Private Mobile Cameras To Catch Speeding Drivers
from the vigilante-justice dept
Ever been happily driving along and seen some jerk cut you off or was driving ridiculously fast around you (assuming, of course, that you're not the jerk) and wondered where were the highway patrol was when they could actually do some good? Ever wished you could report the offender yourself? Well, over in Ireland, they're considering a policy that would give private companies mobile cameras to place in unmarked cars to record moving traffic violations and record the details so tickets can be sent and points and fines assessed. In other words, we're getting beyond the police and stationary traffic cameras - and putting traffic law enforcement into the hands of private individuals just driving around. Now, of course, take this the next logical step. If you're going to offer such things to private companies, why not private individuals directly? And, then, why bother equipping them with special cameras? Why not just build radar detectors into the next generation of camera phones, and deputize everyone as a traffic cop? Yes, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but is there a point where this goes too far? How do you protest being given a ticket when your accuser is an anonymous driver somewhere else on the road?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Why Use A Third Party?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Could overwhelm the courts
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Could overwhelm the courts
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What's next
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Terrible idea
"Yes sir, buy this here $280K Lamborghini, but we've put some safety features in place to slow down initial acceleration and limit your top speed to 80 mph while in the States. In fact, we replaced the engine with a the new Honda Prius. It's a joint venture sorta thing."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Terrible idea
So it will have enough power to go at 60 uphill.
Personally I'd be happy to have cars automatically restricted to the speed limit. It might have saved me from getting hit recently by a car which was most likely going about twice the speed limit. Furthermore, there are some streets where so many people drive way over the speed limit that driving at the posted limit is downright dangerous.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What's next
Oh, it is worse than that, I am afraid, Mike...
Considering the fact (though I question its validity) presented in quite a few of the drivers training movies I watched years ago, every driver on the road commits a rolling infraction an average of every 5 minutes. Most of them are simple infractions, which the driver, either consciously or subconsciously (through habit) makes a value judgement based on the available information and breaks the law in order to prevent an accident, shave time off of their travel, etc..
I would personally ask not to participate in this, as a defense lawyer would be able to easily find reason why their client should not be guilty of passing a car on the right since I illegally did the same thing thirty minutes before, though they were doing it to get in front of me while I was doing it to avoid an accident with another motorist who failed to signal a left hand turn and slammed on their breaks in the middle of the road.
There may be reasons for the infraction which are not captured by the camera, and in my humble experience, the ones most in favor of this are also the ones who lash out at other drivers on the road. I've been in cars with proponents of cameras, and they are usually the first to point out the failures of others and the last to admit their own failures.
I may drive defensively on the road, and I may get upset (though rarely) when others don't, that gives me no right to impose my will on another driver without due process, whether it be with a camera or a gun. To do otherwise, especially without the years of training police get (and even then, some of them don't learn,) is one step above road-rage.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What's next
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Terrible idea
The only problem is that regulators in cars cause more accidents than they prevent. Most drivers routinely exceed the speed limit for short periods of time while passing, in order to give room to other cars merging, and in many other common traffic situations. Take away this ability and you cause more accidents.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
An Alternative for the Sheeple
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Terrible idea
Has anyone thought about the fact that just because something is a law doesn't mean that you " might " need to break it ?
Have you ever been followed ?
I have and am personally glad I've had the ability to speed away.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Two ideas
2) Use the carrot instead of the stick. Insurance companies can offer their customers a discount if they obey the law as monitored by blackbox+GPS coded speed limits, stop signs, etc + beacons on the traffic lights. This would also have the effect of controlling the non-participating drivers through a gating effect eg the two or three drivers who would have followed you if you cut a red light close.
[ link to this | view in thread ]