GPS tracking technology has once again proven that catching speeders with radar guns is “old school.”
In Bristol, UK, a man successfully beat a speeding ticket when he showed in court that the old-fashioned radar gun used by a traffic cop was off by more than 10 miles per hour. Gareth Powell was traveling on a highway in his company vehicle in November, 2008 and a police officer stopped him. The policeman said the radar checking his speed registered 61 mph in a 50 mph zone.
Powell said he was certain he hadn’t broken the law. He remembered that his company had outfitted all its vehicles with GPS tracking systems for better fleet management. High-quality vehicle tracking systems are incredibly accurate, because their readings are based on signals from satellites in space. GPS tracking technology was originally developed for the U.S. military, for use in training and conflict.
What’s good enough for Uncle Sam was also good enough in local traffic court. A check of the GPS tracking history log for the Ford van showed it traveling at 48 mph at the same spot on the highway.
The difference was drastic enough to warrant a case dismissal.
Why GPS Tracking Data Works in Court
This is yet another case proving that old-fashioned radar technology is inferior to GPS tracking technology. Ordinary citizens everywhere are challenging speeding tickets with the argument that police are using dated methods of documentation. Radar guns have to be calibrated frequently to ensure their accuracy. Some police still use human calculation, using a stopwatch and lines painted on the road.
It seems the key to victory in court is first proving the accuracy of GPS tracking readings, and, second, proving the defendant’s GPS speed reading was at the same time and place where the police officer is alleged to have captured his radar reading.
The UK’s Powell succeeded on both points. He brought his GPS tracking company’s director to court to speak as an expert witness. That GPS tracking specialist testified that the reading was good within three meters, about 10 feet in U.S. distance.
There are 24 satellites at work in the U.S. Department of Defense GPS tracking system. When a GPS tracking receiver gets a lock on three or more satellites, the reading is considered accurate. Powell’s location, time and speed were based on signals from eight satellites.
Is it time for police to adopt 21st century technology to catch speeding scofflaws? GPS tracking is far superior to radar.
Some GPS tracking devices take a “snapshot” of speed and location every few seconds; some every few minutes. In cases of speeding, it might be difficult to prove the accuracy of a GPS tracking device that monitors a vehicle with widely-spaced readings.
Active or Passive GPS Tracking?
For the purpose of beating speeding tickets, either an active or a passive GPS tracking system would suffice, because they both record a vehicle’s travel history. GPS tracking systems have extensive memory and/or storage capacity on a server. Hundreds of hours of movement can be kept securely for later review.
Many cellular phones have a GPS tracking features, but they often are not as reliable as independent GPS tracking devices. This is in part because they depend on the location of cell towers for their operation, and they do not have comparable memory capacity to store travel history or track in great detail.
Court Fights Take Time
The courts are beginning to accept GPS tracking data as valid evidence. But vindication from a speeding violation still takes time, because the wheels of justice turn slowly. The UK speeding case took nearly a year to make it to the judge’s bench.
In Sonoma County, CA, teenager Shaun Malone’s fight over a speeding ticket has stretched two years, going to trial and then appeal, and it cost his family thousands of dollars. In his case, a policeman using a radar gun clocked him going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone. The vehicle tracking device Malone’s parents had installed in his car for teen tracking recorded him driving at 45 mph.
Source: RoadTransport.com
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