Posted on 07/16/2009 5:04:30 AM PDT by KRyanJames
Area drivers looking to outwit police speed traps and traffic cameras are using an iPhone application and other global positioning system devices that pinpoint the location of the cameras.
That has irked D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier, who promised her officers would pick up their game to counteract the devices, which can also help drivers dodge sobriety checkpoints.
"I think that's the whole point of this program," she told The Examiner. "It's designed to circumvent law enforcement -- law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives."
The new technology streams to iPhones and global positioning system devices, sounding off an alarm as drivers approach speed or red-light cameras.
Lanier said the technology is a "cowardly tactic" and "people who overly rely on those and break the law anyway are going to get caught" in one way or another.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Wow!!! That took some serious balls, man! Great story.
If I understand it right, as to how law enforcement will position these red light cameras, it will be done in the areas where they have the most violations.
Therefore, if they put those cameras there because there are a lot of violations (and usually a lot of accidents in the same places), then it seems to me — that *anything* you do to get people to abide by the laws regarding these traffic signals (i.e., not running the yellow/red sequence...) would be *beneficial* to traffic safety.
In other words, this iPhone program should be given a *commendation* for making it *safer* in these red light camera areas.... :-)
GPS phones aren't necessary because the cell phone tower positions are known. Your cell phone periodically checks in with nearby cell phone repeaters to say: "Hi, here I am if I get a call", and the repeaters can measure the signal strengths to triangulate. All that's needed is to subtract the time between two repeater check-ins to determine an approximate travel speed and direction. GPS phones though would add the capability of tracking side-street traffic flow.
AT&T could offer this service just with a software change on their central servers. The capital investment would be low and the benefits immense, at least to AT&T subscribers. If everyone had good real-time traffic data though, all travel route options would become about equal.
You said — Everyone should time the yellow lights in their city/town.Lately,I’ve seen some reduced to 2 seconds which is illegal.3 seconds is legal.
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Good idea.., people should definitely do that. Make them change it to what is safe to drive through. A short yellow light, if people know it’s short, will cause an accident as someone knows they can’t make it through and they have to screech to a stop with the driver behind crashing into them...
The 2G iPhones (the first model) already use that technique for a quasi-GPS location... but the accuracy is far less than what would be needed to determine travel speed and direction. In many areas, it is capable of locating you with in a one mile radius... in others, it's capable of getting it down to about 500 feet.
You said — There are very bad accidents at lights. They are the dreaded T-bones which are usually caused by distracted or impaired drivers blowing through red lights they did not see, not someone sneaking through a stale amber light or someone lawfully completing a left turn when traffic clears after the light has changed. I don’t see how the red light cameras can fix stupid.
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It’s so easy to be distracted while driving. I know that’s true as I’ve been distracted. I don’t even like the radio on, I don’t talk on the phone while driving; I’ll pull over. I cut short any conversations with people in the car and try to ignore someone trying to talk to me. I do want to keep good concentration on the road and traffic, as I know how easy it is to become distracted for a few seconds and those few seconds is enough to get you in a wreck.
However, I hate to say it, but even without any external distractions, one’s own mind can wander and/or be occupied with some thing that you’re thinking about and you can blow right through a red light. I’ve done it before, just on the basis of some thoughts in my head. And that’s scary. So, I try to keep up my thoughts to the road only, when I’m driving.
It’s not just stupid people, but simply being distracted for a variety of reasons for just a couple of seconds that can do it.
And you’re right about how easy it is for people to get nailed at red/green lights and someone running the red. I usually make it a practice to not go through the intersection when it turns green, until I look both ways, and if it is already green, I’m looking both ways, too, as far ahead as I can see each way. I know that people can come running through and I’ve avoided being smacked on several occasions by simply waiting when I saw someone coming and they ran a red light by over two seconds or more after turning red.
So, if the iPhone warns people about an intersection that is dangerous, I think that’s a good safety measure...
It was in a fit of anger that I did it. I’m sure if I had my “right mind” about me, I would have reconsidered... LOL...
I am just waiting for the day you can have a lojack max of the exact location of every police car and officer.
DWI/DUI checkpoint HAVE to be announced in advance. (per USSC) The police publish or announce in the weakest way possible so they don’t have mass public knowledge.
EVEN IF SOBER, it is good to avoid such checkpoints for the sheer nusance avoidance. YOU HAVE to avoid far enough in advance to not be subject to the chase cars police have for the purpose of chasing down u-turners (see “ya all have something to hide?”)
(s)you are a “genderist” for assuming she is not a graduate of Wealsly College. (/s)
Swordmaker, you said — In many areas, it is capable of locating you with in a one mile radius... in others, it’s capable of getting it down to about 500 feet.
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Yeah, I’m not sure how good this would be, considering the accuracy that would be needed. In Texas and Oklahoma there are a lot of frontage roads on each side of the highways/freeways. And I’m not sure that they can distinguish between the frontage roads and the highways.
Heck, sometimes with some jam-ups on the freeway, I’ll make better time on the frontage road, driving at 50 MPH, while the freeway is stalled at around 10-15 MPH... LOL...
Cell phone repeaters are ideally suited to become ground-based super GPS satellites. By measuring the phases of several inbound radio frequencies from several repeaters a cell phone could calculate its position to within a millimeter, something that can’t be done with regular GPS satellites. There’s a lot of new applications that could come out of that, such as auto-steering cars and landing airplanes.
I'm not against iPhones but the red light cameras and the Revenue Enhancement Technicians who think that they are a good idea.
It does occur to me that iPhones could themselves be a distraction, but I would be more inclined to blame the cameras than anyone who used them to avoid paying excess taxes for the accidents they might cause.
1. What police force was he a member of? I'm impressed he had the good grace to be embarrassed rather angry at you for flagging his hypocrisy.
2. What did your vehicle and appearance say about you? Were you in a suit driving a late model high end car or in jeans driving a truck or clunker?
3. Does it get tiring carrying that much brass around with you all the time?
You said — I have a few questions regarding that post:
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I would be glad to oblige... :-)
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You asked — 1. What police force was he a member of? I’m impressed he had the good grace to be embarrassed rather angry at you for flagging his hypocrisy.
Washington Country Sheriff
http://www.co.washington.or.us/cgi/sheriff/lec.pl
Keep in mind, that at the time that this happened, it was “news” and many people were angry about the ridiculous nature of these double-nickel laws. And in addition, if I remember correctly about the time, and in that area, there were letters to the editors and news articles about police also abiding by these laws (when driving normally). There is always “context” for these kinds of things... :-)
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And then you asked — 2. What did your vehicle and appearance say about you? Were you in a suit driving a late model high end car or in jeans driving a truck or clunker?
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I was driving a relatively new car, but a sports car for the time, and it was “fire engine red” too... LOL...
It was what I called a “screamer” (while still in the range of my pocketbook), a 1972 Mercury Capri V-6 block (could really get up and haul...). I was in ordinary clothes, perhaps slacks, but can’t remember, and clean-cut (haircut-wise and clothes) and neat (as I usually was), and in my mid-20s.
I wouldn’t call it a high-end car, but it certainly wasn’t a clunker either and was used for racing in Europe, being the V-6 engine was a screamer back then.
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And lastly you said — 3. Does it get tiring carrying that much brass around with you all the time?
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As I said earlier, if I had actually “thought” about it, instead of just reacting as I did, I probably wouldn’t have done it. LOL...
Well..., I just had to add something about my Mercury Capri V-6 screamer... :-)
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The European Ford Capri was developed as a “baby Mustang” for that market, a 2-door car with a short trunklid (later hatchback) and a long hood. North American-spec Capris were built in Cologne, Germany, and were sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers in North America. The European Capri was first sold in the US in April 1970. It carried no marque identification, and was named simply the Capri, but it was often (and inaccurately) called the Mercury Capri, as Ford already had a Mustang (and its twin, the Mercury Cougar) for the same buyer market. The only type initially available used the British 1600 cc Kent crossflow, with a price starting at less than US$2300. The 2.0 L OHC I4 was introduced for the 1971 model year. 1971 2.0 liter Capris are particularly desirable, since they have a 9.0:1 compression ratio. (it was reduced to 8.2:1 in 1972) The 2.6 L “Cologne” V6 was introduced late in the 1972 model year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Capri
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I got that at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer in Portland and loved that fire engine red color on it, even though I had been told that it was a police-attention-getter... When I read about it in the auto magazines (and I had been shopping around for a new car), I figured that this was the one that I really wanted...
If you can even imagine it, getting a new car for about $3,200 sounds downright cheap now... LOL...
I have a state-0f-the-art radar detector, which in addition to picking up the usual various police radar signals, also is GPS-enabled, and has a database of fixed speed cameras for the entire US.
I get weekly online updates that I download to the unit with a USB cable. And I can manually enter speedtraps as well. The unit is very very accurate in knowing where the cameras are.
You have to fight technology with technology.
Dear Penthouse, I never thought I would be writing to you, but...
Well..., I haven’t done that one... :-)
You said — I have a state-0f-the-art radar detector, which in addition to picking up the usual various police radar signals, also is GPS-enabled, and has a database of fixed speed cameras for the entire US.
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Ummmm..., care to give the name and model? :-)
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