A new piece of technology, the Phantom Alert system, is awash with controversy. The program works with your GPS making it “smart” so that it can warn drivers of red light and speed cameras, speed traps and DUI checkpoints. Avoiding tickets is the main goal.
First you pick your plan:
$9.99 monthly, $39.99 for one year and $99.99 for Life Time.
Once you’ve bought the software, you go to the website and download the location database for your area into your GPS. The location database is made up of reports of speed traps and photo enforcement locations by drivers and spotters. When you approach one of these places while driving, you will receive audio and visual alerts, allowing you to see them before they see you.
According to MSNBC, supporters of the software insist that it will help decrease accidents and help people drive safely. Opponents and authorities fear that the new technology will only encourage reckless driving. Phantom Alert CEO Joe Scott told MSNBC, “If people know how many cameras and checkpoints are out there, it will scare them into driving safely.”
I don’t buy that argument either. While reading up on this situation, I came across a video on the Phantom Alert website exhibiting how wonderful the item is. The video consisted of the two salesmen standing on a Washington D.C. street that contained two speed cameras.
The speed limit on this street is 25 miles an hour. “Phantom Joe” insists that “nobody drives 25 miles an hour in D.C.” even as cars obviously going 25 miles an hour drive past him. Then as four unlucky schmucks get photographed within five seconds for speeding, the two men howl and laugh at their demise, insisting,
“That is like 200 dollars a pop! Everybody needs one of these things!”
I don’t hear anything about safety concerns; just how inconvenient it will be for drivers to pay their tickets. I understand the appeal of this thing. Getting a ticket Feels horrible, especially when it’s extra pricey. But is Phantom Alert really going to make people drive safely?
In the same video, Phantom Alert spokesperson Peter Ziesmann had this to say to an Albuquerque television reporter,
“We’re not saying break the law. . .we’re just using something that’s a nice hi-tech piece of safety.”
That’s the problem. The device may make people be “safe” around the speed traps, but what’s to make that good behavior continue once they get past them? With such a helpful warning in advance, it may just encourage drivers to be careful around certain places, but drive however they want to in others, which will still lead to accidents. Teenagers would take advantage of Phantom Alert, especially underage drinkers trying to avoid a DUI checkpoint. How is relying on this device going to help them hone their driving skills?
By all accounts, it just seems to be another way to skirt responsibility.
Eric Wilkinson, GPS Program Finds Red Light Cameras, MSNBC
Make Your GPS Smart Avoid Costly Traffic Tickets, YouTube.com
Phantom Alert Official Website
