GPS Tracking

Navigation Devices Report Speed Limits Inaccurately

Drivers End Up with Speeding Tickets

In a recent column, hint queen Heloise forwarded a suggestion from a drug-interdiction officer who told of many people who, when pulled over for speeding, objected loudly saying that their GPS Navigation systems told them the speed limit on the streets on which they were travelling.

Road Signs Trump Navigation Units

His point was that these devices are not accurate enough to be used as a notification of what a speed limit is in a given area.  They might be better thought of as approximations of the limits.

This officer brings up a legitimate point: no one should rely entirely upon a GPS Navigation device for critical information.  Even the more reliable GPS Tracking devices should be used with caution.  There are several reasons for this:

Accuracy is not their forte.  GPS Navigation devices are not meant to display super accurate information.  Even though GPS satellites provide accuracy to within a few feet of actual location, you have to take into consideration other factors, such as signal latency and even electronics of the device itself.  You can liken these devices to a guy standing on the side of the road motioning for you to go in ‘that’ direction (as he waves his hand to the right).  That’s about as good as it gets for now, until the newer satellites are placed into orbit which will provide much more accuracy. (more…)

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“Up to 10 over the limit and you’re good.”

Most people, when they were new teen drivers, remember hearing that sage advice from adults more experienced behind the wheel. The rationale was that a police officer wouldn’t bother to pull you over for speeding unless you were flagrantly breaking the law. That 10 mph bracket presented too many possibilities of legal challenge.

Well, apparently the sour economy is to blame for one more shift in American behavior: Cops have stopped giving wiggle room.

Drivers who tend to lean a little heavy on the accelerator should expect to find themselves in court more frequently, according to the National Motorists’ Association. The Waunakee, WI group was formed in 1982 to help everyday Joes find speed traps and fight speeding tickets.

“Police are definitely less tolerant of speeders today,” said James Baxter, president. “Our chances of getting away with a warning are very slim. Often motorists are being ticketed for violations of only a few miles an hour.” (more…)

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.

Everyone makes mistakes. But cops don’t like to be proven wrong in court.

So, as an Ohio man recently learned the hard way, if you’re going to challenge a speeding ticket with GPS tracking records, you better bring a GPS expert as a sidekick to help your defense.

Jason Barnes was pulled over last year on the interstate by a police officer and ticketed for speeding. He was accused of going 84 miles an hour in a 65 miles-per-hour zone, according to CBS News online . (more…)