FoxyTag - anyone using it? A solution to speed cameras?

Captain Trips

I found this link:

http://www.foxytag.com/en/presentation.html

It seems to be a free program combining mobile phones with internet access and Bluetooth enabled GPS.

The idea is that people hit a button on the phone to indicate a speed trap and it uploads to a database that others then can use, and you get the info down on your phone's internet connection.

I have an E61, which says it can do GPS but I never tried it, so I am going to give this ago.

Is anyone else using it? Seems like a good legal way to track speed cameras and also be useful when you are actually out on a drive.

Banning speed cameras and improving driver education would be better, but even so, it would be nice to not get into a pile-up because some fool in a Punto braked from 125kph to get under 120kph on the motorway, which is a sight I think we will see more of if these nazi cameras come into force.

peasant

Similar warning sytsems are available for sat-navs as well.
(not yet in Ireland)

In Switzerland they've already banned the use of such systems ...expect other countries to follow suit

Captain Trips

How could it be banned? It's no different than writing it down on a piece of paper. Or photographing the gardai as they photograph cars doing 62kph on the N11?

Hmmm.

I dont' think any canton in Switzerland has banned it - it's been developed in Geneva as far as I can tell from the website and continues to be.

peasant

Switzerland (the whole country) as of the 01.01.07 has banned the use of Satellite Navigation systems with built in speed camera warners.

So somebody in Switzerland cleverly developed a mobile phone (i.e. non sat nav) system that does the same

_Kaiser_

Cool idea. Or we could just all buy CB radios?

I call "Rubber Duck"

Del2005

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Cool idea. Or we could just all buy CB radios?

I call "Rubber Duck"

You'll get away with speeding but get done for having the CB in your hand.
Wasn't that why the first mobile phone ban was changed as ambulance and fire engine drivers could get done for using a hand held communication devices?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Great!! Another idea to help people avoid the consequences of speeding and breaking the law - not to mention the danger they can pose for other motorists and pedestrians.

Marcus.Aurelius

Melany Vast Factory wrote:

Great!! Another idea to help people avoid the consequences of speeding and breaking the law - not to mention the danger they can pose for other motorists and pedestrians.

They were commenting on the ingenuity displayed by the individuals in question, not the morality or legality of the situation.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

maoleary wrote:

They were commenting on the ingenuity displayed by the individuals in question, not the morality or legality of the situation.

Really??

Captain Trips wrote:

Seems like a good legal way to track speed cameras and also be useful when you are actually out on a drive..

Why else would you want to track speed cameras??

Melany Vast Factory

Melany Vast Factory wrote:

Really??



Why else would you want to track speed cameras??

It's always useful to know where the hazards are on the road ahead!

Anything that causes traffic to slow down or change direction is technically a hazard (drivers seeing a camera & stamping on brakes etc), therefore, a speed cameras is by defination a hazard.

edit: I kan spel

FX Meister

Melany Vast Factory wrote:

Great!! Another idea to help people avoid the consequences of speeding and breaking the law - not to mention the danger they can pose for other motorists and pedestrians.

Pedestrians shouldn't be on motorways or dual carriageways

Del2005

Melany Vast Factory wrote:

Great!! Another idea to help people avoid the consequences of speeding and breaking the law - not to mention the danger they can pose for other motorists and pedestrians.

Speed cameras are supposed to be placed in areas which have a high occuracnce of crashes. If by having a speed camera locator and you slow down when going through the area then you are lessening the chance of crashing. With no speed camera locator you'd fly trough and crash, therefore it's safer to know about it and slow down then not know and suddenly break when seeing the camera.

When the old speedtraps.ie was up and running they had a senior Garda on the news about it. He said that he'd rather see people slow down when they think there is a speed camera then speed though.

Have you never broken a speed limit in your life?

Elfish

peasant wrote:

Similar warning sytsems are available for sat-navs as well.
(not yet in Ireland)

Call me a spa but aren't "sat-navs" and GPS two different names for the exact same thing?

Or should I just give up on trying to keep up to date with technology?:D

peasant

GPS = Global Positioning System does just what it says on the tin ...it positions you, or rather tells you what your exact postion is.

Additional software then uses this postion to calculate routes and give directions according to its memorised maps ...then you have a navigation system.

Elfish

Thanks peasant, cleared it up a bit.

I was browsing the foxytag site, and it wasn't clear whether or not you needed a GPS in addition to the phone or whether a phone by itself was sufficient.

Going by your reply, I suppose a phone by itself can't use the Foxytag....am I down with the techs now?:D

lyencoli

This looks good, im going to sign up when i get GPS reciever, is there anyone about that has used it? if so, is it good?

Gregor Samsa

Melany Vast Factory wrote:

Great!! Another idea to help people avoid the consequences of speeding and breaking the law.

Um, I don't see how it helps people avoid the consequences of speeding, when it actually helps stop them from speeding in the first place.

It's not like sysyems like this disable the cameras and let you speed past - they warn you of the cameras (in the same way as someone telling you "By the way, there's a speed camera on that stretch of the road" ), so that you can be sure to be at a legal speed when you come to it. No harm in that.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

phutyle wrote:

Um, I don't see how it helps people avoid the consequences of speeding, when it actually helps stop them from speeding in the first place... No harm in that.

By simply slowing down in the vacinity of a speed check you are not "helping" someone to stop speeding you are warning then to slow down or get caught and they'll speed away to their little hearts' content when the device says there are no checks about.