I think that about sums me up with what i said!

 

Once again, another thing that shouldn't bother you if you're not doing anything wrong.

Here's a perfect example of why I don't mind having more information shared about vehicles and what was happening at the time of the accident.

This past Halloween I was driving home from work at around 2 in the afternoon. While traveling southbound on the 241 tollroad I noticed a jacked up honda sitting in the median.



My old roomate, a local police officer was about 2 minutes ahead of me with his wife and 2 children. About 5 minutes in front of me was another really good friend was on his way home from the hospital with his girlfriend who was released that day.

The cause of this accident was an 18 year old girl who got drunk, stole her dad's brand new porsche and hammered down the 241 at about 150. She was driving Northbound on the 241 and lost control about 1/4 mile before the alton exit in foothill ranch. She slammed into the honda and continued across the median and across southbound traffic lanes. It it suspected the car hit the upper portion of an in ground utility box which caused it to flip. She landed upside down into the south bound toll entrance.



(I have a lot more crime scene pics of this accident that are way too graphic to show)

Needless to say the girl driving was D.O.A.

So let's say my cop friend was hit and his family killed by this chick, or my other buddy who was minutes away from this, or even myself. Do you really think I wouldn't use every shred of evidence to convict those who are guilty?

The more these EGR's and satellite tracking items start to develop into more reliable electronics, you better believe they're going to start using this evidence for liability onto drivers.

If you don't do anyting wrong then items like this should not worry you.

 

But there is the question of the veracity of the recorded data...is it really accurate? The box showed he was supposedly going 110+ MPH at the time of the accident. If he was going that fast, hit a car, I don't think he would live through that or not be seriously injured...no less in a Pontiac. He recalls 50mph, police reconstruction puts him at about 60-70mph...that's a 40-50mph difference the box is reporting. In the appropriate cases, that could affect an outcome of a trial.

Yes, he should be held responsible for his actions but credible evidence should be used. But I don't think they should point to the box as the end all and be all evidence to convict him. Police reconstruction is pretty accurate these days with the aid of computers, they put him at 60-70mph, which is obviously double the limit, which is evident enough.

There have been other cases where the EDR was used against the driver even though the facts don't add up and they were convicted of something they might not have done.

 

Why not get stripped searched before entering and leaving all public places? Why shouldn't everyone have to take a breathalyzer before starting your car? Why not make it mandatory for all employers to drug test? Why not limit the speeds cars will drive...I am sure that they could make a device that could control the speeds of our cars so in a 55 you could only drive 55... and so on.

It is Those of us that do obey the law are always sacrificing our rights and freedoms for people who do not and will not obey the law...regardless of who is watching! Or better yet we are having to prove that we are not doing anything wrong!!!

Why couldn't insurance companies get this info...they would love to get their hands on it so they can charge you more money if you speed...run a stop sign...etc... Auto makers...to deny warranties...Tire companies to void warranties...this could go on forever. And don't say that they could never get the info...it will be just a matter of time and then you are going to see "well if they can use this information in court...we should be able to use it too" Who is going to end up paying for this..."the consumer"

Who would have thought 15 - 20 years ago that cameras could give you a ticket?

There could be some good to come out of the EDR but I do not like it...


I do not want someone watching every move I make...why not just plant micro chips in us that records everything we do in life ???

 

Why not? Assuming, of course, that the recorded data is accurate. I have absolutely no problem in a system whereby the people who break laws pay for it with accurate data. The concern comes into the falibility of the system. However, often people who make mistakes tend to blame the system for their actions.

An example. Those cameras that everyone hates? When I have seen them operate they trigger (at night with flash; makes it obvious) ONLY after the light is a solid red (I mention that this is personal observation, thus is not open to debate about the one camera in New Hampshire that doesn't work this way). Now some people will argue that "it was yellow when I passed." The system really isn't very fallible when we're dealing with two simple things: the speed of light (i.e. - when the light turns red, you can observe it almost exactly as the camera control unit does), and the fact that yellow lights mean SLOW DOWN, not SPEED UP. If you passed it a red light, even, as I did, mistakenly (there's a pair of lights by my work that have room for only two cars to stop at the second light, and I passed the first red light because the second light was green, thus I got confused), that STILL does not relieve you of the responsibilty that you may have injured someone, thus need to be more careful, thus need to be cited.

I don't think you should be strip searched when entering public places, as it is very unlikely (though still possible, mind) that you may be carrying a weapon and could be a danger to others. However, I have no problem with a breathalizer in my car. You shouldn't be driving when impaired. Period. You are a danger to yourself and others in the road. There is no if-and-or-but here. And the speed limit governer depending on the road you're on? Why not? I thought the speed limit was there to, you know, keep people safe, not taunt drivers into going faster . And, yes, there are emergency situations. But untrained (and stressed) drivers trying to make it to the hospitol faster will probably cause an accident simply because the other drivers on the road aren't aware of the emergency, unlike with ambulances, fire trucks, and police vehicles.

 

Kind of looking at it the other way, in some instances, to avoid an accident, you may have to go through it just as it hits red. In Boston, there are lots of drivers who follow so close that if you try and stop for a yellow about to turn red, they will rear end you. They follow so close that they are hoping it'll force you to beat the light. I myself have tried to stop for the impending red but the driver behind me is so close that I had no choice but to continue as the light turns red to avoid being rear ended into the middle of the intersection. I wonder what kind of system they have in place so that innocent drivers don't get wrongfully ticketed. Granted, there are no red light cameras in Boston but curious. But the above situation works in any city that are equipped with such cameras.

 

Being on the board of a computer hardware company I've come to learn a lot about the "current" big brother situation. There is a lot of information that can be currently accessed by various government agencies at any given time. Most of which is set to keep us (U.S. specifically) secure. The US government has implemented regulations like HIPPA. (HIPPA protects you a lot more than just Health and Insurance) The items of the future will be viewed much scarier than red light cameras and EDR's. The footprint of processors and various other technology items are rapidly decreasing in size. With that decrease in size you'll find there will literally be thousands of ways of watching you. The fact is nobody wants someone looking over their shoulder but if I could catch the pantless ****box living in his mom's basement that's trying lure my kids into his van just by sorting through your cache....I'll do it. Ever had a computer virus? Wouldn't you love to know the guy who made it so you couldn't read the mbworld forums for 3 days got a 16" barbed batton shoved up his bum and then he was made into a lovely bride for his fellow inmates? Or how about having your bank account drained because you didn't want to allow the government to watch you? Big brother isn't as scary as having a car bomb parked right outside your local starbucks.

 

IN toronto we have the same problem, solution:
Put up two to three cameras that flash at once! It shows a "paneramic view" of your car, behind and behind the car behinnd or in front of you+accompanied with a speed a camera

 

LOL

 

There are some freedoms I would allow to be bent to save lives, HOWEVER, if I took my car up to 100MPH and killed someone, that is when I should get punished, not when I went 100MPH and harmed only my tires. People have to recognize that the government's role is not to watch and wait for you to mess up, but to punish you if they can prove you messed up. Any instrument with such a wide margin of error is in no way shape or form conclusive of anything, if radar guns had such a wide margin of error would speeding tickets stick? Why should that be treated differently? Either way if there is such a device the memory should be severely limited, and the use for emergencies only. I dont care how many lives these stupid restrictions save or from who whether it is drivers or terrorists. My brothers and sisters in arms do not sacrafice so the citizens can say nevermind we dont want those rights anyways.

 

I would not be as worried about the government as I would someone else who will be able to hack in and get the info. First of all...the person that is going to drain your bank account...or bomb us very well could use the same systems that are designed to protect us...against us. Technology is great...but it can also be scary too! How are people draining the bank accounts...

I don't think that all of the cameras, EDRs, or anything else will make a big difference...IMHO the problem is not convicting people of crimes it is the way we punish criminals in this country. I would agree with you about putting child molesters behind bars...rapist...drunk drivers...sure great now we catch more of them and what happens. The courts do not make these people serve hard time...slap on the wrist...for the 3rd time. Make the punishment harsh and severe and you will not have to worry about a camera or a EDR.

By the way HIPPA is a joke...I deal with it everyday...ask a few Dr's or nurses what they think.