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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Sun, Dec 21st 2003 10:12pm





Police In UK Want To Stop Your Car At The Press Of A Button

from the stop.-now. dept

Over in the UK, police are requesting the power to stop cars remotely at the press of a button. The technology, of course, is not difficult, and already some anti-theft systems let people kill the engines remotely. Oddly, the story includes a quote from police saying they already have the power to press a remote kill switch on cars - but details aren't given. The worries are (a) that people will freak out about Big Brother-ish use of technology (b) or that the cars won't be able to be stopped safely. Considering that most attempts to do automatic braking scare people, the idea of completely stopping a car without warning the driver could go over quite badly. Related to this, though, police are also suggesting using the same technology to enforce mandatory speed limits - where the car refuses to go above a certain speed. Furthermore, the article suggests that these speeds could be made variable, such as lowering the top speed on certain roads during inclement weather. Not sure about in the UK, but I imagine there would be riots if such technology were introduced in the US. People here seem to believe that speeding is a right.

6 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 9:02am

    People believe that speeding is a right, because the speed limits are set inapropriately low in certain areas (like Palo Alto, CA) mainly due to the requests from upper class residents, but also to generate revenue for the county with speed traps, and the insurance companies that sponsor the speed cameras.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 9:30am

    it's just a little capsule of nero-toxin which is placed directly into the base of the spinal cord.

    that way we could kill you at the press of a button.... should the need ever arise

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Emergencies?

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 10:11am

    What about emergencies? I know I would be seriously p!issed if I was trying to get my in-labour wife to the hospital and all of a sudden my car slowed down on it's own on the freeway!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: Emergencies?

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 10:16am



    Freedom isn't free ...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 10:17am


    Please elaborate on why upper class people desire lower speed limits. I'm really interested in this.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    Safe Stopping

    identicon
    Beck, Dec 22nd, 2003 @ 10:33am

    Not sure how safe it would be to cause a car to stop dead in the middle of the freeway.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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