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There's an App for that!

App spots red light cameras before they spot you

Most Houston drivers know that the city has set up cameras at certain intersections to snap photos of those who run red lights. The drivers are then fined, with a copy of the photo and a notice to pay sent to the house to the address associated with the vehicle's registration.

But most drivers don't know exactly where these cameras are, unless they've consulted any of severalmaps that show their locations.

Now there's a free iPhone app called Trapster that alerts you to the cameras as you approach them. Trapster also warns when you may be approaching a speed trap. The latest version works with the notification feature of the new iPhone OS 3.0 to alert you even if the app isn't running.

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iPhone App Tracks Speed Traps, Red Light Cameras

If you have the need for speed, there's a new iPhone app that could save you a fortune in tickets. But police officers are not too enthusiastic about it.

The controversial app called Trapster uses GPS and social networking to track and warn drivers of speed traps, red light cameras, along with DUI checkpoints. Users of the app say they're just sharing information. While law enforcement officials say that's just a nice way of saying you're breaking the law.

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Police chief denounces 'cowardly' iPhone users monitoring speed traps
By: HAYLEY PETERSON
Examiner Staff
July 7, 2009

Area drivers looking to outwit police speed traps and traffic cameras are using an iPhone application and other global positioning system devices that pinpoint the location of the cameras.

That has irked D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier, who promised her officers would pick up their game to counteract the devices, which can also help drivers dodge sobriety checkpoints.

"I think that's the whole point of this program," she told The Examiner. "It's designed to circumvent law enforcement -- law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives."

The new technology streams to iPhones and global positioning system devices, sounding off an alarm as drivers approach speed or red-light cameras.

Lanier said the technology is a "cowardly tactic" and "people who overly rely on those and break the law anyway are going to get caught" in one way or another.

The greater D.C. area has 290 red-light and speed cameras -- comprising nearly 10 percent of all traffic cameras in the U.S., according to estimates by a camera-tracking database called the POI Factory.

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Red light cameras

Red-light cameras are controversial automated photographic traffic enforcement devices used by municipalities across Texas and the country. The cameras, which vary by manufacturer and vendor, generally monitor intersections and capture photographs and/or video of vehicles if they violate traffic signals.

As many as 46 cities, including Houston, Dallas and Austin, have installed cameras since 2003. Reaction to the installation of cameras, and opinions about whether they are effective, has varied. Some elected officials and police agencies say the cameras increase safety at intersections, while critics raise privacy concerns or believe the devices increase rear-end wrecks when motorists stop quickly in an effort to avoid a citation.

The cameras also are target for critics who complain that their primary purpose is to generate citiation revenue, though supporters counter that they allow police officers to spend more time patrolling in neighborhoods, rather than monitoring intersections. Some cities, such as Lubbock, actually lost money using the cameras. Houston, however, has collected more than $10 million.

Studies of the cameras, both in Texas and nationally, have shown mixed results about whether they reduce accidents at monitored intersections.

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Data App: Red-light Cameras

Red-light cameras are now common across Texas, with at least 35 cities using them to monitor intersections.

Now you can explore them with our latest data application. It features details about camera locations statewide. Users can interact with maps, view camera locations by specific cities or drill down to individual intersections to see images, crash figures and citation totals.

We're making this data available for download so programmers and developers can build their own applications (with credit, of course). We've also created the ability for users to embed the application on their Web sites and blogs.

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

You got lucky, I had some nimrod in a damn Suburban punt my Tomos Targa INTO the intersection when I stopped for a yellow before.

Damn cameras kill people, and it's all for money, simple as that.

-F

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Originally posted by WhoDied:
Hm. While not quite as life threatening, last night I came up with an idea for one while attending karaoke: the feedback app. Just turn it on and aim it toward the dying cat at the microphone...




--WhoDied


_______________________

Yeah, we're mostly just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
I've never understood the ' pink' reference when talking about beating a red light.

Orange is the color between Red and Yellow, not pink.

( Sorry, just channeling a bit of Temperance Brennan. Too much BONES , I suppose)



The T.Rex they call JANE!

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Originally posted by Kwicko:
But seriously, anyone who goes to karaoke on purpose kind of surrenders their right to complain about bad singing, right? I can *torture* some Sinatra if you'd like. :)

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