Is there nothing it can’t do?
I refer, of course, to the humble iPhone, which has picked up some new applications of interest:
NMobile and Trapster are two mobile applications that provide up-to-date, detailed maps of speed-enforcement zones with live police traps, speed cameras or red-light cameras. After launching, each application pulls up a map pinpointing the locations of speed traps within driving distance. An audio alert will sound as vehicles approach an area tagged as harboring a speed trap.
You may well ask, “How does this gizmo determine if you’re in a speed-enforcement zone?” And the answer is decidedly low-tech:
Both applications rely on the wisdom of the crowds for their data. Users can report camera-rigged stop lights and areas heavily populated with radar-toting police officers through the application or on each company’s Web site. Eagle-eyed motorists using either application can also contribute information on the location of newly spotted speed traps from the road with a couple of taps on the iPhone. Then, using the iPhone’s GPS location detection, the applications warn drivers when they are approaching known or reported traps.
(Via Megan McArdle, who asks: “What’s the over/under on the first government attempt to shut this down?”)
Dan B »
26 November 2008 · 3:48 pm
If the true intent of traffic laws is to safeguard the public, NO government should want to shut this down, because these Apps and their ilk would cause otherwise risky drivers to drive safely in those areas.
Since we all know that the primary intent of traffic laws is actually revenue generation and to hell with public safety, I suspect Edmond or Norman will be among the first to try to shut this down.