Company claims its system hunts down phoning drivers

Every once in a while, a device comes along whose stupidity is exceeded only by the individuals advocating its use; a device so confusing and controversial, it creates twice as many problems as it solves. Enter Highway Safety & Technology's "Cellular Detection System" (or as we like to call it, the "Automatic Civil Unrest Creation System"). The idea is this: through some magical, thoroughly unexplained array of "electronic sensing equipment," the system can somehow detect drivers talking on their phones and set the subsequent legal process in motion without any law enforcement involvement whatsoever. Never mind that other people in the car might be using their phones and the fact that headsets are almost always legal when handsets are not, we guess. The product is actually so ridiculous that we're leaning toward it being an elaborate hoax -- or we're hoping as much, anyway -- otherwise it'll allegedly be available to overzealous municipalities this fall.

[Via Techdirt]

[Adoniteking @ Jun 20th 2007 8:22AM]

They forgot "the red light thingy" in the middle of robocop's visor. Stupid action figure maker...(talk about staying true to original content..^_^)

[John @ Jun 20th 2007 8:37AM]

Robocop was a Cylon?

wrong sci-fi chief

[CowboyGA @ Jun 20th 2007 8:27AM]

I say, just let the cops do PIT maneuvers without warning to anyone caught driving while chatting on a cell phone. The cops should get a small monetary bonus if it's an 18 year old girl in a giant SUV flying through crosswalks.

[John @ Jun 20th 2007 8:31AM]

The cellular equivalent of:

"You are fined one credit for a violation of the Verbal Morality Statute."

[Adoniteking @ Jun 20th 2007 8:46AM]

"Robocop, in the original cartoon had some red light in the middle of his visor which occasionally panned the whole visor. This was inspired by "2001 A Space Odyssey"s HAL computer, that had a little red light for its eye. Many anime/cartoons today borrowed this element in their robot designs. They brought this red-light idea over to Alpha Commando, obviously they were too lazy to animate it so they just coloured Robo's visor red. Note that his robo-cruiser and bike also had the red eyes..."

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:kcG44aQ-qYEJ:www.robocoparchive.com/cartoons/marvel3.htm+robocop+red+middle&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=uk&client=firefox-a


I suggest you do your homework first...john

[strider_mt2k @ Jun 20th 2007 8:49AM]

O snap.

[JC @ Jun 20th 2007 10:59AM]

Wow, nerd smackdown. Awesome.

[josh @ Jun 20th 2007 1:50PM]

Nice find. However, the "original cartoon" was the first of two cartoon series that both were inspired by the live action film Robocop... in which he did not have a red light on his visor.

"RoboCop is a 1987 cyberpunk, action movie and satire of business-driven capitalism, directed by Paul Verhoeven... It spawned two sequels, several comic books, multiple video games, two animated series, dozens of action figures and two television series, all featuring a cyborg police officer."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocop

[CowboyGA @ Jun 20th 2007 9:00AM]

Adoniteking gets one point for being correct, but loses two points for being a raging robo-fan.

[Raging @ Jun 20th 2007 11:59AM]

I believe you mean robosexual ;-)

[Marcus J. Wilson Sr. @ Jun 20th 2007 9:20AM]

So maybe the French are onto something with the banning of the Blackberry phone.

[IronChefMoto @ Jun 20th 2007 9:34AM]

I'm fine with this. In fact, as I trudge through 25 miles of commuting hell each morning, I yearn for it. A way to single out and target people yammering on cell phones while driving.

Using this device, I can either get close to said drivers or get the hell away from them. If I come up on them and it's a handsfree set, AWESOME! If they're not using handsfree set and are (ALWAYS) causing traffic slowdowns or weaving or some combination of the two (and sometimes even weirder behavior), then I want a chance to get their license plate number and call the cops to report a dangerous driver.

I want police officers to have this technology so that, when laws requiring handsfree cell phones in cars FINALLY become standard fair in municipalities, they can single out bad drivers and fine/imprison them.

Screw the studies that say handsfree setups are just as distracting as holding the phone in your hand. I call BS, 'cause I've seen the difference between the two types of users in 2-3 years of commuting in some of the US' WORST traffic. Handsfree users generally have BOTH hands on the wheel and are trucking along and staying in their lane. The same CANNOT be said about morons who are switching their hands around to hold the phone, leaning on an elbow and holding the phone, etc.

This technology is necessary and useful, I think, particularly for law enforcement agencies tasked with keeping the roads safe. And, hell -- if Joe Blow consumer can get one, figure out how to single out a signal, and build a device to break into the offending caller's conversation and yell, "Get off the phone and drive, asshat!" -- that's fine too. ;)

IronChefMorimoto

[Linda B @ Jun 20th 2007 10:26AM]

Can anyone spell Totalitarian? Did anyone notice when we went from democracy to dystopia? If you think that you are safe behind your firewalls and loaded for bare with you anti-virus, anti-spyware utilities, think again. Don’t look too close at your driver’s license, your passport, your cell phone, your car, your credit cards and God only knows what other items they have managed to embed with RFID chips. They are even trying to get you to “volunteer” to allow them to put the little beasties in you. I can’t think about it too long or I will get so paranoid that I will never get another injection of any kind and definitely I will avoid any vaccines; will just have to take by chances with God and nature.

[Rand @ Jun 20th 2007 10:30AM]

Its a pretty lame solution. Their patent application is on their website. The summary of it is the device detects signal strength of a cell phone in a passing car. If it deems that the strength is strong enough to potentially be a phone in use it triggers a camera which snaps a picture of the driver. That picture then needs to be looked at by Robocop to verify that the driver is the offending party.

[Grey Acumen @ Jun 20th 2007 10:55AM]

The only problem I see is the "without law enforcement"

That is an instant "Nono"

However, provided it was only as a tool for police to use, I wouldn't mind. Hell, I'd advocate it myself.

If a police officer turns it on, they can check out where people are yammering on their cellphones where they shouldn't be, pull them over, check and see whether they have a headset or speakerphone system in their car. If they don't, they can get whatever the fine is, if they do have it, they get let go and that's all there is.

But heck, I don't even have a cellphone, but if the cops are busy pouncing on the people on their cells, less likely they'll feel the need to grab me for merely going 10 miles over the speed limit.

[Brandon @ Jun 20th 2007 11:14AM]

I agree that talking on your cell phone is distracting, but how far do we take it? Will there will be cameras that take your picture and if you hands are not at 10 and 2, you get a ticket (you are obviously a dangerous driver)? If you are going to ban cell phone use, ban cigarette smoking, or radios for that matter. Cell phones is only an additional distraction, not the only one so why would they be singled out. I try to stay off the phone while driving but I dont like anyone tapping into my daily life creating ad hoc laws for arbitrary reasons.

And BTW IronChef, why dont you spend more time paying attention to the road instead of constantly looking at what other drivers are doing. You have to be looking pretty hard to notice an earpiece. Focusing on the road is your whole point, right?

[B @ Jun 20th 2007 12:48PM]

I don't think this device would ever work. As they mentioned, how can the sensor determine if it's a passenger on the phone. Either way, police can pull you over for doing anything while your driving(talking on the cell phone, putting on makeup, reading a book...). You're impairing your ability to drive your vehicle safely.

As far as using a camera to capture the driver on the cell phone, I think this is as bad as cameras catching drivers who run red lights. If a cop isn't around(never are when you need one) to catch you doing it, you shouldn't get a ticket in the mail a couple weeks later for something you probably don't even remember doing.

[dosguy @ Jun 20th 2007 12:57PM]

If this device nails just ONE mindless nincompoop jabbering on a phone while driving, then it will have been MORE than worth the effort and expense of bringing it to market.

[Domenick @ Jun 22nd 2007 9:19AM]

If it takes pictures of cops on their cell phones, what then?