Transport for London is announcing a large-scale trial of the Intelligent Speed Adaption system, which uses preloaded road data and GPS to slow speeders. Basically, the future is everything you were afraid of.
I think that speed cameras are the devil’s technology that impugn our basic human rights, but Maryland high school students show how they can be used for fun and profit revenge.
While the city of Philadelphia is content with using 3D images to deter speeders, the authorities in ShanXi province, China are taking a far more drastic approach. They built a 100 foot (30 metres) long, 2 foot (60cm) high, winding speed block smack dab in the middle of the Jing Zhuang highway. Sure, it scratches up cars, looks hideous and causes massive traffic jams, but hey–by screwing everyone it manages to screw the speeders. Suck on that leadfoot!
The Laser Star is new to the States, but it’s already made a name for itself in Europe as a cheap, effective way to jam police speed trap lasers. These demonstrations from Laser Jammer Tests show why. No fewer than four police-issue laser detectors were foiled by the Laser Star without so much as a hiccup. Regardless of your views on this kind of tech, it’s still amazingly cool how the Audi S4 in the videos is effectively invisible to the laser detectors. And when you aren’t fighting the man, Laser Star’s sensors help park the car too. Personally, I can’t wait to get one and recreate my favourite Vin Diesel scenes from The Fast and the Furious.
We’ve been following the story of Shaun Malone, the California teen who was clocked by an officer doing 62MPH (100KPH) in a 45MPH (72KPH) zone, and was issued a ticket for US$190. He took the ticket to trial and lost, as the state brought in a GPS expert via affidavit who said that the units weren’t that accurate. The teen appealed, however, and the same expert revised his testimony on the stand, saying the device was accurate to within 1MPH (1.6KPH). The device in question had the capability of emailing the teen’s parents if he ever went above 70MPH (112KPH), and also logged all other speeds. These logs were used and the judge found enough reason to throw out the original conviction, and will rule in October on the matter that may have far-reaching effects. The real question now is why did the trooper’s radar gun think the speed was 33% faster than it actually was? [Ars]
I love driving fast, but when I have kids, I’m going to put them in the slowest, safest car imaginable, wrap pillows and old tires around the outside and install this Tiwi blackbox to let me know when they’re speeding. It has GPS and some cellular connectivity. When a driver goes too fast, it issues a verbal warning: “You’re exceeding the speed limit; please slow down.” Then it emails, text messages, or calls the proper authorities (mum or dad) if the speeding continues. Only US$549 and US$35 a month to totally mortify and alienate your kids for life. [Tiwi]
