Apr 22, 2008

Speed Trap Alert System Launched

Wouldn’t it be nice to know where speed enforcement was taking place so you could be certain to obey the letter of the law when it means the most? Now a company called Trapster has launched what it calls the world’s first speed trap sharing social network for mobile phones. The new information-sharing community allows individual drivers to work together to be more aware of local speed limits and avoid hefty fines and penalties. Users alert other members to police speed traps in real time, using a simple button push on their mobile phone. The community includes a sophisticated ratings system to measure the reliability of members’ input, thereby increasing confidence in the alert data.

Every year law enforcement deploys more advanced techniques to apprehend and penalize drivers for exceeding posted speed limits. The impact for drivers has been large fines and increased insurance premiums that can outweigh the magnitude of the simple infraction. Now advances in cell phone technology enable drivers to respond by preventing themselves from getting into these situations in the first place. With Trapster, drivers electronically mark the location of observed speed traps or traffic light cameras. Aided by user-contributed data, the Trapster system tracks your driving location and alerts you when approaching a marked speed trap or camera. Users rate each other’s information, and over time, the system establishes a confidence level of its own.

The new Trapster service uses a combination of location technologies on mobile phones such as GPS and Wi-Fi positioning from Skyhook Wireless to build the foundation for this new community. Trapster’s automatic update software runs on Windows Mobile, Blackberry, J2ME and Nokia Symbian phones or any phone that supports WHERE.com and Yahoo! Go 3.0. Users with other devices can utilize Trapster’s voice transcription service and SMS alerts. Next Driving Today News>>