BEFORE LONG, BIG BRO WILL BE E-MAILING YOU A TRAFFIC CITATION BEFORE YOU EVEN GET HOME.

I LOVE THAT the cloud can store my music for enjoyment on multiple devices, and that Dropbox or iCIoud can keep my docs safe from terrestrial catastrophes (and one hopes from hackers). But I’m not wild about a cloud development that was widely reported last Halloween. Ontario-based Peak Gain Systems, bless their hearts, came to the conclusion that the companies currently selling sneaky, underhanded, robo-ticketing devices on this continent were underperforming those developed by their more Big Brotherly counterparts in Russia. Hence, it has partnered with St. Petersburg-based CUMMKOH (Simicon) to bring its new Cordon product to our shores at about the time you read this.

As the name sort of hints, this photoradar unit casts a cordon of enforcement across a four-lane highway, recording the speed, position, time of day, and license number of every car that passes, providing they’re not so close together as to obscure the plates. The compact box can be mounted anywhere, from 16 to 26 feet high above the roadside. Infrared spotlights allow it to work at night, and while it saves data to an SD card, it also syncs this encrypted info to cloud or terrestrial databases via WiFi, 3G, or WiMAX. Now, I’d be all for leveraging cloud-tech to find plates associated with stolen cars or criminals, or to cite drivers dangerously exceeding the posted speed limit and the average flow of traffic by 10 or more mph. But local budget realities suggest that buyers of this efficient device will expect it to pay dividends, and so before long Big Bro will be e-mailing you a traffic citation before you even get home.
But the cloud itself isn’t invested in either side of this drama, and Escort Inc. is now leveraging it to form a global protection network for its million-plus customer base. Here’s how it works: Buy a new detector for $339-$539, or upgrade your old Escort/ Belltronics unit (the last four platforms are compatible) with a new SmartCord Live power cord for $80. The new cord incorporates a Bluetooth chip that links to your iPhone or Android smart phone, running the Escort Live app. Then, when a radar or laser signal is received by your detector, the incident and location are uploaded to the cloud and shared with any other motorists traveling the same road. After the initial pairing, the phone doesn’t need to be out or visible; it connects automatically. Naturally, the devices also warn Escort’s database of known speed traps, and because the cloud knows the road network and many speed limits, the detector and/or your smartphone screen can be set to warn you when you’re a certain number of mph over the limit. Potential future enhancements may include sharing a database of known false-alarm door openers and the like, though Escort’s top models do a pretty good job of learning and eliminating those now.
Escort hopes to quickly lure a high percentage of its direct-sales owner base into upgrading to this new social media road cloud, but admits that initial network benefits may be largely constrained to more densely populated areas. It takes only one car somewhere ahead of you to add that margin of safety against a ticket, which Escort says costs $150 on average, resulting in a $300 annual insurance premium hike. Hey, this cloud may be your best shot at outsmarting the Russians.

ABOUT 5 PERCENT OF ALL POLICE-REPORTED CRASHES AND 0.5 PERCENT OF VEHICULAR FATALITIES STEM FROM LANE-CHANGE AND MERGE MANEUVERS….WHY NOT ATTEMPT TO CURTAIL THOSE STATS?

THE FIRST TIME I experienced a blind-spot warning system was back in 2007, in an Audi Q7.1 didn’t realize the big SUV even had the technology until I went to change lanes, and was startled when a light at the stem of the right mirror flashed at me three times. What the heck was that? After settling in my new lane, I looked in my Continue reading →