IBM to Help UAE Track Drivers on the Road

Mr.Bananas writes "InformationWeek reports that IBM has announced a deal with United Arab Emirates in which it would provide speed tracking devices that will automatically warn violators of traffic laws: "The telematics device will use multiple microprocessors based on IBM's Power Architecture, and will have the capability to monitor the speed of the vehicle and send out a warning if the car surpasses the posted speed limit." GeekCoffee goes on to report that tickets will be issued automatically to violators who ignore the warnings: "If the voice warning is ignored, the system would use a GSM/GPRS link to beam the car's speed, identity and location to the police so that a ticket could be issued.""

Comments

Re:Who's rights where?

[0x461FAB0BD7D2]

Your right to privacy? Your right not to be tracked by the government? It's sort of like RFIDs, except in cars.

Personally, if this works out, it's worth the amount of lives saved, just as long as it isn't abused.

We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[eno2001]

As my latest JE points out, people just don't follow the speed limit anymore or maintain safe braking distances. I don't think they will until corrective measures are taken. And the only corrective measures are those that are enforced on drivers. Driving is not a hobby or a skill, it's a practical mode of transportation. If you want to race, go find a race track and have at it. If you want to get from point A to point B, then follow the laws to the letter, leave plenty of time for travel, and don't bitch when you get a legit ticket.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[aussie_a]

The majority of people speed, because speed limits are rarely reasonable. Speeding is not irresponsible.

Isn't irresponsible huh? Well my brother was killed because he was hit by a speeding car. It very much is an irresponsible thing to do. I just hope you don't ever have to learn what it feels like for killing someone because of your irresponsible behavior.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[SerpentMage]

This is exactly the kind of propaganda governments like to spew.

1) Yes there are citizens who drive fast and follow too close. Just like there are citizens who smoke, eat too much, don't excercise, fart and burp in public. FACE reality, that is called humanity.

2) Speeding tickets has nothing to do with safety, but everything to do with making money in the government. Don't believe me? Check the revenue at the local law enforcement office.

3) Hazardous driving like following too close, passing too tightly, which is on the books of as illegal, has no revenue stream. Yet these actions themselves are highly dangerous and CAUSE accidents. Why are cops not checking for these infractions? Simple, it means WORK, and the revenue earned is less than the effort required. Meaning its not a cash cow.

4) Highway speeds are way too low. Why is it that in Germany you can drive as fast as you can, Switzerland is 120 KPH, Austria 130 KPH, France 130 KPH, Canada 100 KPH, and the US 90-110 KPH? So that means driving by the books in Germany gets you speed tickets most other places, driving by the book in France and Austria will get you tickets in Canada and the US? Come on, these are artificial limits setup so that MOST people people end up speeding.

These days cars and highways for a large part have become safe enough for 150-160 KPH. And with electronic signs in many countries aspeed limit can be altered reflecting the conditions on the highway. Why is this not enforced? Simple, speed tickets = cash cow = simple way of saying, "We are tough on accidents". BS, BS, BS!!!

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[Detritus]

Nice rationalization. "It's not highly skilled drivers like myself that are the problem, even though we routinely ignore speed limits, and other traffic laws, it's those damn slowpokes who get in our way."

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[bcmm]

Has it occured to you that, in edition to the conspiricy to make massive amounts of money off tickets (presumably to fund a secret branch of the military or something), there might also be an actual need for speed limits so that people don't die on the road?

Come on, speeding fines are not a major revenue source, the point is the money being taken away from the offender, not that it goes to the goverment afterwards (who of course should make no money, and shouldn't have to pay police, fire etc., because taxation is unamerican).

There are conspiricies to line people pockets, but fining speeders is not one of them. Sorry.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[LadyLucky]

Speeding tickets has nothing to do with safety, but everything to do with making money in the government. Don't believe me? Check the revenue at the local law enforcement office.

That's the best part - it's a tax that you can avoid paying entirely. Don't speed, and you don't have to pay a penny, yet the police get billions in revenue.

In my books, that's a great deal. The fact that my car (a beautiful 2003 Toyota Camry) has great efficiency at 90kph is just a fringe benefit too.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[NOLAChief]

You've never been through (insert ubiquitous small town here), have you? There are towns out there that exist solely as speed traps. They usually appear on a major state or US highway (not interstates) between larger population centers. Since local authorities set the speed through their towns, they will ramp down the speed limit 20-30 mph in less than half a mile. At the end of that is the town's lone cop with a radar gun and your ticket already half filled out. If you haven't already vaporized your brakes trying to kill your speed in time, you're toast.

Some states have tried to pass laws making it harder to do this, but they have always been met with cries of "But we have no other revenue source for our town!!!" Yes, it's that blatant. I've heard that Florida's famous for this and I've had near misses in Colorado and Missouri.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[theLOUDroom]

Fact is, fewer of those offenses are ticketed because people take great pains not to commit them in front of police. You would not believe the difference in driver behavior, simply by comparing what you observe while driving your POV to what you observe while driving a marked cruiser.

The fact is, I have NEVER seen anyone get pulled over for say, not signaling... and I have seen it done in front of cops many times.

At least in my area, they just don't care.
Driving down the road a 65 on a nice day when you have two freakin miles of visibility will land you a ticket, but changing lanes or cutting someone off almost NEVER does. I really don't care too much how fast someone's going, so long as they keep it under insane speeds, what's actually dangerous is when they do something unexpected, like turn left in fron if you without signaling.

with the exception of the highway patrol guys, most municipal/county cops HATE doing traffic.

Of course rather than standing up for their principles, they do it anyways. And then of course there are those little towns that deliberatlely set their speed limits WAY too freaking low. It's basically a conspiracy by the local gov't to pull in money. and the police STILL enforce them. At what point are you being a scumbag for giving someone a ticket, when the speed limit is 10mph below what it should be? 20? 30?
If police want to be looked on better by the general population, they should start displaying some ethics. Rather than ticketing people for things that shouldn't be illegal in the first place, they could go try to catch people commiting crimes that actually have victims.

Besides, the individual cops don't get a cut of those tickets.

Except that they have a quota and they are expected to meet it. This is considered in their evaluations.

Somehow there's always this amazing spike in "traffic enforcement" towards the beginning and end of each month. Whether the quota is official of not, it's pretty obvious they do exist.

BTW, the assured-clear-distance tickets, reckless operation citations, etc are finable offenses, so the "no revenue" accusation doesn't wash.

But it does because police actually have to DO WORK to catch people commiting those offenses. Right now traffic enforcement seems totally geared towards "How many people can I bust per hour." instead of "How can in improve that saftey of our nation's roadways."
It's pretty obvious since even you are complaining about how hard it is to catch people committing offenses that are dangerous.
Why not actually put some effort into giving tickets that make sense, rather than highway robbery?
Oh yeah, you might actually have to work hard, and you might not get promoted since you wouldn't meet quota.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[nxtw]

there might also be an actual need for speed limits so that people don't die on the road?

Of course. This means *reasonable* limits. Not arbitary 35mph speed limits on most two-lane roads that are common in some suburbs. As soon as you enter a different city/township, the limits jump up to 45mph. The nearest interstate has a 55mph speed limit mainly through one entire county -- after being 65mph before that for some time -- hint: most people don't slow down when they see the reduced speed limit sign. Even in a construction zone, most people go at least 65mph (in a 55mph zone), even though they can get doubled fines.

Come on, speeding fines are not a major revenue source

Maybe not for the local government themselves, but for the police department they can provide a much-needed boost in many areas.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[the_mad_poster]

Giving your apparent inability to respond in an intelligent manner to these non-time-sensitive posts on Slashdot, I can only assume your driving skills, which are frequently dictated by your ability to make split-second decisions, fall roughly between this woman's and a cadaver's.

I fear for the safety of the occupants of your vehicle as you display the average judgement of a 13 year old thug in a stolen Celebrity. You are clearly one of the many clueless sods I encounter on a daily basis, and I shall delight in reading the obituary generated when you go flailing off an overpass somewhere because your Omni wasn't able to handle the turn at 80 mph not because it was technically incapable, but because you're clearly utterly clueless behind the wheel.

to bastardize an old chestnut-

[turbosk]

When they came for the speeders, I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a speeder.

When they came for the Arabs, i didn't speak up, because I wasn't an Arab.

When they came for me, there weren't any Arabs or speeders to speak up....

Re:Awesome

[SerpentMage]

You are right in that there are two sides. However, I think it is more "Freedom to drive like an idiot". After all we are humans, humans that cherish freedom above everything else. As a friend says to me, average means that 50% of the people are dumber than you. But it also means that they have the right to be dumber than you and you can't do anything about it!

I think what would bother me regarding the UAE deal is that it will be VERY one sided. Do you REALLY think that any UAE citizen, or any UAE royal family member will get speeding tickets? When pigs fly!

But I agree, I would would pull it off my car and throw it somewhere....

Re:How far does this go?

[MisterLawyer]

Relevant personal experience:
About a year ago I was driving on an interstate in Illinois, not too far from Chicago. For about an hour straight I was within a few football fields of a state trooper. We were both speeding at between 5-15 mph over the limit. At first I was cautious to stay a ways behind him so he wouldn't notice, but for at least half the time, I was the car immediately behind him. Suddenly he slows way down and gets behind me and pulls me over. I point out to him that he had been doing the same speed as me for about an hour, and that we were both going with the flow of traffic, and that he obviously wasn't in a hurry to get somewhere to stop a crime in progress. He said some like "it's a bad idea to follow cops", and that "just because I'm speeding doesn't make it legal for civilians to speed".

This is the problem with speed limits in most of America. They are set so low that at least 90% of traffic is always exceeding the speed limit, including the cops, and thus the cops can essentially pull over anyone they want, whenever they want.

So much for the Constitution and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure...

How far does this go?-Till the wheels fall off.

[Anonymous Coward]

"This is the problem with speed limits in most of America. They are set so low that at least 90% of traffic is always exceeding the speed limit, including the cops, and thus the cops can essentially pull over anyone they want, whenever they want."

Define "low"? Is that just below the point when the steering wheel starts shimmying?

Also cops can already pull you over. What makes you think they need "speeding" as justification?

Re:How far does this go?-Till the wheels fall off.

[AK Marc]

I think something all of you need to realize is that they recieve hours of trainig and certification in driving their veihicles. At extreme speeds too.

No, they don't. I'm familiar with the requirements for cops, and my training has vastly exceeded their minimum training. Of course, training is also irrelevant to their flaunting the laws they enforce. If you think training is important, should I be able to get out of a ticket by showing the training I received at the very same course that Texas Department of Public Safety performs driver training at. Of course, that's not the case. If I were to carry proof of that training and presented it to someone pulling me over, they'd think I was a smart ass and treat me worse, not better. So, we know that it isn't training that is related to the ability to drive fast.

Yes, I'll take half a system please

[miaDWZ]

I can see the benefits of having a warning device telling you if you're going over the speed limit. There are lots of times I've thought to myself "hmmm, I wonder exactly what the speed limit is around here, I have not seen a sign". I've always thought it would be cool for the car to "know" what speed you should be driving at. If this device came around, I would jump at the chance to get one. On the other hand, the entire "speed and we will automatically issue you a ticket" idea is stupid. I don't want *that* half of the system in my car (for obvious reasons). I wonder what would happen if I rip out the mobile phone antenna so it can't transmit my details...

in UAE?

[a.ameri]

Well, the technology is good, I can think of hundreds of useful applications for it. But the privacy issues just scare the hell out of me. And, where? in UAE? If it was in a civilized democratic country, where there are restrictions on what a government can do, where there are unions and institutions which care about citizens' rights, then maybe the use of these applications can be justified. But in UAE?

I lived in the UAE for more than 2 years. I had a very nice job there working at a multinational telecommunication company. Being and Iranian myself, it was a very good opportunity for me as my country was nearby and en route to other places, I could stop at my country a couple of times a year to say hello to my family. But there are things in that country which just scared the shit out of me. Things that eventually made me forget the job and the good opportunity it provided, and virtually escape from there.

In UAE, a car's plate number can have variable number of digits. No 1 is reserved for the Sultan of the province (there are 7 provinces there, Dubai being the biggest one). No 2 is usually the Sultan's brother, and the 1 digit numbers are all family members of the sultan. Cousins and close friends get 2 digit numbers, as well as their wives and their children. The 3 digit numbers are also relatives of the relatives of Sultan. Ordinary cars have 5 digits on their plates.

The situation is that no one can stand in the way of a lower-digit car. If you see a 2 or 3 digit car coming from the opposite direction, it doesn't matter if it's your line of road or not, you have to make way for him. The police can not issue tickets to these cars. They do not obey the speed limit; mostly they have Ferraris and Porches which easily pass the 180 mph, and no one can even stop them. Legally, the police can do nothing with them.

They have all the money of the world. They have built bridges longer and more modern than those in Japan and Sweden, they have made skyscrapers that make New York look like a village, they have cars which automobile manufacturers hand made for their special needs. They have made a heaven out there. And if you just want to have some holiday, get on the beech, go to a resort or something; it is a perfect place. But only if you care nothing about the political situation, and the mentality of the people.

There are no political parties. No Elections. No private newspaper, no private T.V channel, basically no free speech. The thing that surprised me was that unlike the people of my country, who also lack these things, but at least are fighting in order to get them; they even do not think about having a democratic society, having liberty, and privacy. It is as if these words do not exist in the dictionary of an ordinary Arab. They have been brought up with the mentality that you never question the ruler. They never criticize a single action of any governmental body; be it the municipality, or any other bureau. It was so shocking, and yet embarrassing to me.

If this technology was being deployed in a democratic country, you would have had many organizations and groups voicing concerns over it. If did not prevent the deployment of such technology, they would have at least made sure that the necessary checks and restrictions on the storage and usage of information about every single car exists. As it is in the UAE, I'm sure no one will even question this thing. No one will even think about how this technology can be used to violate their rights and privacy. It doesn't matter how much money and oil they have and what kind of gadgets they use to control their traffic; when a society lacks basic elements like freedom of speech; that society will not evolve in a positive manner.

Re:in UAE?

[danila]

You don't need to violate the immunity. But if the police would at least be allowed to make some stink, that would help. You know, send the ticket to their office (i.e. the embassador or to the Congress), inform the press, etc. I don't think a parking ticket can really harm the MP that much.

And to think of it, do you seriously think that if the police had the right to enforce at least some modicum of order with those guys, that our democracy would be threatened? It doesn't make sense.

The idea of immunity is not challenged by anyone anymore, but it is horrendously elitist and antidemocratic. May be if the MPs had to live by the rules that are set to everyone, they would be motivated to keep an eye on law enforcement and judicial systems.

Re:Awesome

[floydman]

Well after living there for over 12 years, travelled all over Europe, USA, i would rather drive there... where you can get jailed for breaking a light, highways are well equipped than any other place i have ever been to..., and ppl can try for years to earn their driver license because the tests are so tough..

So please, lets not stereo type each other, shall we..

P.S: i am not a citizen of UAE, not do i live there any more.

Re:Better Idea

[October_30th]

Would that money cover the costs of increasingly worse accidents? Would that money bring back the dead the number of which would definitely increase? No.

Why is it that most people who like to "go faster" never seem to realize - or at least admit it - that it's not about them. It's primarily about the safety of the other people (yes, us who like to drive safely and by the regulations) on the road.

Re:Awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

Everybody makes mistakes, you too. Generally, we don't punish people for unintentional harm they cause if they behave reasonably. Maybe if you keep running red lights, you should get thrown in jail, but not if it's the occasional mistake.

Freedom to drive like an idiot

[nurb432]

Its also my right to not be monitored when im NOT doing anything wrong.

So, yes, there are 2 sides..

Perhaps if you put this on people that keep getting speeding tickets... But on regular citizens, no thanks the government doesnt need to know where i go.

Re:Freedom to drive like an idiot

[TheLink]

Oh I'm fine if the government/whoever has the power to know where I (and everyone else) goes.

As long as I also get the same power to know where everyone including the government/whoever goes.

Everyone gets to watch everyone. Fair eh?

Want to make fun of my habits and post embarassing pictures of me here and there? Fine, let's go see who's been watching me, and pull up various video clips of Mr Nosy.

Re:Awesome

[AK Marc]

Everybody makes mistakes, you too.

How many times have you "mistakenly" run a red light? In more than 10 years of driving, that's never for me. I have intentionally run them (such as 3 a.m. on an empty road, or knowing that I wasn't going to make the green and choosing to run the fresh red). But I can't see how someone could mistakenly run a red light.

Most people breaking laws do so because of conscious choice. They choose to not signal. They choose to not come to complete stops at stop signs. They choose to not follow the speed limits. They choose to not stop at the red lights. And, if they are so incompetent that they mistakenly violate laws with great frequency (more than once a week), then they are quite dangerous and should be removed from the streets.

Traffic crashes kill over 40,000 people every year. Less than 18 months to kill as many people on American roads as Americans killed in Vietnam (previously the Library of Congress measure for dead bodies) or more than one 9/11 per month (the new measure). It is from the morons like you that tolerate "mistakes" that kill over 100 people per day which give us the unenforcable traffic laws, road rage, and other problems we have. Get the "mistake" makers off the road, starting with you, and all of us will be better off.

Super weak!

[cfalcon]

Yea, I dislike this a lot.

Ironically, his advice "Don't follow cops" is something I follow very closely. And the companion "Don't let cops follow you".

You would only believe these two things if the following conditions were fulfilled:

(1)- At some level, police have rights and privledges that you do not.
(2)- At some level, police have the ability to harm you.
(3)- At some level, police are unfair and arbitrary.

If any of these things were not true, then you would not have a problem with police being near you. (1) and (2) are true and most people don't have a problem with that. The question is, why don't more people bitch about (3)?

The current traffic setup is basically, you are guilty. *How* guilty determines how the police act. The cop in your case wanted to flex nuts, so he did. The guy who pulled over my law abiding father for not stopping twice at the stop sign (seriously, he said you had to stop once at the white line, then again two feet forward where the intersection actually starts), the cop who pulled me over when I wasn't speeding and claimed I was doing OVER TWENTY OVER (and had a radar gun to show that *something* was going over twenty over), and the wide array of other police hassles means that you simply can't trust them.

You can't trust them because they have more power than you, traffic court is a kangaroo court (I had pictures to show that the officer couldn't see me to verify that his 20+ reading was coming from me, because it obviously fucking wasn't, and that didn't matter either), and are often arbitrary.

It only takes a few bad cops to make me distrust the whole lot of them. Not because I feel that they are all bad, but because statistics state that I'm going to get pulled over for no goddamn reason x%, where x is positive, when a cop is around, and 0% when no cop is around.

So when I see them, I react with fear, and get the fuck away from them before they hurt me any more.

Good job, society!

Re:ANOTHER POINT FOR THE MORONS

[aaronl]

Either that or he drives on typical US roads where the speed limit is set to 85th percentile. A 55 is safe at 65, a 65 is safe at 75. There is a good reason why people drive 75 on most 65s, and that is because it's the limit you can consistently drive at without doing anything special.

The difference between clean record and "bad record" is clean record probably gets people upset by driving so slow, and "bad record" drove in areas where the people who run the police dept. prefer to give tickets than fight crime.

BTW, issuing tickets is about the most unsafe job a cop can have. You have to worry about chasing someone, then after you pull them over, you have to hope they don't try to hurt/kill you, and the whole time you get to worry about getting hit by other traffic. Can't forget the amount of driving hazard a marked car creates for everyone else, either. People slamming on brakes suddenly, the massive block of traffic, and the immediate and substantial increase in speed the moment the cruiser is out of sight. Real fun, and defintely not worth it to curb the horrendous criminal activity that driving a little faster really is.