SpeedSpike Scares UK Drivers
Source acquired via Sky News Online, April 22, 2010, United Kingdom – There’s a new satellite hovering in the sky above the United Kingdom, and this one aims to catch speeding motorists using GPS technology. While tracking a motorist’s speed is nothing new, tracking a motorist for miles is a notion that has England up in arms.
The new device called SpeedSpike has the ability to track motorists on major highways for miles on end. In theory, the device could track a motorist for an entire day. SpeedSpike combines license plate recognition technology with GPS technology in order to track motorists traveling on busy roads.
If a motorist is found violating any kind of traffic law at any point, traffic tickets will be sent to motorists through regular mail. The system is currently being tested throughout Britain – much to the dismay of British residents. Residents argue that traffic violations cannot be clearly seen from space, and attempting to do so is ludicrous. Further, many residents are protesting this new form of GPS tracking by stating that speeding drivers aren’t always repeat traffic offenders.
There are no plans to allow SpeedSpike to replace street patrolling police officers quite yet, but it looks as though this could be the future of traffic control. Allowing a GPS tracker and satellite system to take the place of police officers may give police more time to concentrate on crime. Tracking a motorist for miles is something that no police officer would commit to.
One resident (Dylan Sharpe, Campaign Director of Big Brother Watch) told press that the new SpeedSpike system “will only be used to heap more misery on British drivers, and put more money in the council coffers.” Shape claims that “Britain is already the most watched country in the world,” and he believes that the new SpeedSpike system will only make matters worse.
Presently, billions of photographs of British vehicles are being snapped by the SpeedSpike system. At the time that this article was written, the British government refused to comment on the SpeedSpike system. A spokesperson for the Home Office stated that the government does not “…comment on speed camera trials until the devices are approved.”
While the SpeedSpike system has not been approved quite yet, there is a good possibility that this system may become commonplace throughout Britain. Whether or not this type of GPS tracking technology is over-the-top is debatable, though many British residents are beginning to become a bit nervous about continuous government monitoring from space.
Tags: GPS Technology, GPS Tracker, Motorist, Speeding, SpeedSpike, Tracking, United Kingdom
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