

iPhone app monitors speed traps - viggity
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Devices-that-warn-drivers-of-speed_-red-light-cameras-draw-police-ire-7930619-50074717.html

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dfranke
ISTR that there was a supreme court case long ago, pertaining to CB radio,
establishing that prohibiting these warnings is unconstitutional. My Google-fu
is failing me, though. Anyone know the name of the case?

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viggity
If it gets people to slow down, it improves safety. They should be praising
this application if safety is what they're actually after. But they aren't,
they're denouncing it because it is denying revenue.

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ubernostrum
Well.

Speed _in itself_ does not often pose a safety problem, although there are
stretches of road where driving above a particular limit endangers you (e.g.,
you take a curve too fast and don't make it) or others (pedestrians crossing a
street).

More commonly, _speed differential_ is the problem, and rough uniformity of
speed is the solution. This is because significant differences between the
speeds of different vehicles leads to decreased time to react, and increases
the chances that someone won't be able to react quickly enough.

And that's a problem which cuts both ways: it can be brought on by vehicles
travelling significantly faster than most other traffic, but it can just as
equally be caused by vehicles travelling significantly _slower_. This is why
many freeways have two "speed limits", with one being a maximum and the other
a minimum. So long as traffic is moving at a roughly uniform speed, drivers
will have enough time to react to events around them.

And, really, ticketing significant variations from the normal flowing speed of
traffic is the best way to enforce speeding as a safety measure.

(and don't get me started on red-light cameras, which have been shown to
_increase_ the rate of accidents at intersections)

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huhtenberg
Actually it's neither the speed nor the speed differential.

It's the _reaction time of the driver_ vs. the _timing of the events_ that
require that reaction. 30 kmh in a school zone is reasonable because kids can
be awfully quick; while 50 kmh on 4 lane street with huge empty lawns on
either side is not. For the same reason, a half-blind partly senile
grandmother doing 50 kmh is not the same as 30 year old going with the same
speed.

Ideally the speed limits should be set on per-driver basis, and perhaps
considering the technical characteristics of the car. This is, of course,
absolutely impractical and so they set it to the lowest value that is safe for
everyone. Including the older people, and these are exactly whom the 50 kmh
limit is set for.

PS. 50 kmh is 30 mph

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scapegraced
I think that he should be more worried about people using their phones while
they're driving, not the application itself.

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amr
In her jurisdiction, it is illegal to use the phone while driving without a
hands free device.

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vaksel
since this is user generated, how long before the cops start putting up a
whole bunch of fake reports.

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mike463
I don't see a phantomalert iphone app in the app store.

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anamax
Do his police use radios?

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dannyr
My opinion is that radar detectors and these apps encourage driver to break
the law if there's no law enforcement around.

Speed limit should be respected no matter what.

Yes it improves safety of areas with speed traps but it makes it more
dangerous for other areas since drivers think they can speed up without
getting caught.

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weavejester
According to the a 2005 report[1] from the UK department of transport, only 3%
of road accidents in the UK were attributed to drivers exceeding the speed
limit. If road safety is your concern, perhaps we should address more common
causes of accidents, instead of focusing entirely on vehicle speed.

[1]
[http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/221549/227755/c...](http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/221549/227755/contributoryfactorstoroadacc1802)

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anigbrowl
you might want to read it again; either you made a typo or you aren't linking
to what you think you are.

According to the linked source, exceeding the speed limit (as distinct from
driving too fast for weather conditions or other 'injudicious actions')
accounted for 12% of fatal accidents, 7% of serious accidents,and 4% of minor
accidents, or 5% overall. Going too fast for [road] conditions accounted for
approximately half as much again.

Pardon my pedantry, but I was a bit irritated to find you assertions flatly
contradicted by your source.

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weavejester
My apologies, the figure I was looking at was for cars only. "Exceeding speed
limit was attributed to 3 per cent of cars involved in accidents."

I didn't include going too fast for road conditions, because speed traps don't
typically test for that.

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anigbrowl
Fair enough. I do like the NL idea of removing all the road furniture except
direction signs.

