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How My Smart Phone Contributed To Getting Me Out Of A Speeding Ticket
- osipov 16y agoIn California you can avoid going to traffic court and do a trial by declaration. Much easier, very effective.
- omh 16y agoThe speed limit in the area was a mere 25 miles per hour ... I found that my phone only recorded a top speed of just 26 miles per hour It seems that he probably was speeding, albeit only slightly. That makes it more impressive that he ended up not guilty!
- martincmartin 16y agoIn Boston (all of MA?), as I understand it, it's only a crime to go 5 mph or more over the speed limit. 4mph or less and you don't get a ticket.
- yellowbkpk 16y agoI run at least one logging GPS in my car at all times for OpenStreetMap mapping. As a result, I've asked several lawyer friends about this situation should I ever be cited for speeding. Just about everyone has said that the GPS data would most likely be overlooked because it can easily be faked (or at least the decision makers have that perception) and/or judges don't know about it (so they default to ignoring it).
- rmc 16y agoAnother problem with GPS is the accuracy (or lack thereof). Sometimes you get a good GPS signal (e.g. outside, clear view of the sky etc.), sometimes you don't, and you position could be off by 10m. Some GPS store the accuracy of each track point (e.g. VDOP and HDOP), some don't. If your GPS doesn't store the accuracy, then someone could claim your GPS is off by 20m, and hence you were speding (or the data is unreliable).
- bryanlarsen 16y agoI'm glad the judge & author pointed out that it wasn't necessarily the GPS that got him off: the chain of custody could probably have been successfully challenged. But it's darn good circumstantial evidence. Warning: probable abuse of lawyerly language in above post.
- kbutler 16y agoOfficer: I clocked you going 40 miles per hours. Driver: I wasn't going to be out that long. GPS measures average speed (delta position vs delta time). Radar guns measure instantaneous speed (doppler shift). GPS also tends to be less accurate in a partial Faraday cage (like a metal vehicle). Bottom line: don't expect GPS to get you out of your speeding ticket with a tech-savvy judge.
- pilom 16y agoBut for some reason many courts accept speedometer calibrations done with GPS instead of on a dynamometer (treadmill). I never got that.
- ghurlman 16y agoMy GPS, right now, has me clocked at a top speed of 273mph. I haven't a clue how that happened, but I'm sure as hell not bringing it to court to prove I wasn't speeding.
- sahaskatta 16y agoI no longer have the smart phone I used when I got caught, but my HTC EVO is actually quite accurate. I've pulled up my current speed while in a car (not at the wheel). It was spot on with the number from the car's dashboard. On that note, my father has a BlackBerry smart phone and his Endomondo GPS tracking app states all sorts of weird things. He went for a few mile long hike and it thought he traveled a few hundred miles across the San Francisco Bay Area. (And yes across the bay.)
- thalur 16y agoSome GPS units can measure speed by doppler shift. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the receivers in smartphones can't.
- CWuestefeld 16y agoCan you show an example? I can't imagine what signal it would be calculating a doppler shift on, that could be more accurate than the positional data it computes. Most of the satellite signals -- certainly the strongest -- will be high overhead. Thus the signal path is essentially perpendicular to your direction of travel, and doppler shift wouldn't be significant.
- pilom 16y agoYou got off because the Radar gun didn't have a certificate of Calibration less than 6 months old. Plain and simple. In almost every state radar guns must be operated according to the manufacturers directions which includes calibration every 6 months. If the Officer doesn't have an up to date calibration certificate, he has no case.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- hammock 16y agoAgree with the above. I have a fair amount of experience with traffic court- you did not get off because of your GPS; it was because of the officer's answers to your questions. Good job asking, though. The #1 tip for any court situation like this is the question the officer about events on the day it happened. By default the officer's word (and/or his radar gun) is worth more than your own, but if you can get him to say ANYTHING that calls into question his recollection of events, then his credibility is reduced. Incidentally this is also why most cops take great notes.
- city41 16y agoThis seems like a non story to me. The judge did not confirm at all the GPS data affected their decision. However, I have used GPS data successfully in a somewhat similar situation. I was riding my bicycle to work and got hit by a car that was pulling out of a driveway. My GPS recorded the entire incident and showed quite clearly that the car pulled out and hit me well after I had already ridden pass the driveway, showing they just plain weren't looking (and not the other way around). The whole incident ended up in my favor.
- dotBen 16y agoGPS is only accurate to 5-10 metres so it would be impossible to accurately tell you were in front of a driveway with it.
- Mizza 16y agoNext time you're interacting with the police, you might want to use the OpenWatch recorder to record the interaction: http://www.openwatch.net http://www.openwatch.net
- Estragon 16y agoThis looks cool, but it really needs an option for uploading in real time, in case the device gets confiscated.
- PakG1 16y agoI can't remember specifically the example, but there was a recent case where someone recorded the conversation with a police officer without the police officer's knowledge or consent. This ended up getting the person in a lot more hot water than the original issue. If someone could provide specifics, would be appreciated.
- true_religion 16y agoUsually you have to at least tell someone they are being recorded, but they don't have to consent to it.
- metageek 16y agoThat's the law in Massachusetts, but the cops don't believe it.
- iamdave 16y agoThey usually don't have to believe what the law is when many citizens will easily bend at the sight of officer intimidation because they don't actually know the law. Which is a shame.
- losvedir 16y agoReally? All I can find[1] seems to indicate all parties need to consent: "4. The term 'interception' means to secretly hear, secretly record, or aid another to secretly hear or secretly record the contents of any wire or oral communication through the use of any intercepting device by any person other than a person given prior authority by all parties to such communication..." [1] http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Section99 http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/...
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago"He mentioned that he was not familiar enough with GPS technology to make a decision based on my evidence, but I can’t help but imagine that it was an important factor." So the judge categorically stated that it wasn't a factor in his decision but the author imagines it was... The difference between what you want to hear and what was actually said. The reality is that he got lucky because he heard what the lawyer before him said and copied it and the police officer was ill prepared (possibly because he knew that the defendant was representing himself which is normally a sign that someone doesn't know what they're doing).
- Flemlord 16y agoI assumed the judge didn't want to set a legal precedent for accepting cell phone GPS data. He entered the verdict in such a way that it couldn't be used to influence later cases.
- CWuestefeld 16y agoI don't think that a local traffic court, in what's certainly an unpublished ruling, can create a precedent. That's not how the system works.
- mychacho 16y agoBasically the only help your phone provided is to give you guts to defend yourself in court. The data you obtained with google tracks has as much legal authenticity IMHO as data you could pull out of your behind. But the fact that you asked the officer the right questions and he didnt have the right answers is in my opinion why the judge decided in your favor. btw here is a similar story with an iphone and a radar detector http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2011/01/21/radaractive-helps-a-new-york-driver-fight-a-speeding-ticket/ http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2011/01/21/radaractive-he...
- mryall 16y agoMy uncle was driving a truck a few years ago and hit a woman who walked in front of his vehicle. It was not his fault because the woman stepped out looking the wrong way, and the wet weather and short distance meant it wasn't possible for him to stop in time. In this instance, the GPS tracking data was used by the police to verify that he was not travelling faster than the speed limit. The data backed up his statement to the police and he therefore wasn't considered negligent or liable for the accident in any way. Technology like this certainly has its benefits, particularly when the presumption of guilt is so often on the driver in this kind of situation.
- lukifer 16y agoNot long ago, I got pulled over and discovered my proof of insurance card was out of date. I was able to use the iPhone app of my insurance company to load up a PDF of the most recent copy and prove that my insurance was current. The cop was amazed that I could do this. No ticket. :)
- georgieporgie 16y agoI got out of a speeding ticket in 2004 because the officer had allowed his radar certification training to lapse in 1982. The guy before me in court also got his case dropped when the judge found out the officer hadn't been radar certified. This guy's GPS data was a novelty. No more a deciding factor in the judgment than his choice to wear business attire.
- tocomment 16y agoMy question is how does he leave that app running while he drives around. When I turn on GPS on my HTC incredible the battery dies in 1.5 hours. Otherwise I'd love to record everywhere I go like this. I'm hoping the next generation of phones won't have this problem.
- jff 16y agoSome phones, at least in the Droid line, have car mounts which include chargers; he mentioned a car mount in the article, so it's quite likely using it as a GPS was having a positive impact on battery life in this case!