Autoblog

Njection is a website for guys like us. In addition to their forums and picture resources, they have compiled a database of more than 50,000 speed traps worldwide -- areas with high radar use and speed cameras -- that works with Microsoft Live Maps. Njection is now offering owners of Garmin GPS units the ability to download speed trap and red light camera information to their portable navigation units.

A SpeedTrap-enhanced Garmin portable GPS unit will be a great companion on a road trip, long commute, or while traveling in unfamilar areas. However, as sophisticated as the technology is getting, GPS still won't find your lost keys.

[Source: PRNewswire via Winding Road]

The feeling one gets when they receive in the mail a hefty ticket for speeding is extremely bad, but the cop-dodging experts at Cobra have come up with a terrific tool. Cobra's XRS R9G is the first US laser and radar detector that utilizes GPS Navigation to warn drivers of known speed trap cameras. Cobra is keeping track of traps all over the US, and anyone that purchases the $449 device can also load updates from the Cobra website. Cobra is also working towards using GPS to alert drivers of upcoming school or construction zones, as well as giving owners notice when they're about to enter a high risk accident zone.

The XRS R9G also signals the driver of any laser or radar guns, finally giving drivers the trifecta of protection against the unwanted ticket. Like it or not, speed cameras are on the rise, and with smaller cameras being produced all the time, they're getting harder to detect. Cobra's XRS R9G is the first product to market to come up with a solution that gives drivers a fighting chance... to speed and get away with it.

Hit the jump to view the press release

Few moments in life are less welcomed than when a sprightly sprint in your automobile is cut short by flashing red lights in your rearview mirror. In that moment, you know that you're out well over $100, you'll have to take time off work for court, and your insurance is likely to go up by 10 percent or more.

The Speed Trap Exchange was created to alert drivers of speed traps, and to tip off locations where traffic patrols are heaviest. The folks over at Speed Trap compiled a list of the 10 worst places in the US in which not to speed based on the input of over 10,000 site users. Lucky for me, my hometown is in the Detroit suburbs, which took the No. 1 spot. Hit the jump to view all top 10 sites, and let us know if you know of an area where speed traps run ramped.

[Source: Forbes]

Let's set the scene here. You're a homeowner on a street with a chronic speeding problem. Short of "accidentally" dropping a box of roofing nails in the street, there's not much recourse. You could pester the local constabulary to park one of their radar trailers in your neighborhood to remind folks they're speeding; or better yet, station one of their servants there on a regular basis to write tickets. That won't be much help if one of the egregious speeders is part of the thin blue line that separates order from chaos.

A Georgia couple trying to keep speeds down for the safety of their son opted to set up their own speeding sting. Lee and Teresa Sipple mounted a radar unit and three video cameras outside their home in hopes of reminding neighbors to drive carefully. They managed to nab local officer Richard Perrone doing nearly 20 MPH over the limit. Possibly suffering from injured pride, a guilty conscience or a sense of self-righteous indignation, Perrone went whining to the local authorities when he was one-upped at his own game. The Sipples, in turn, received a visit from the police alerting them that Perrone intended to press charges for stalking and had filed a warrant application for their arrest. Whiner.

This is like a home invader suing you for shooting his larcenous ass. Where's the sense of accountability? Perrone got what he deserved for flouting the very statutes he's entrusted with enforcing. Before we get too indignant, Perrone has had a change of heart and withdrawn his complaint. We wonder if he's had a change of heart, or if more subtle harrassment tactics than arrest warrants will be more satisfying?

[Source: Daily Tribune News via Digg]

A blind man was recently caught by a speed camera doing 98 mph on public roads in Spain. The man had lost his sight in a car accident in 1996, and, as he explained to the court, wanted to drive just one more time. So, just like the last time we heard about a sightless driver, the man had his wife sit shotgun and dole out verbal directions on which way to turn the wheel.

In this case, however, the courts tried to strip the man of his disability benefits, citing the fact that he successfully drove the car as proof his accident didn't leave him blind. In the end, however, a Barcelona court believed the man truly had an earnest desire to hop behind the wheel one more time and threw out the case.

Frankly, we're surprised at how many times people who have lost their sight felt it's a good idea to get behind the wheel. We can understand wanting nothing more than to feel the power and control that driving offers, especially when a disability does so much to remove those feelings from your daily routine. Nevertheless, there are other innocent people on the road, and sight is one of those gotta have senses when it comes to driving. Smell and taste on the other hand...

[Source: Piston Heads]

Though the isle of Britain isn't that large in terms of square miles, it still contains 24,000 potential speed traps (about the same number in Ohio, we think). The Rossini Navigator and Camera Spotter is a satellite navigation unit that has each one of those traps plotted on its digital topography and will audibly warn a driver if one is fast approaching. The unit also does the whole door-to-door, turn-by-turn navigation thing, but the addition of such comprehensive camera spotting technology moves it to the head of the class. The distributer of the Rossini Navigator, Car Parts Direct, has also decided to guarantee the device will keep you ticket free in the UK by offering £60 cashback if the device offers no warning of a speed trap and a ticket is issued. Those purchasing the Rossini Nav system will also get free camera updates emailed to them through January of 2009, since most people don't bother to go get updates on thier own when they're made available. The unit costs £399 and is ready to use right out of the box.

[Source: Car Parts Direct]

New Scientist magazine reports that researchers at the University of Tennessee and Batelle Institute have applied for patents on a system that detects the speed of a passing vehicle based on its exhaust note.

The system uses microphones to capture the sound of a passing car, and then filters out all but the sound made by the engine. By measuring the doppler shift of the engine sound as it moves past the speed trap, the system can calculate the vehicle's speed.

While the sound detector is unobtrusive and completely passive (therefore undetectable by a conventional radar/laser detector), identifying speeders will require something a little less stealthy, like a traffic camera. Of course, other early detection systems are possible, like the subtle warning in the accompanying picture.

Hmmm. Sounds like better muffler technology is in order.

[Source: New Scientist]