Now GPS Can Tell You Where the Cops Are
02-11-09, 07:13 AM
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Now GPS Can Tell You Where the Cops Are
By Doug Newcomb
Flashing oncoming motorists with your high beams used to be an effective, if low-tech, way to warn them about speed traps up the road. But radar-gun wielding cops have increasingly given way to photo-enforcement cameras that nab drivers with a click of a shutter, and those can be hard to spot. The trend toward cameras has not only increased the number of busted speeders and red-light runners, it's been a bonanza for municipal coffers.
But now the wonders of Web 2.0 and portable navigation systems can use motorists' tips and Microsoft Virtual Earth to help keep you from appearing on your local police department's version of candid camera. It's a lot more effective than relying on a bleating radar detector.
Shannon Atkinson launched Njection.com as a place for gearheads to shoot the breeze about anything and everything auto-related. It wasn't long before he sensed a theme in the posts. “One of the biggest topics on the site became speed traps and cameras,” Atkinson told us. "People want to know about those whether they’re a truck driver, a road warrior or just someone who wants to drive without worrying about it.”
So Atkinson added Speedtrap, a feature that combines drivers' tips with Microsoft Virtual Earth to identify speed traps - either a real, live cop with a radar gun or one of those damned cameras - throughout the U.S. There's even a few foreign cities, such as London, Toronto and Rome.
Now, the information can be downloaded directly to portable navigation devices from Garmin, Mio, TomTom and others via Njection.com so that drivers can pinpoint speed traps on a given route. Atkinson says the identity of Njection’s many speed-trap tipsters is kept confidential, and they include more than a few police officers who like the site because what "they’re mostly interested in is getting people to drive safely.”
Photo: Richard Faulder/Flickr
Flashing oncoming motorists with your high beams used to be an effective, if low-tech, way to warn them about speed traps up the road. But radar-gun wielding cops have increasingly given way to photo-enforcement cameras that nab drivers with a click of a shutter, and those can be hard to spot. The trend toward cameras has not only increased the number of busted speeders and red-light runners, it's been a bonanza for municipal coffers.
But now the wonders of Web 2.0 and portable navigation systems can use motorists' tips and Microsoft Virtual Earth to help keep you from appearing on your local police department's version of candid camera. It's a lot more effective than relying on a bleating radar detector.
Shannon Atkinson launched Njection.com as a place for gearheads to shoot the breeze about anything and everything auto-related. It wasn't long before he sensed a theme in the posts. “One of the biggest topics on the site became speed traps and cameras,” Atkinson told us. "People want to know about those whether they’re a truck driver, a road warrior or just someone who wants to drive without worrying about it.”
So Atkinson added Speedtrap, a feature that combines drivers' tips with Microsoft Virtual Earth to identify speed traps - either a real, live cop with a radar gun or one of those damned cameras - throughout the U.S. There's even a few foreign cities, such as London, Toronto and Rome.
Now, the information can be downloaded directly to portable navigation devices from Garmin, Mio, TomTom and others via Njection.com so that drivers can pinpoint speed traps on a given route. Atkinson says the identity of Njection’s many speed-trap tipsters is kept confidential, and they include more than a few police officers who like the site because what "they’re mostly interested in is getting people to drive safely.”
Photo: Richard Faulder/Flickr
excellent
02-11-09, 09:07 AM
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02-11-09, 11:35 AM
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This is great news. Of course, eventually the cops get the real time GPS from your car and the speeding ticket just shows up in the mail without any radar traps but we won't have to worry about that for weeks and weeks.
02-11-09, 11:51 AM
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Good point RON430..
IF its require by law that every vehicle have GPS in their vehicle for that purpose, we screwed by then.
But, highly doubt it...until something happen to you. But i doubt they are able to scan your vehicle whenever they want, exception at the airport :-D
IF its require by law that every vehicle have GPS in their vehicle for that purpose, we screwed by then.
But, highly doubt it...until something happen to you. But i doubt they are able to scan your vehicle whenever they want, exception at the airport :-D
02-11-09, 11:58 AM
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Good point RON430..
IF its require by law that every vehicle have GPS in their vehicle for that purpose, we screwed by then.
But, highly doubt it...until something happen to you. But i doubt they are able to scan your vehicle whenever they want, exception at the airport :-D
IF its require by law that every vehicle have GPS in their vehicle for that purpose, we screwed by then.
But, highly doubt it...until something happen to you. But i doubt they are able to scan your vehicle whenever they want, exception at the airport :-D
02-12-09, 07:52 AM
#11
I've got the Trapster app for my Blackberry Storm. VERY cool app. Has a database of known speed traps and red-light cameras. Tracks your location on the map and sounds an audible alarm when you're nearing one. Wonderful use of technology.
And, since it's on my BB, it's always with me, no matter what car I'm in.
And, since it's on my BB, it's always with me, no matter what car I'm in.
02-12-09, 09:53 AM
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Probably not in our lifetime given the strength of privacy laws and other legal precedents-to-date, thankfully in the US at least.
02-12-09, 11:40 AM
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Yes the technology is available to track where we at or what we're doing.
Remember there was a news article about how insurance companies want to track your yearly mileages by GPS device in vehicle because some people "underestimate" mileages.
Or when Oregon State want to tax mileages usages instead of gas tax, and they currently studying the concept.
Same goes with Police have GPS unit on their vehicles.
But we "citizen" will find a way around it. Hacking the GPS or hacking to Police GPS signal.
If it ever come to worst case.
Remember there was a news article about how insurance companies want to track your yearly mileages by GPS device in vehicle because some people "underestimate" mileages.
Or when Oregon State want to tax mileages usages instead of gas tax, and they currently studying the concept.
Same goes with Police have GPS unit on their vehicles.
But we "citizen" will find a way around it. Hacking the GPS or hacking to Police GPS signal.
If it ever come to worst case.