Big Brother Stepping Up - Speed Control

[Bluehoon]

Found this on Australian IT.

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/...-15306,00.html

VICTORIA has moved to iron out bugs in satellite technology designed to make cars less friendly for lead-foots.

Victoria's Traffic Accidents Commission said VicRoads had started work on a massive roads database that would reduce accuracy problems discovered in recent trials of vehicle-fitted, anti-speeding GPS devices.

The devices, also being tested in NSW and Western Australia, warn drivers to slow down when they exceed the speed limit for the road they're travelling.

Versions of the device that will increase the resistance of the car's accelerator pedal are also being evaluated.

However, TAC Road Safety manager David Healy said the devices had given drivers false information in tests because of mistakes in the roads database used in Victoria.

"We've already got a prototype database that we're using but we admit it has some errors in it.

"VicRoads has developed a business case and is mapping out the requirements for the new database right now," Mr Healy said.

Victoria and WA have been testing the technology, known as Intelligent Speed Assist, for more than a year.

In June, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority said it would launch its own trials of the devices.

NSW is spending $1 million on its trial, which is expected to be completed in 18 months.

An RTA spokeswoman said the trial was "still in its infancy" but its maps were more accurate than those currently available in vehicle-based satellite navigation systems.

Mr Healy said the initiative emerged from collaborative research by the TAC, Monash University and Ford Australia that began in 1999.

The group tested an advisory version of the system in fleet cars and found they reduced by 50 per cent the amount of time drivers spent travelling faster than posted speed limits.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said the group was willing to work with government agencies on new road safety systems but drivers must be able to maintain control of vehicles.

"These devices should provide feedback in the form of an alarm, voice command, or pedal resistance, but drivers must maintain overall control," Mr McKellar said.

Mr Healy said it was important to understand that all the devices being tested would be expected to have an override that ensured drivers were not governed by the anti-speeding devices.

No surprises to see Vic Roads leading change.

And then this:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/...-15306,00.html


Cheers