I had read with interest about a kid and his family fighting a speeding ticket by proving with a GPS they had mounted on his car that he was wrongly ticketed.
What started out as a simple disputed speeding ticket has blossomed into a full-scale trial in Sonoma County Superior Court, costing both sides thousands of dollars.
A year ago July 4, Windsor teenager Shaun Malone, now 18, received a ticket on Lakeville Highway after a Petaluma police officer using radar said he clocked the teen’s 2000 Toyota Celica GTS going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone.
But Malone’s family contends that a GPS system they installed in his car to monitor his driving habits proves he was driving 45 mph at virtually the same time and place the officer said he clocked him speeding.
Malone is appealing a ruling by another commissioner that he was guilty of speeding, a trial that was conducted all on paper.
The unprecedented GPS challenge to radar could change the way Sonoma County authorities enforce speed laws. The case also has attracted national attention for its potential to set a precedent for challenges relying on GPS, which is becoming common in vehicles as a mapping or tracking device.
This made me wonder what system they had used. I did find one that:
[...]GPS Tracking Key is a small, pocket sized device that receives signals from the twenty-four Department of Defense GPS satellites orbiting the earth. The internal computer accurately determines the GPS location of the device within 2.5 meters and records this data every second. The Data Can be downloaded and view in Google Earth simply by plugging the Tracking Key into the USB port of a computer. [...]
- Google Earth Compatibility (Gotta love how they repeat themselves)
- Ease of use
- Small and easily concealable (Not sure why this is such a selling point except anti-theft)
- Extremely Accurate
- Strong magnet can be placed under the car and water resistant
Data Logged Includes:
- Route Traveled
- Velocity
- Direction/Orientation
- Duration of device remains stationary
From what I can tell it looks like an oversized USB thumb drive, maybe like the motorola USB wifi card I have. And you just have to place it somewhere… I’d assume not directly in the middle of the car, so too much steel isn’t blocking it.
Well I’ve got to wonder how the CHP feels about ti now, and whetehr it will start a shake-up. I can believe that they are going to get “a few” more sales from this if the CHP does lose though.
Tags: automobiles, Electronics, GPS, Interesting, law, Legal, News, Technology
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