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Traffic safety device

 Slow down speeders around you
  (+8, -1)
(+8, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

Just simply have a fake radar inside your vehicle with aerials pointed both front and back directions, a device which sends same frequency as police radar. This would slow down the speeders with radar detectors close to you.
—Pellepeloton, Sep 17 2007

Drone Radar in Work Zones – Kansas http://www.its.dot....609_files/8_3_2.htm
Radar system deployed to trigger radar detectors of speeders, in order to slow them down near work zones. Measured speeds before and after, didn't really make any difference. [jutta, Sep 17 2007]

here's one http://www.informat...peed-sign-FAQ.shtml
[xandram, Sep 17 2007]

Customer reviews of that device on Amazon http://www.amazon.c...011#customerReviews
"It does not set off my radar detector in the car, which makes me happy, too." Might be directionality, though. [jutta, Sep 19 2007]


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       Then for a little extra cost you could attach a device for capturing an image of the person that was speeding and then you could impose some kind of monetary punishment for the offence, which could be used to offset the cost of the device.   

       But seriously, I can see how this negates the effect of radar detectors while not affecting normal drivers (as long as the fake does not resemble the real ones) and as doppler radars (used in speed cameras) are a lot more expensive than normal radars (as used in automatic doors) this would be significantly cheaper than a speed camera.
—marklar, Sep 17 2007
   

       So clever! Croissant.
—theNakedApiarist, Sep 17 2007
   

       the joy of turning it on just as a speed demon is coming up behind you. hehehe. +
—k_sra, Sep 17 2007
   

       Good one!
—ldischler, Sep 17 2007
   

       Illegal in the U.S. under Federal Communications Commission rules ...
—batou, Sep 17 2007
   

       I live in the US...
—xandram, Sep 17 2007
   

       //Illegal in the U.S. under Federal Communications Commission rules ...//   

       Which would not necessairly keep the authorities from using them.   

       Also, has zero effect on the many people who speed and don't have radar detectors. Speeding is so prevalent and unenforced that 10 to 15 over is considered *normal* highway speed.
—nuclear hobo, Sep 17 2007
   

       Just set up a fake accident, then EVERYONE will slow down (admittedly you couldn't have fun from the confines of your car).   

       Trouble is, this would cause more accidents...and the same could be said for any idea that suddenly tries to get drivers to slow down.
—Ling, Sep 18 2007
   

       I also have another device which slows down most of the vehicles on highways before they get too close!   

       I have a van with tinted windows, looks very much like the vans Police are using here in New Zealand as speed camera vans.   

       I added a small data CD to the back window and from the distance it may look a bit like a speed camera lens?   

       Often I see cars following me about 200 metres behind and very few are tailgating anymore :)
—Pellepeloton, Sep 19 2007
   

       I actually don't want people speeding near me so having some passive devices to improve traffic safety must be a good thing. Having a radio transmitter on the radar frequency might be illegal in some countries but so is speeding.
—Pellepeloton, Sep 19 2007
   

       The beauty of this is that if enough people in your area are driving with radar detectors, ostensibly so they can determine for themselves what their speed limit is, then your radar drone negates the lawbreaking capacity of their detectors. With enough vehicles adhering to the letter of the limit, traffic around them has no choice but to do the same - at least the cars behind the detector cars - and the net result is that all the traffic in the vicinity of the drone adheres to the limit, detector or not.   

       If I choose, I can hit 75 on my ride to work and just be keeping up with the fast lane, or I can ride in the righthander and stick to the limit, and have people slowly creeping up on me. I actually prefer the slower speed: the car is happier, I arrive at work unstressed, etc.   

       Granny Speed! Bun.
—elhigh, Sep 19 2007
   

       I had a similar idea cobbled together out of a couple of old cameras. You'd point it in the direction of someone who'd just cut you up badly and pull the trigger and it would emit a couple of flashes, the characteristic half a second apart. The offending driver wouldn't know that they had come from your car but he (it is invariably a he isn't it?) would still have that "heart-sink moment" when he thinks he's been caught on speed-trap camera and, suitably chastened, he would drive a little bit more carefully (for a few miles at least). Revenge is sweet.
—Karnuvap, Sep 19 2007
   

       //it is invariably a he isn't it?// No, it isn't.
—hippo, Sep 19 2007
   

       21 Quest: "Cut up" is a phrase used in England, but I have just learnt that "Cut off" is used elsewhere.
—Ling, Sep 20 2007
   

       Ironically I got my speeding fine just few days after posting this. I was talking to a passenger and did not notice the roadworks with the 50 Km/h sign, so I thought it was 100 Km/h and following car on front of me. Then I heard the siren and police car stopped me doing 72 Km/h! Sucks to get fined!
—Pellepeloton, Oct 18 2007
   


 

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