Slashdot Mirror
New iPhone Apps Help Drivers Beat Speed Traps
Ponca City, We love you writes "Two mobile applications, NMobile and Trapster, are providing drivers with up-to-date maps of speed-enforcement zones with live police traps, speed cameras or red-light cameras. Each application pulls up a map pinpointing the locations of speed traps within driving distance and an audio alert will sound as vehicles approach an area tagged as harboring a speed trap. Both applications rely on the wisdom of the crowds for their data with users reporting camera-rigged stop lights and areas heavily populated with radar-toting police officers via the iPhone or their web-based application, creating the ultimate speed trap repository available to you when you need it most — while you're driving. To thwart false alarms and eliminate inaccuracies, Trapster enlists its community of nearly 200,000 members to rank speed traps on their accuracy. NMobile founder Shannon Atkinson declined to provide detailed data, though he did estimate that 'well over 1,000' users had downloaded the application since it became available last week. The company insists they've received only positive feedback from law enforcement officials and police officers regarding their products. 'If the application gets people to slow down, I think it's generally considered to be a good thing,' said Atkinson."
Back in the 90s in one of the Baltic countries, some radio stations let drivers phone in location of speed traps.
Of course, soon enough the law caught up with that and reporting of police locations because illegal.
However, that didn't phase the station operators a bit. They just requested that people report location of individuals in blue uniforms, using cars with bright flashing lights and shooting microwave radiation at passing cars. No mention was "police" or "speed trap" or anything specific was allowed.
'If the application gets people to slow down, I think it's generally considered to be a good thing,' said Atkinson
It gets them to slow down when there's a speed trap because they want to avoid the high probability of a ticket.
BUT, it also gives them the confidence to speed more when they don't believe there's a speed trap.
So it works both ways: It helps increase the "deterrent factor" of the speed traps, but lowers the overall effectiveness of discouraging speeding in general, in the process.
In the end it's probably about a wash for changing the amount of speeding going on. The only thing that's changing is the money that was going to speeding tickets is now going to the authors of the app. And of course since that's what's really important isn't it, we've gotta put a stop to it don'cha know?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Consider the crap that the beat cops pull on a daily basis around here, no I'm not.
Pulling a U-turn when a sign clearly states otherwise, flicking your lights so you can go through a red light - then turning them off and parking at a diner for your break.
Cops here also have a bad habit of just grabbing people and their objects with no regard for the law. This has happened to me twice. The first time I explained to the cop that if he didn't release me I would be more than happy to defend myself - which got me arrested, but subsequently released - and the second time I reminded the office that I find the rough grabbing of my arms to be an aggressive act - he backed off.
I've also witnessed a cruiser fishtail a vehicle in the middle of the night, without pursuing him. No lights, no siren, nothing. The guy ran a red light, and the cop fishtailed him, THEN put his siren on. The guy in the car was arrested for failure to stop, failure to comply, and some other things. He was shocked - SHOCKED - when I showed up with a video of the event at court on behalf of the defendant.
The city dropped the case and last I heard the man is pursuing civil action.
This shit happens a lot more than is reported. Quite frankly, I think most cops need to be purged from their respective authority systems and shipped to clown college.
so, yes, when cops start obeying the law, so will I. Until then, fuck them.
Stretch control is the new hotness.
On a freeway, set up ANPR cameras on all the ramps, and bust the drivers on their average speed.
Pretty interesting concept, although doubtful this will be very useful in the long run as another user already noted the maps will eventually all be hot spots. I do think it would be great if car manufactures started to implement radar detectors with all GPS equipped models. I would like to see some sort of distributed radar alert system. I think it could essentially work like this : Car A, B, and C, are on hypothetical highway, car A is leading a mile or so in front of B, and C. I would like to see the systems pick up the radar from car A, and send an alert beacon to all the vehicles on hypothetical highway that are equipped with the same system, with the radar location pinpointed on the GPS navi display.
I agree, speeding tickets are a bullshit money maker 90% of the time. But think about it -- how stupid are they, using these old fashioned methods? Why not get serious and raise some real money?
I live in Massachusetts. The Mass Pike (I90) is a limited access highway with toll stations on all on/off ramps. Your time on is clocked. Your time off is clocked. By DeMoivre's Theorem, if your average speed is greater than the speed limit, you must have exceeded said speed limit at some point. So, just hand everyone a ticket as they leave the highway, if their average speed was X% higher than the posted speed limit (65) (or mail them one if they use EasyPass).
Here's a related revenue generation idea: triple the rent for all the McDonald's etc. on the I90 service plazas. Hell, open a bunch of new service plazas. People who want to speed will stop (they'll have to, unless they want a ticket). Here's another idea: for a buck, they can feed their turnpike ticket into a machine and it will tell them when it's safe to continue at the posted speed limit without getting a speeding ticket. Idiots who can't do arithmetic will be feeding dollar bills into these machines day in and day out.
Speed, er "safety" cameras are everywhere - but most of the time they're fixed, so there exists databases of "point of interest" to download into most GPSs. (Along with the speed the camera is set to). Even the mobile/temporary ones are usually at known locations, so they're included too. So anyone with a GPS who gets caught speeding deserves what they get... We've also had average speed cameras for a while now too - number plate recognition (ANPR). I deal with these using cruise control, but it really irritates me when people decide "OMG, what speed have I been doing..." then slow down to a crawl 250 metres before the next camera... And I'm sure that as the variable ones are video, they'll just get added to the total surveillance society we're sleepwalking into...
I'm an Englishman who just took his California driving test - I literally couldn't believe how simple it was. The practical consisted of less than ten minutes driving round the block, with no maneuvers other than reversing along a kerb. At no time did I leave a 30 mph zone and parts were even 20mph. How does this in any way test the ability of person to safely handle a car? Especially in the land of the freeway?
It's been 12 years since I took my UK test, which was far more strenuous, and I understand it's been strengthened since then too.
You let 16 year olds get behind the wheel of a 2 ton death mobile with no real qualification and then wonder why things go wrong?
Having said that, after logging several thousand miles around CA, I would pick driving here over the UK any day of the week. Whilst there is the occasional moron it is nothing compared to the sheer aggression of those driving in England.
While I agree that you should be prepared for anything that may be obstructing the roadway, that white sign halfway hidden behind a bush as you turn a corner is exactly where your attention should NOT be.
In the UK they've recently (last few years) been painting speed restrictions in less-expected places (like on the approach to a small village along a fast, empty road) like this directly on the road. No need to look away. (another picture). It also reduces sign clutter.
All they have to do is make the speed trap locations expire in 24 hours. As people drive past the speed traps, they can stop texting and report the speed trap. Then the next day, if the speed trap is still there it will get reported again. If they really want this to work, they should make it so you can report a speed trap in 1 tap of your iPod screen and it uses GPS data to report the location about 1 block behind you.
... Go look up what they have in Poland. You have to drive on a skidpad during one test even!
On several occasions I have had the 'pleasure' of experiencing driving in Poland. I have to say that it is - without doubt - the scariest driving that I've ever seen anywhere in the US, Europe or Far East.
Everyone treats the road like a racetrack, there is a mix of really slow trucks and speeding cars, few people seemed to obey the speed limit and 'no overtaking' signs, in fact some of my colleagues were nearly mown down by someone trying to drift his car round an intersection in Krakow.
On one journey, I remember overtaking a line of trucks (I was the passenger of a Pole) and dipping into the space between two of them for a second to allow someone to pass in the opposite direction, before continuing the overtaking manoeuvre.
Another example from Germany -- drivers license is hard to get here, full education may cost up to 2000 EUR (2500 USD). Practical includes driving on the highway as well as in 30 km/h zone.
Many young people therefore fly to the USA to get their license there -- cheaper and *much* easier. From what I've heard the questions are really moronic...
I apologize, I guess I didn't make my point clearly enough. It is well within the town governments right and responsibility to set speed laws and enforce them within their city limits. My problem is when they abuse those laws for the primary purpose of revenue generation.
If the goal was public safety the officer would have noticed that I was slowing down as he clocked me, and continued to slow down to obey the speed limit of the town, respecting the laws put in place by the town in which I was a guest. While I was technically going faster than the speed limit, there's a reason why the speed limits are imposed a little outside of town, to allow people to slow down in time, and fulfill the public safety goals of those laws. It's not as though I were blazing down Main street at 70mph.
Again, I'm sorry, I never meant to imply I have no respect for the laws of a small town.
Were I live the cops call the local tv and radio stations so the stations can ANNOUNCE where speed traps are. The cops don't do this everyday or every time, but mainly when they are doing a big driver safety campaign.
All traffic fines go into general revenue for the Province so there is no incentive for speed traps meant to just collect fines. Most speed traps go up where there are a lot of accidents, or the locals complain about too many cars speeding. Most rush hour radio traffic reports include any speed traps reported by drivers, and I've never heard of there being more than 2 or 3. This is in a city of about 1.5 million.
Anarchists never rule
Bingo! a real speed trap is where the cops have rigged the game to drum up revenue, and is usually associated with a small popcorn fart of a town nearby. A good example I have ran afoul of is heading from LR to Memphis on the old highway system. You'll run across a speed trap set up halfway through the trip in a little town called Wiener,which is a fitting name because the cops there are dicks. They have it drop from 55 to 25 in about a block, maybe a block and a half, and where the 25MPH sign is placed you won't see it unless you know it is there.
Of course you could fight it, but who is going to drive that distance to try to argue with a judge who gets his salary from that sign? But a national map with all those real speedtraps listed would be a great idea. Might help with asshatery like the town I listed above.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
On state non-restricted access highways there is no such requirement, and the speed limit can be determined by the local municipality. It's not uncommon at all to be driving along at 55mph and see a sign that says speed limit 25. And according to most state's laws, the speed limit is in effect not at the point in the road where the sign *is* but at the point where it is visible. Yes, many small towns (population a few hundred or less) in rural America use this as their sole source of municipal income.
Say bad words about my book, in cold oatmeal, or I shall sue!
Speech alerts are indeed distracting, especially when you're driving too fast. Do you want to end up like Mr Haider?