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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.""
I thought they were referring to the "Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator"
That's pretty awesome for a place where traffic law informcent in itself is pretty weak and the drivers are pretty insane. But really, how is one to guarentee these devices stay in the cars?
:) There's two sides, naturally.
I for one would pull it off my car and throw it somewhere.
But hey, some may like it and some may see it as a violation of their "freedom to drive like an idiot"
It's just Crap.
Would this system also be implemented in public vehicles, such as the police themselves?
Shouldn't the cops get a ticket as well, if they are not "chasing the bad guy", say trying to get to the local krispy kreme before it closes?
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.
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.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
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....
It was Windows 3.x "Unrecoverable Application Error" before that.
"Unrecoverable Application Error:
Truck/camel network sharing collision!"
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
I am from the UAE. This (if true) is not a method to get cash and the government is definately not strapped for cash. We have some crazy drivers here.. and if this prove a successful way to control those idiots, then I can put up with such a system..
Warning: This user has performed an illegal operation, and will be booked now.
DRIVER_IN_RED_SEDAN has caused an invalid page fault in module speeding_fines_are_a_cash_cow.dll at 0157:21114020
Please save all your files, and pull over to the left-side of the road, and exit the vehicle. You may click the button "(*&#%)(*#$#@$#@ piece of c*ap" to view further details, or to see what will be sent to the Roads Revenue Collection Service about this incident. Click "Send Private Data" to send your private and confidential data to IBM, or alternatively, don't click anything, and we will do it anyway.
Please have a nice day.
,
"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?
Coming soon to a Western democracy near you....
The article states there are some two million drivers but they're only going to install this into some thousand vehicles, so how do they determine who gets it and who doesn't? My guess is first or second time offenders would get them first similar to how criminals are released back into society but have to "check in" with local law enforcement every now and then or when they move they have to "register" with the local sheriff. I imagine there will be random checks to make sure the devices stay installed in the vehicle as well.
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...
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.
--
"You have five points remaining on your license..."
i live there! this isnt a case of the government not having enough money, just do a google for burj dubai. they have money coming out of there fucking dicks. they have tonnes of oil. they even own madame tussads in england!. its simply that the traffic laws are a joke, no one uses their indicators, almost everyone speeds, people drive 20 kmph in a 90 zone, people drive 368 kmph in a 20 kmph zone. paired with the fact they have so much fucking money, that 18 year olds are getting ferrari's for their first cars. personally, i cant wait till it arrives, im gonna hack the gibson and make a fuck load of money! "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." "there is no sultan in the UAE, its a sheikh."
I just can't wait for the day when all cars will be computerized and manual driving of any kind will be illegal. Then while I'm kicking back in my car drinking a coffee and listening to music while reading a book, I can think about all those enraged college students and idiot boomers fuming over the fact that they no longer get to endanger everyone else with their complete and total lack of skill...and smile.
Hey, it's no different than legislating moronic things like seatbelt and helmet laws. If you think you have a moral imperative to act as my daddy, then I'll assume your position and bring it to its logical conclusion. And laugh at you every time you bitch about the 'good ol' days', when every stupid shit who insisted that *they* were great drivers put everyone else on the road at risk every time they got behind the wheel.
Until that beautiful day, I'll back any bill that makes it a shooting offense for people to use their cell phones while driving. I swear to christ, those morons are as bad as any drunk....
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
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.
The owls are not what they seem
"Most police officers do NOT look on themselves as good little revenue-generators for their respective cities/mayors"
No, they don't. But the guys who run the force do.
Believe me, if the money from speeding tickets never found its way back to the police budget, you'd see speed traps disappear immediately.
I want to see cops patrolling, cops want to be patrolling, their bosses want to cover the budget. That's a fact.
Besides, if speed limits were an absolute indicator of safety, then why do most cops drive 10-15 MPH over the limit in all circumstances? Because even the cops know the limits are set for grandma, not people with experience, eyes, and a brain.
I've never been pulled over for going over the limit by a patrolling cop. Mainly because they're going faster than me. And this is in 35 years of driving.
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.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
There is a solution to this: vote, and start writing letters to congress. This might not work in UAE, but in the US you can vote. Tell whoever sets the speed limits (could be congress or the city console) to make them reasonable. If they refuse run yourself.
Even if the city sets the limit and you don't live in the city, the state has power. The state just has to tie funding to some project to the speed limit. Things will change. However so long as you complain but don't otherwise make this an issue nothing happens.
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!
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.