Published by peter September 30th, 2008
"Les Go Fast" was what the French police called a group of drug couriers who used high-end German cars to transport coke and weed throughout Europe. Carrying up to 1400 lbs of contraband, "Les Go Fast" were famous for using an SUV as a "rabbit" to spot police and run over any that tried to block the road. They didn’t go the stealth route, they simply drove so fast it would have been too dangerous to try to stop them.
Now there’s a movie coming out about them on October 10th. Unfortunately…for many…it’ll only be released in France. (Thanks to Chris M. for the tip…)
Continue reading ‘“Les Go Fast” - Unstoppable(?) Drug Runners Inspire Movie?’
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Bravery, Countermeasures, Crash Testing, Crimes, Drivers Ed and News.
Published by peter September 17th, 2008
And you thought the nationwide surveillance story was bad news? The National Motorists Assoc. just posted this story about tests being carried out in the UK involving satellites being used as a speed-limiting device. Currently, three types of systems are being evaluated: an advisory mode that informs or reminds the motorist of the speed limit, another version that would apply the brakes or limit fuel, but that can be overidden and, lastly, a system that would take over complete control and not allow for driver over-ride. Thankfully, it would be a voluntary system, but, according the Telegraph UK, 54% of those asked said they’d opt for some type of system.
Photos: space.gc.ca/peterwu-teampolizei
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Bad News, Countermeasures, Law Enforcement, News, Safety, Speed Limits and Technology.
Published by peter September 16th, 2008
The Newspaper.com reported that nation’s two largest red light camera vendors both have plans to turn their photo-ticketing cameras into a nationwide surveillance system. "We are moving into areas such as homeland security on a national level and on a local level," Redflex regional director Cherif Elsadek said. And in a proposal to the Arizona state police, ATS, the second-largest vendor, told the agency that their cameras could be integrated into a national vehicle tracking database. This is similar to the plan in the UK that will utilize their average speed cameras to help police "keep tabs on criminals and political opponents."
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Bad News, Crimes, Law Enforcement, News, Speed Limits, Technology and Tragedy.
Published by peter September 16th, 2008
Kinda hard to know who to believe on this one. The Sun, hardly the model of objectivity, said the group of middle-aged motorists were on a sedate European tour. The organizers, Circuit Days, out of the UK, issued a press release to say they believed the polizei acted improperly and that their Euro Enduro event is not an illegal race, it’s just a social driving event. Circuit Days also points out that the polizei have "no evidence of any speeding, careless, inconsiderate or dangerous driving by the participants." However, if you look at their website, they call themselves the organizers of the Euro Enduro "road rally events." The polizei, according to The Sun, said, "It was an illegal race."
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Countermeasures, Crimes, Disinformation, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Races and Rallies.
Published by peter September 9th, 2008
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"Quit building cars that can exceed the speed limit" is Op-Ed contributor, Kent Sepkowitz’s solution for decreasing fatalities. He doesn’t mention anything about improving driver skill or making the tests to get a license any more difficult. Isn’t a bad driver in a car going below the speed limit more dangerous than a good driver exceeding the limit? Speed kills when the driver is in over his head, when he doesn’t know his limits or the car’s limits. Those two skills can be taught.
Published in the following categories: Accidents, Anti-Speeding, Countermeasures, Drivers Ed, Law Enforcement, News, Safety and Speed Limits.
Published by peter August 18th, 2008
The Newspaper reports that, at least according to Arizona’s Department of Public Safety, Redflex’s radar units have been certified for use in the U.S. and are now back on the road after being removed a few days ago. The company’s executive director, Karen Finley, said in a letter to Arizona’s DPS, that the company is willing to "vacate" any citations generated through the use of the previously unapproved radar and refund the fines. No word yet on whether the DPS wants to give any of that revenue back.
Image: Redflex
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Countermeasures, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Safety and Speed Limits.
"We’re very well aware of it and we’ll be monitoring what’s going on."
That’s what one California Highway Patrol spokesperson told the LA Times…and yet Day 1 of the 2008 Gumball 3000 - which ran from San Francisco to Buttonwillow Raceway Park to Hollywood, CA - ended last night with what appears to be one of the slowest, lowest-ticketed grids in Gumball 3000 (if not modern "rally") history…at least according to our friends and allies actually on it.
Track the 2008 Gumball 3000 via our Google Map.
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Bad News, Google GEO, Gumball 2008, Gumball 3000, Justice, Law Enforcement, Media - Print/Online, News, Rallies, Speed Limits, Technology and Wikipedia.
Published by peter August 1st, 2008
And the hits just keep coming! On his way to a private airfield, Schumacher was attempting a pass another car and hit Martin Kingham while the man was closing a security gate that extended onto the street. After the impact catapulted him face-down onto the hood of a nearby van, Kingham said Schumacher was furious with him, yelling, "What the f*****g hell were you doing in the road?"
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo
Published in the following categories: Accidents, Anti-Speeding, Crash Testing, Idiots, Justice, News and Safety.
Published by peter July 22nd, 2008
Eighteen year-old Shaun Malone got pinched for 62 mph in a 45 mph zone last summer but decided to fight the case because data from the GPS tracking device his parents installed in his car showed that he was actually going 45 mph at the time. He lost the case, a trial-by-affidavit, when a GPS expert claimed the data could not have been accurate. His parents then decided to appeal. During the appeal, the GPS expert was called to testify and essentially backtracked on his earlier testimony by saying the Malone’s GPS data was in fact accurate to within a couple of meters and 1 mph.
The final ruling is expected in October and if Malone wins it could set a precedent for GPS as reliable evidence in speeding cases.
Source: arstechnica
Photo: RMTracking
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Justice, Law Enforcement, News and Technology.
Published by peter July 17th, 2008
Some of the details are a little murky but this much is true: German police seized a 430 Scuderia, a GT3 RS, a Cayenne, a Continental GT and an R8. One report, according to GT-Spirit, says the cars were stopped for reckless driving. Another article also adds that two of the cars were believed to have been involved in accidents, as one of the cars had dents in it. The owners of the cars (from Britain and Spain) were believed to have been entrants in a" Club GT Events" run/rally/race (semantics) from Cologne to Croatia. Not surprisingly, Club GT Events’ website isn’t functioning at the moment. The car-less drivers then had their licenses confiscated when they tried to rent high-end cars to continue onto Croatia.
Is this the begining of the end of rallies? At least in Germany and Switzerland it is.
Sources: GT Spirit, DPA via earthtimes.org
Photo: sueddeutsche.de
Published in the following categories: Anti-Speeding, Countermeasures, Law Enforcement, Races and Rallies.
