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.
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."
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."
From storm chasers, to "shambulances" and contaminated NASA engineers, the list of ploys to escape conviction never ceases to amaze, not just for their comedic benefits but also for their ability to work. Read about US Express winner David Morse’s tactics in the comments section beneath the story.
"This is designed to be the best software to defeat that 32:07 record that now stands." Isn’t the record 31:04? In this video Mark Nicholson of EyePatch Films, introduces a software package that integrates essentially all the systems that were used in 144A, with some new additions, in an attempt to break the Roy/Maher NY-LA record by using a ‘07 BMW Z4 M Coupe. We’re not sure it’s particularly wise to announce that you’re going to break the record lest you want to invite surveillance by numerous law enforcement agencies. We’re waiting for the record-breaking announcement and the data and the toll receipts and the witnesses, etc.. BTW, Alex doesn’t believe any of this is real.
"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.
Even though photo ticketing is illegal in Florida, Sarasota County’s board of commissioners unanimously voted in favor of an ordinance that would allow the county to seize the home of anyone who has failed to pay a red-light camera ticket, and this is before any red-light cameras have been installed. The lien would be placed on the vehicle’s registered owner, regardless if the owner was driving the during the accussed infraction. And if they don’t own a home, then other personal property would be seized. Not draconian at all.
I’ve left New York. What started as a ten-day trip to hammer out some business with Alex turned into five weeks of sleeping on his blue velour sectional, plenty of brainstorming, a ton of new friends and adventures the wooly world of startups that I couldn’t conceive of when I boarded that eastbound redeye in Sacramento over 4th of July weekend. But come to an end it has. We’re off to Monterey in 144B. We’ve enlisted the talents of Autoblog’s resident Northern California boy, Damon Lavrinc, to handle additional driving duties. We’re also attempting to warp the poor man’s brain. We’ve never attempted a driveplan that involved meeting an airline flight before, but that’s exactly what we’ll be attempting this time when we pick up Liz Moses.
She claims that she’ll bring some much-needed sense to the proceedings, but we’re a bit curious as to how much sense anyone who hitches a ride in a fake German police car crewed by a bald man, a bearded man and a blogging man could possibly have. Nevertheless, we intend to make our trek a memorable one. We’ll be broadcasting live video from Seero, as well as putting together one of our signature maps. We’ll be ruminating on the nature of driving in today’s America, passing through hamlets large and small as we travel the entire length of Interstate 80 — from the George Washington Bridge in New York to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, then tooling down 101 through Silicon Valley and south to Steinbeck Country — where we’ll take in the goings on during what’s internationally recognized as the most fantastic collection of automotive events in one weekend. If you call yourself a car guy and haven’t made it to Monterey, mark your calendars. And once you experience it, you’ll want to come back every year.
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