red light 3 seconds before everyone else, running red light/stop signs, pulling out in front of traffic so that everyone else has to stop briefly to avoid hitting you - but the cops never seem to give a damn. Go more than 6 mph over the speed limit, though, and they pounce on you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that people should speed - but the amount of enforcement effort that goes into speeding seems vastly excessive compared to the relative danger it poses.
Use your eyes. (Score:1, Informative)
Learn where the police set up their traps by keeping your eyes open. Pay attention to how police drive. Even an unmarked squad is obvious if you're looking at the driving and not at the vehicle. You'll get so your eyes can spot them in your rear view mirror a mile back through peripheral vision. (Yes, it's that obvious.) When you see an unmarked squad, remember its make and model. Know how all these vehicles look from all angles. And for god's sake, if you see one squad slow down - there's almost always another.
Same goes for speed traps. Keep your eyes on bridges, on ramps, and any place a car could hide. Memorize these locations and look for them. If you see an actual speed trap, remember it and watch for it next time.
Use other cars. Let them get about 1/4 mile ahead of you, then match their speed. Stick close to larger vehicles - the radar will pick up their speed, not yours. Keep known vehicles between you and unknown vehicles.
I've never, ever been pulled over for speeding in fifteen years of driving. I don't speed much now, if it all, but when I was younger... Well, let's just say that if you go fast enough you don't really have to worry about the cops approaching from behind.
Re:So (Score:3, Informative)
I can't really be bothered to list any more sources, but they exist if you're so inclined.
See the video (Score:2, Informative)
Re:That's a violation (Score:2, Informative)
Actually, radar detector manufactures have already "cracked" those. [wikipedia.org] Plus, here (California), radar detectors are legal.
Re:If getting drivers to slow down was the point.. (Score:2, Informative)
No, we don't. The speed limits we have on our freeways are set for purely political reasons. (The clue is that the limits are set by state legislatures, not engineers.) What I'm saying is that the posted speed limit should reflect the maximum speed for which the road is designed. Naturally, exceeding this limit would be dangerous by definition and worthy of much more than a simple fine.
So, you still think that the current posted speed limit reflects the maximum safe speed? Try this: In the late '80s, the speed limit on many rural Interstate highways was raised from 55 mph to 65 mph. The roads were not changed or altered in any way (other than changing the signs). How is it that one day the maximum safe speed is 55 mph and the next day it is 65 mph for the exact same road?
I'm all for more training, but I think that 50 hours might be excessive. Periodic ability tests (at least more frequent than what we have now) are probably a good idea.
Re:LARTing by text message (Score:3, Informative)
It's a Mattel Hot Wheels radar gun, runs on 4 AAA batteries, operates on the X band, and sells for about $30 at Wal-Mart and other fine retailers.
Not a bad idea screwing with the morons driving dangerously.
Re:RDD-D (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, the Specter is used in Virginia and DC. Rumor has it that Texas DPS uses it to time when to turn their radar on. They let all speeders go by, and when they detect a detector, they light you up and pull you over. Of course this tactic is not common, but it is very scary for speeders like myself.
RDD's are mainly used for Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (No big commercial trucks are allowed to use RD's)