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Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

bbc.co.uk

1–10 of 49 posts

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#3
post #2

The article suggests that the detectors will detect 2G, 3G and 4G usage, but will recognise if a bluetooth hands-free kit is in use. This sounds like complete snake oil to me, please could someone explain if this is possible?

I would be amazed if this were reliable enough to survive legal challenge. Personally, it sounds too much like the old "TV detector vans". I'm skeptical.

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#4
post #2

The article suggests that the detectors will detect 2G, 3G and 4G usage, but will recognise if a bluetooth hands-free kit is in use. This sounds like complete snake oil to me, please could someone explain if this is possible?

Definitely - surely most phones will be using/connected-to data services even when not in use?

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#5
This seems like a silly idea - as the article says, there's no way for it to tell whether it's the driver or a passenger, but even if there's only one person in the car, there's no way to tell if the person is actively using a mobile phone or if it's just sitting in the car and there's some app running on it that happens to be transmitting data...

Then add in the likelihood that it'll pick up all sorts of random interference and have all sorts false-positives... It'd probably be just as accurate if it just had a sensor to detect cars, and flash the warning at a randomly chosen 30% or so of cars...

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#6

This seems like a silly idea - as the article says, there's no way for it to tell whether it's the driver or a passenger, but even if there's only one person in the car, there's no way to tell if the person is actively using a mobile phone or if it's just sitting in the car and there's some app running on it that happens to be transmitting data... Then add in the likelihood that it'll pick up all sorts of random inte…

Maybe the real boon will be the way it can be used like drug dogs, to give "probable cause" on command to the police.

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#7
post #4
post #2

The article suggests that the detectors will detect 2G, 3G and 4G usage, but will recognise if a bluetooth hands-free kit is in use. This sounds like complete snake oil to me, please could someone explain if this is possible?

Definitely - surely most phones will be using/connected-to data services even when not in use?

Especially if you're using GPS software that has live traffic updates, or that downloads maps whilst you are navigating.

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#8
post #6

This seems like a silly idea - as the article says, there's no way for it to tell whether it's the driver or a passenger, but even if there's only one person in the car, there's no way to tell if the person is actively using a mobile phone or if it's just sitting in the car and there's some app running on it that happens to be transmitting data... Then add in the likelihood that it'll pick up all sorts of random inte…

Maybe the real boon will be the way it can be used like drug dogs, to give "probable cause" on command to the police.

We don't really have probably cause in that sense in the UK. Any driver can be stopped at any time purely to check documents if required - police don't need to have a reason.

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#9
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the real boon will be the way it can be used like drug dogs, to give "probable cause" on command to the police.

We don't really have probably cause in that sense in the UK. Any driver can be stopped at any time purely to check documents if required - police don't need to have a reason.

Probable cause is used to search the car. Police can't randomly search cars. However in order to target areas with minorities who are involved with drugs, they use police dogs that can supposedly sniff drugs. But the dogs really just read their handlers and bark when their handlers want them to. Police can stop anyone at any time for documents. /papers please

Recently in Canada a driver was charged for distracted driving for simply wearing headphones while driving. The judge decided that regardless of whether they were functional or not he was guilty.

All these things just point to the fact that you don't want to deal with the police or with the law as both them don't really care about reality, just their manufactured fictions they use to justify their power over people. As Fault called it biopower.

Re: Police detectors to warn mobile phone-using drivers

#10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the real boon will be the way it can be used like drug dogs, to give "probable cause" on command to the police.

We don't really have probably cause in that sense in the UK. Any driver can be stopped at any time purely to check documents if required - police don't need to have a reason.

Here's the law:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/part/VII/crossh...

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