Star Wars Speed Trap
GPS being used to catch speeders
By ERIC PETERS
High Tech Speed Trap

Like tearing off that sticker on mattresses that warns us not to "under penalty of law," most of us don't pay much attention to speed limits. Five to 10 over is the rule, not the exception -- as any survey of average traffic speeds will confirm. We vote with our right foot every time we get behind the wheel, countermanding the diktats of the local bureaucrats who erect limits that are frequently well below what large majorities (better than 85 percent, if you want an actual figure based on traffic surveys) consider reasonable rates of travel.

But what if driving faster than the posted limit became an impossibility?

For years, this has been “The Dream” of safety-badger types, who equate any deviance from often arbitrarily-set posted speed limits with mowing down small children in a gigantic SUV with really loud mufflers, one hand on the wheel, the other clutching a half-empty fifth of Jack Daniels. They pushed for mechanical governors (which never flew) and even managed, briefly, to get a law passed that required all new cars to be fitted with speedometers that read no faster than 85 mph.

Now, however, the technology exists for a great leap forward -- or backward, depending on your point of view.

The Canadians are testing out a system that combines onboard Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology with a digital speed limit map. It works very much like the in-car GPS navigation systems which have become so common on late model cars -- but with a twist. Instead of helping you find a destination, the system, prevents you from driving any faster than the posted speed limit of the road you happen to be on.

As in a conventional GPS-equipped car or truck, the system knows which road you're on, as well as the direction you're traveling. This information is continuously updating as you move. But in addition to this, the system also acquires information about the posted speed limit on each road, as you drive. Once your vehicle reaches that limit, the car's computer makes it increasingly difficult to go any faster.

Ten vehicles equipped with this technology are currently being tested in the Ottowa area; if the trail is "successful," a wider series of tests is planned. And it's a sure bet the entire thing will eventually be the object of a very strong-armed push aimed at making it mandatory equipment in every new car. "We are trying to assess the operational acceptance issues," says Peter Burns of Transport Canada's road safety directorate.

But is all of this really necessary -- or even a good idea?

For one thing, if current speed limits are so sensible, why do so many of us disobey them routinely? Are large majorities of us simply indifferent to our own safety and that of others -- even though we seem capable of behaving responsibly in other aspects of our lives?

Or are speed limits often set unrealistically low?

And if they are, wouldn't it make more sense to adjust them so that they reflect a more reasonable consensus -- based upon how we actually drive -- rather than constantly pushing for new ways to compel compliance with limits that most of us clearly think are too low?

Bear in mind that for 20-plus years, we were relentlessly nagged by the self-styled "safety lobby" (and its profiteers in the insurance industry) that to exceed the sainted 55 mph limit was "dangerous speeding" that put ourselves and others at risk. Yet when Congress finally repealed the 55 mph limit in '95 -- and most states raised their highway limits to 65, 70, even 75 mph in some cases -- highway fatality rates did not increase as predicted. In fact, just two years after the majority of states increased their maximum highway speed limits, the total national highway fatality rate reached an all-time record low of 1.64 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

This proved that driving 65 or 70-something mph on a highway was not "unsafe." The big difference post-'95 was that you no longer had to worry about getting a ticket for doing it.

The same issue exists on many secondary roads, where under-posted limits are routinely ignored by most drivers -- but vigorously enforced by radar traps. Like the tickets issued to people under the double nickel, the use of radar to nab motorists exceeding these under-posted limits is justified on the basis of "safety" -- even though most of us know that driving five or 10 mph faster doesn't in and of itself constitute unsafe driving any more than doing 65 or 70-something mph did under the old 55 mph NMSL.

And sometimes, it's necessary to accelerate rapidly in order to avoid an accident -- even if it means momentarily exceeding the posted limit.

But Canada's little experiment could bring a screeching halt to all that -- literally. Dumbed-down limits -- and dumbed-down driving -- would become much more than the law of the land.

They would become an inescapable way of life.

Some might welcome a world in which driving faster than whatever the speed limit happens to be is impossibility. But it might be more common-sensical to post realistic speed limits -- and deal with the handful of drivers who won't or can't drive reasonably -- than to treat every driver on the road like the irresponsible one.

 

Big Brother is watching!!!

on the Mass Pike you can get a speeding ticket if you use the electronic tolls. they have the ability to clock you between each toll you drive through.... bastards.

they cought me today on the Lidar (from what the cop said)... 85 in a 65... then he checked the "estimated" box on the citation. you bet your *** I'll be fighting that one.... first ticket in about 6 years.

 

the MAIN reason I wont buy an EZ pass

 

Alll of a sudden I'm reminded of the little machines in demolition man that spit out tickets for "violations of the verbal morality standards"

 

With a little flat black paint...C3's could become stealth

 

 

Gonna take more than a little flat black paint, but I think it is a great idea . It's time for stealth technology to flow down from the military to the civilian population.

I think a fiberglass car, some radar absorbing paint, some custom radar deflection panels to cover the metal areas, and we got it. Throw in some ECM for good measure.

One of the car magazines was doing a survey on radar detectors and jammers a few years ago. I tried to get them to test the radar cross section of Corvettes vs. other metal bodied cars. No interest.

 

here's something to think about when it comes to Radadr Cross Section. a standard cab long bed pickup has a cross section of about 18 square meters. a B-2 is roughly 1/1000000 of that...

 

Even if they introduce the GPS limiting BS someone will hack it and either enable you to set it to whatever you want or turn it off. You should be happy there are no speed cameras in the US like they have in England. You just get a ticket in the mail and points on your license. When you get enough points you loose your license for 18 months. I knew a guy who had problems with a thug that lived on his street so he rented the same make car as him and stole his license plates for the night then did 120 down a stretch of road with a bunch of cameras and put the plates back on his car. The thug lost his license and had a sh!tload of fines lol.

 

This will never happen if only due to political reasons. This would put traffic cops job security at risk. Also, it would reduce and eventually elimanate all the revenue cities and states get from speeders. No way, no how, too much $ envolved.

 

 

This isn't a problem:

1) Don't buy one of those GPS sensors and put it in your C3.
2) Don't buy a car with one in it...

Only girlie-men have cars with GPS in them...

 

Hone up on your bump drafting

 

Is this like saying "Real Men don't ask for directions"?

And honestly, you can get REALLY low tech to stop that GPS unit problem. Get some brass mesh and wrap it around the GPS sensor. Most of those sensors have to be mounted to the top of the car or are inside the car on the dash, and in the case of the Japanese cars that have it, they're built into the antennas.

I watched the Mythbusters try to trap errant radio signals, and they built a brass mesh cage to stop signal transmission; guess what? It worked on GPS signals! Hmm...Seems to me that if you REALLY wanted to speed with the dumbed down GPS, you could do it.

 

I lived on the Isle of Man for 5 yrs. When there is no posted speed limit, there is no speed limit! They have limits in towns or built-up areas, but not on the open roads. If you have an accident, however, there will be a ticket. If there are 2 cars involved, whoever is at fault will get a ticket. If there is only one car involved, that driver will get a ticket. It's called accountabillity. There is no tolerance for speeding where a limit is posted and 2 tickets in 2 yrs means you lose your license and have to retake the drivers' test (where the pass rate is 17%) after a period time. Their attitude is get tough with bad drivers, not the good ones!

 

That's right !
Putting a GPS in your corvette can be argued as "NOT STOCK".. hence we would not want a part in devaluing our matching numbers cars..

 

There's no way in hell the law enforcement community or lawmakers are interested in safety. It's all about money-making. They write us lots of tickets and they collect lots of fines. They'll risk their life and many others to catch you, almost always patrol the highway at 90+ mph. , and know damn well that they'll see you again soon.

If they were interested in safety, they would take you off the road for any type of reckless driving, be it speeding, improper lanes, running lights, whatever.

I'm glad that the situation is as is. I pay a high price to drive the way I see fit. I may have to get a GPS speedometer because Bubba left the drive gear out of my tranny tailpiece. So at least I'll be making good use of the GPS system. As far as controlling my car accelerator with it-- not in my lifetime. That's called a subway train.

If the national speed limit was 55 in, say, 1994, then why did they build cars that would achieve any higher speed?

 

Another reason to vote Libertarian!

 

Hey! Maybe the GPS control could display a message on the dash to tell all the f@#$%^g blue-heads that they are seriously BELOW the speed limit!

 

Yep, this would turn every highway into Talladega !