It’s these kinds of stories that bring a smile to your face. US based Android fanboy Sahas Katta was pulled over by a police officer for ‘speeding’ in a school zone. Little did the unsuspecting cop know, was that Katta was using Google’s nifty My Tracks Android app on his phone and it was already recording his GPS movements.
My Tracks records can record the precise GPS coordinates and speed of a moving car, with the added bonus of being able to visualise this data on a Google maps overlay. In other words, Katta had good evidence of his speed in the school zone.
Katta took the matter to court and fought the case successfully by showing the Judge the phone data, who later had the ticket dismissed. Strangely enough, even though the Judge decided not to take the data into account, it seemed to influence the judge’s ruling. Moral of the story: you never know when your some random smartphone app might come in handy.
You can read more about Katta’s adventures on Skattertech.
dudepants
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 12:02 PMI call marketing stunt, or complete fabrication. There are no boundaries when it comes to the “Clever” marketing folk with no ethics or morals.
Steve Tran
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 10:02 PMI take it you didn’t even read the article? Why is it so unfathomable to you? People have been let off parking tickets with less than this before if they decided to appeal it in court.
Common excuses include ‘obscured speed sign’ and if you’re able to prove the speed camera’s margin of error is greater than +/- 5%.
Ash
Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:30 AMPeople have done the same thing with their GPS units and used them as evidence in courts when they have been in the same situation and have been let off. Good on him.
edward co
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 6:26 PMwhat’s that, Skippy? It could be possible to fabricate this ‘evidence’. Hmm…
Johnd
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 12:14 AMThe moral of the story is “read the original”.
The ticket was dismissed because the officer involved could not produce the paperwork showing the calibration of the speed detection device, a record of his training, or even the serial number of the device used.
The use of GPS data had nothing to do with it as the providence of that data could not be proven.