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

UAE?

[Cowclops]

I thought they were referring to the "Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator"

Awesome

[SmartSsa]

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?

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" :) There's two sides, naturally.

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.

How far does this go?

[sackadatfunk]

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?

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...

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

[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

[October_30th]

It's always the guy doing 50 in a 50 when everyone knows the accepted speed on the road they're on is 70.

Bwahaha! Yeah, it's the people who drive safely and according to the official regulations who are dangerous -- not us speed freaks who break the rules and make new ones for themselves simply because we're so goddamned good drivers. Nice rationalization.

You wouldn't have any problem with the people doing 50 if you were doing 50 as well. "The other people are driving 70 mph too" is a pathetic excuse a kid might come up with. Besides, most people seriously overestimate their driving abilities.

Re:We SORELY Need this Technology in the US

[The Tyro]

I'm sorry, but I need to respond to this.

Bringing up the police always seems to generate these "cops are all lazy, greedy, donut-eating, keeping-the-little-guy-down, tools-of-the-fascist-oppressors" posts.

As a slashdotter with a background in law enforcement, I'll let you in on a little secret: with the exception of the highway patrol guys, most municipal/county cops HATE doing traffic. It's boring, repetitive, and most cops would much rather be doing something/anything else.

Most police officers do NOT look on themselves as good little revenue-generators for their respective cities/mayors... the relationship is usually far, far more fractious and antagonistic than that. Besides, the individual cops don't get a cut of those tickets. There is little incentive to bust your butt, deal with the nasty attitudes of the people you stop, generate irate letters-to-the-editor in your local paper, all while doing something that you hate anyway. With the exception of a few small-town speedtraps (that have given other cops a black eye), most cops have better things to do than sit on their ass and write tickets all day.

That said, a good knowledge of the traffic laws can serve you well. If you see someone acting suspiciously, their breaking of a traffic law gives you probable cause to stop them. Then, while writing their ticket, you look through the back window and see a gun and ski mask laying on the floor in the back seat (or you see the occupants madly stashing contraband as you execute your vehicle approach)

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

There's a reason the expression "driving like you've got a cop behind you" exists.

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

[YrWrstNtmr]

Come on, speeding fines are not a major revenue source

Actually, they can be. Cincinnati is getting ready to institute speeding cameras, and the expected revenue is $12 million per year. Some members of the city council are looking at this specifically as a revenue source to help balance the city budget.

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.

Windows 3.x

[xixax]

It was Windows 3.x "Unrecoverable Application Error" before that.

"Unrecoverable Application Error:
Truck/camel network sharing collision!"

I can just see it now....

[victorhooi]

System Error 0xFFF83: ILLEGAL OPERATION

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.

,

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.

just can't wait

[maxpublic]

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

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!