GPS Tracking: Drivers' New Best Friend?
from the the-honorable-judge-garmin-presiding dept
For most teenagers, getting their driver's license is a rite of passage that marks a newfound freedom. The idea of having their driving monitored using GPS tracking devices would seemingly make a teenager more surly than a NYC Taxi Driver. At least one teen might feel differently if he is successfully able to challenge a speeding ticket using data from the GPS tracking system installed in his car that ostensibly shows the car moving at the speed limit within 100 feet of where he was clocked speeding. Drivers have long been at the mercy of the court when pleading their innocence to charges of a traffic violation. As the article notes, the courts have been for the most part merciless, with the he-said of the ticketing cop and his radar gun being upheld in most cases over the she-said of the driver. Technology used by the police to nab traffic offenders is usually taken at face value, despte cases where it is obviously flawed.GPS tracking systems in personal vehicles could restore some balance towards drivers falsely accused of speeding, but first the courts will have to both understand how the technology works (nontrivial, perhaps) and also satisfy themselves that the data is true and accurate. The courts will no doubt want a say in how GPS tracking services record, secure, and authenticate their data before weighing them heavily as evidence. Existing service providers may step up to this challenge and offer "traffic court certified" service at a premium. Perhaps those drivers whose GPS tracking systems have earned them a discount on their car insurance will wind up reinvesting a few of those dollars into service that might some day get them off the hook in court.
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Filed Under: gps, speeding tickets
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-k thnx
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Or even automatically issue tickets if you do go over the speed limit.
I'm sure the courts won't stand for a loss of revenue for long at all...
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Re: Self-Incrimination
> you give them permission as it would be self incrimination
That's a ridiculous statement. Use of your car's GPS data (upon subpoena supported by probable cause) would no more be a violation of the 5th Amendment's protection against self-incrimination than use of your phone records or internet search history or bank account records, all of which can be easily subpoenaed by the state in a criminal case to prove a violation of law.
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Reality
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Re: Reality
ahhh, now while this is all good and true, in my neck of the woods, if you contest the speeding ticket, the judge may offer you a deal where you pay more money, but change the charges to a non moving violation so it doesn't go on your insurance record. So you pay a little higher fine, but save in the long run by not having you insurance rates increased.
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Re: Re: Reality
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What they need...
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Oh Jeez
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Time better spent
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Re: Time better spent
No true. While it is true that the cop will be looking for everything he can possibly find to increase his "score" on the stop (hoping for a "big score"), he won't likely let you go without a ticket because he didn't find what he was "looking for". He'll just be ticked off that you weren't doing anything else wrong.
All it takes in most courts is the officer's opinion. That's not "very hard".
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LEAVE ME ALONE - ENOUGH WITH THIS KIND OF BIG BROTHER BS!!
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A competent DA could get GPS data thrown out
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Re: A competent DA could get GPS data thrown out
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Re: A competent DA could get GPS data thrown out
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Re: A competent DA could get GPS data thrown out
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Great Device
I think every new car should have a GPS device as standard equipment. It would "rat" on the kids (This would be worth the cost alone), provide accurate accident information(the black box for cars), locate a loved one that is not where they should be (cut down on cheating spouses), locate stolen cars (bye bye lojack) and yes, confirm your speed when ticketed.
Speeding tickets will still be around because people do speed without realizing it, until the red lights appear. I never fight it, just go the traffic school to make sure it does not affect my insurance.
If you are that worried about getting tickets and complain about the fines that are assessed to you, maybe you have never learned how to drive correctly and deserve to pay up.
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Certainly a new Use for GPS Tracking
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I've got news for you...
This is also in use for parents to track their teens. I don't remember the name of the company, but you can install a GPS that emails the parents when their child drives somewhere that's off limits, and when their child speeds. I don't think it's a huge jump to use it for legal purposes, either for or against traffic violations.
p.s. There are 3 cops in my family... and they give tickets to prevent accidents... not to earn money. The officers get nothing from issuing tickets, and usually position their cars in such a way that you can see them on the side of the road before you get there... discouraging speeding in a high-incidence zone.
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Re: I've got news for you...
Except a promotion and increase in pay to go with it. I've know several cops and in every case part of their evaluation as a traffic cop was based on the number of tickets they wrote. If they weren't writing enough tickets they were considered lazy and not worthy of promotion. Name me a large department that doesn't keep track of how many tickets each traffic cop writes. While they aren't paid cash directly for each ticket, I wouldn't call a favorable review "nothing".
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1 - someone steals your data.
2 - the rogue driver cuts off the antenna wire.
knowing the government, GPS will become another one of those privacy nightmares for us, the people!
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Technology Advancements Always Bring Up Privacy Co
By the way, I was being sarcastic about ratting on the kids. If you bring up kids like you should, you won't have to worry about them doing stupid things like drag racing on the streets.
We all know how the truckers feel about their "rat devices" that transmit everything back to the company. But the companies are just protecting themselves from idiot truck drivers. If you don't like it as a truck driver, go somewhere else to work.
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Re: Max Powers
As to the kid thing, well, I missed the sarcasm there. It happens. Still, even with parents trying to bring thier children up right, without checks and balances on the child's behavior, they will fail. The government has removed all but the least effective of those checks and balances and now wonders why nobody minds breaking any law that prevents them from getting what they want. Even the most law abiding person breaks at least one law a week. And when the vast majority of a population are law breakers, then there is something wrong with the laws, not the people. Go to a law library, marvel at the massive amount of books needed to contain our laws. Start reading, and by the end of the day I garauntee two things. One, you will discover you have broken at least one law you didn't know existed. And two, you will discover that it will take most of a season to simply read and comprehend (as opposed to memorizing and learning) our laws.
Finally, the "protecting itself from idiot truckdrivers" arguement is pretty thin. Yes, there are some drivers who shouldn't have been issued a license...but that is true in any profession. No, those devices are Cover Your A$$ mentality at it's best. A company should back it's employess rather than set them up as the scapegoat. Couch it in whatever terms you like, but the proof is in how they use the device.
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Old news...
Was sold on basis your boss could check the fuel consumption v fuel purchase, check location (did you go where your said you did) and fleet management (closest cars to client, repairs ect).
Now I use GPS (and other things..) to track some of the worlds longest and heaviest trains (in an effort to make them remote controlled).
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this won't help me...
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if you speed, drive erratically (easy to do in town without speeding) your rates go up whether the cops catch you or not since you will not be able to hide from big brother. as one who drives responsibily (only to increase mileage on my
EV or Prius) i say BRING IT ON!!
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Re: ff
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RM Tracking GPS Device May Provide Evidence Contra
The device was used to track the teenager’s speed, and will be used to fight a ticket that cited the teen traveling at almost 20 mph over the speed limit.
Fort Collin, CO October 31, 2007—17 year old Shaun Malone was recently given a speeding ticket by a police officer whose radar gun determined his speed to be 62 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. Usually, tickets like these are simply paid by the motorist, but this case (Citation and Court case # PET416346; Superior Court of California County of Sonoma Traffic Division) is different: the teenager had an RMT Rover tracking device from Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. installed in his car by his step-father and retired sheriff’s lieutenant, Roger Rude. The data gathered by the global positioning device shows that the vehicle was traveling at a drastically different speed than that reported by the police officer. Rude contends that Shaun was driving at the posted speed limit of 45 MPH as recorded by the GPS and some sort of error occurred with the radar enforcement process. The police officer may have pulled his step-son over in lieu of another nearby vehicle that was traveling at the clocked speed of 62 miles per hour. Rude believes that whatever went wrong with the radar process is not as important as the fact revealed by the GPS RMT Rover tracking device that Shaun was traveling at 45 MPH, not the 62 MPH the police officer noted on the citation. This should be sufficient evidence to establish “reasonable doubt” in this case.
The tracking device includes software that determines both the location and the speed of the vehicle, and in this particular case shows that the teen was traveling at the speed limit within 100 feet from the location where he was cited for speeding. The GPS tracking device installed by Rude was intended to monitor the speed of the teenager and decrease his risk of being in an accident caused by unsafe driving habits; however, neither Rude nor his step-son ever expected that it could provide pivotal evidence in his favor, proving that he was, in fact, driving at a safe speed.
Rude and his step-son plan to use the software’s speed log to argue that the police officer’s radar gun inaccurately read the speed of Shaun’s car, or more likely that the officer had tracked the speed of a different vehicle. Their case will hinge on the fact that the GPS data has no room for human error, whereas radar guns operated by police officers do. The fact is that even police officers with the best intentions can sometimes rely upon inaccurate data when writing tickets. Thanks to RM Tracking, motorists can now have the hard, statistical evidence they need to ensure that the outcome of the case is determined by indisputable facts rather than becoming a case of their word versus the radar gun’s reading. The judge will make a ruling in this case sometime in November.
About RM Tracking’s teen tracking device:
The teen tracking device is a GPS device that tracks the location and speed of the vehicle it is placed on, promoting safer, more responsible driving habits. Teenagers particularly have a high incidence of traffic accidents. By ensuring that teenagers are obeying driving laws and using their vehicles responsibly, the GPS device decreases the risk of having an accident. For more information or to purchase a tracking device, visit www.RMTracking.com.
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Think FISA People...
Big Brother is real man.
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GPS
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