Filed under: Gadgets, Tech, First Drive
Trapster exposes speed traps on your mobile device
"Your mobile phone alerts you as you approach speed traps." That's the idea behind Trapster, an innovative service that uses technology, not the age-old flashing headlamps approach, to notify other drivers of a police speed trap. Motorists who come across an enforced speed zone are encouraged to report the location via an application running on their cell phone, PDA, and other types of devices. The notification is then broadcast to other Trapster members who receive audio or text message warnings as they approach the area.
There are four default alerts: police, speed camera, red light camera, and usual hiding place. Each is displayed in a color that alters from green to yellow to red, based on the "confidence" of the trap (more reports on a single trap increase the confidence). In a helpful move, known traps can be viewed on a Google-powered map on the Trapster web site before you leave the house or office and jump behind the wheel.
According to the inventors, Trapster works with any kind of phone. However, it is optimized with devices that support GPS or WiFi. While you'd think law enforcement would oppose the exposure of their speed traps, it hasn't been met with much resistance, as it actually encourages motorists to slow down. Unfortunately, as others point out, it also requires drivers to take their eyes off the road as they fumble to send alerts with their electronic devices.
[Source: AOL Autos]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JunkStory 11:51AM (5/24/2008)
Great idea, bad implementation.
Pretty dangerous for motorists to text message while driving. And what would be the incentive for doing so?
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Mehul 11:55AM (5/24/2008)
Agree... It should instead be in some portable GPS
Richard 4:49PM (5/24/2008)
What text?
You're at a location where there is a speed trap. You press the appropriate button, the software asks if you want to report a speed trap. You press yes. No text message involved. 2 button presses.
Safer than i-Drive!
Cary 1:26AM (5/25/2008)
Richard--FTW
tankd0g 12:26PM (5/24/2008)
Plenty of time to text the info while you're pulled over waiting for the cop to write you the ticket.
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7of7 12:27PM (5/24/2008)
Great idea, except I'm going to go on there and submit a metric assload of false positives. Try not speeding, idiots.
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PapaWhiskey 1:24PM (5/24/2008)
I agree 100%. The point of speed traps is to keep people from speeding which keeps us all safer. Morons who put together programs like this to circumvent laws that keep all of us safer should be... well I can't say, but it isn't very nice.
I think I'll do the same and post a false positives. Besides, what's to stop police from submitting false positives?
LeRobert 2:25PM (5/24/2008)
Apparently you've never read any one of the plethora of studies which indicate that speed doesn't kill. Poor driving does. Speed traps are meant more to fill the coffers of the underfunded police department than to keep road-users safe.
Joce03 6:05PM (5/24/2008)
I agree: don't speed and you won't need to buy a distracting gadget for your car.
And, to LeRobert, speed does kill. If a car is moving at 160 km/h in a 100 zone (sorry, I'm Canadian), drivers around him (or her) get a false sense the time they have, say, if they want to change lanes. And the faster your vehicle is going, the greater the force of the impact. So, the faster your going when you get into an accident, the better your odds of killing yourself and the other people that may be involved in the accident. Not to mention the increase in braking distance, the reduction in the time you have to react to an obstacle.... I'm not an expert, but logic tells me that speed does kill.
nydave 9:11PM (5/24/2008)
7 why don't you just might your business you zero. worry about yourself sweetie.
Vik 9:17PM (5/24/2008)
7of7 and other- too bad the program developers have an algorithm smart enough to IGNORE what it determines to be a lot of false inputs from the same user. ;) Have fun driving while distracted, though.
Rocketboy 2:24PM (5/26/2008)
Speed by itself does not kill. That's why on roads that they RAISE the speed limit to 65 from 55, accidents go down. What's more likely to cause accidents are people driving below the speed limit. And raising the speed limit had the side effect of keeping the 'timid' people off the major roadways. Look it up as opposed to using your 'common' sense. Sometimes the things that 'everyone knows' are wrong.
Corey W. 11:44AM (5/27/2008)
In a 55 how does someone doing 65 whether they're passing or speeding endanger your life or cause more accidents?!? Speeding and reckless driving are two separate things, also two separate charges. Maybe if people took driving more seriously, and paid attention to what they're doing, there would be a lot less accidents. Don't blame someone doing no more than, on average, 10 miles over the speed limit for the majority of accidents.
Idiots are those "civilian" traffic cops that feel they have an obligation to "control" the flow of traffic through their driving habits. Cutting people off, purposely blocking the passing lane, excessive short breaking....etc. Now that dangerous!!
Dad 12:47PM (5/24/2008)
"Unfortunately, as others point out, it also requires drivers to take their eyes off the road as they fumble to send alerts with their electronic devices"
They already are fumbling with their phones now, so big deal.
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Eric 3:43PM (5/24/2008)
Wish this was a free service implemented by google instead. Also, maybe have it more based on GPS systems then cell phones. I like the idea of checking out potential speed traps on my home computer before my trip, not so much while driving unless it was integrated into a gps map or something.
Papi L-Gee 7:09PM (5/24/2008)
What made you pick Baltimore as the graphic? The abundance of red light cameras?
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l3it3r 10:16PM (5/24/2008)
I signed up, downloaded, installed and tested it. It works really well and isn't distracting at all. I have a dashboard mount for my cell phone since I use it for GPS and as my media player and this is just natural progression. The alerts are a bit annoying, but they work. it's very simple to create an alert though. just a push of a button. I'm all about ease of use, I even have a piece of software that reads me my text messages.
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Maria Gath 2:05PM (5/27/2008)
Long before Trapster released its database of red-light camera locations PhantomAlert,
Inc. the leading provider of passive, anti-radar and red-light camera products,
offered its free distribution of a breakthrough GPS-based database that locates
and warns drivers about stationary red-light and speed cameras as well as traditional speed trap locations. http://www.phantomalert.com/gpsapp/phantomplate/download.php
The company’s new PhantomAlert red light, speed camera detector works by using GPS to map out the locations of all known traffic enforcement locations. The location database is then loaded on a GPS product similar to a radar detector. PhantomAlert can store 150,000 positions in its database. All cameras and speed traps in North America are covered. The proprietary database was developed with input from motorist themselves. It is a dynamic source of up-to-date information that is verified by thousand of drivers who have intimate knowledge of the enforcement locations.
http://www.phantomalert.com/gpsapp/phantomplate/browse.php
Speed camera locations are divided into different data sets, to distinguish between fixed
speed cameras, mobile camera positions, red light cameras, schools, and high collision
areas. The PhantomAlert GPS speed camera detector can also sub-divide some of these
groups by speed limit, and allocate a voice alert. The tiny PhantomAlert unit has an LED display. When a warning is triggered, a chime is heard followed by an announcement. The speed limit at the camera site will flash before going back to displaying the vehicle’s speed. This will typically happen at 500 meters from the camera position. A second chime is heard at 200 yards from the camera site, and if the vehicle is still over the speed limit, a continuous warning is heard until the vehicle speed drops to the speed limit, or the camera site is passed at which time an “all clear” chime is heard.
Features
PhantomAlert detects Gatso, Truvelo, SPECS, Speedmaster, DS2, traffic light cameras,
high traffic collision areas and all other permanent safety cameras. The detector will give an over-speed warning in close proximity to the camera if exceeding the speed limit, but will automatically mute when within the speed limit. The driver is advised of only cameras on their immediate route, thereby negating false alerts. The driver is advised as they approach high collision areas. The PhantomAlert announces close proximity to schools Monday - Friday 08:00 - 5:00, school zones can be switched off). The unit displays the current location as Latitude and Longitude, which can be relayed to emergency services or breakdown authorities.
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Phone cards 10:39PM (8/04/2008)
http://www.phonecardsco.com
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Fresh 6:51AM (9/13/2008)
http://newscinemafresh.blogspot.com/
cinema cinema welcome!
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