Ever had the problem where you were pulled over and the cop says you were doing fifteen over the speed limit but you know your speedometer said you were only doing five? Well, this would fix that problem. A little square with a digital number display would be right next to your speedometer. When you start braking it then records and displays the speed you were going. It can either be cleared by a button, or it will automatically clear itself when you start braking again, replacing that number with the new speed. Another plus would be in car accidents. The police would be able to record how fast they were actually going before they hit. The sensor would be on the wheels instead of attached to the brake pedal. That way if you have a collision, but don't ever touch the brakes, then it will still record and display the last speed.-- babyhawk, Jan 30 2004 Blue Mountain Avionics http://www.bluemountainavionics.com/Click on [Products] [BMA EFIS/One]. Then, scroll down and click on [Flight Performance Software]. Around $12,000 for the hardware and an additional $544.00 for the "black box" option. [Klaatu, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] Sounds great untill you hit someone while trying to break and reset the speed indicator... I feel it's a bit open to interference... But something simalar that rembered your maximum speed over the last 10 mins or so might work.-- cFish, Jan 30 2004 well, I left the option for the reset button in my idea because I still wanted to give the people driving a choice to display their speed or not.-- babyhawk, Jan 30 2004 well, if they were pulling you over then they would see you do this and there is no covering it up anyways. Then it would be better to just clear it. But then he would know you were trying to cover it up. I know it sounds unfair but I think that now-a-days people think that they don't have to be responsible for their actions and try everything to get around having to do so. Society even helps by selling those sensor things that tell you when I cop is near. I always wondered how those were legal, the only reason people buy them is to help them break the law and not get caught...... oh, sorry....I got carried away. *blushes*-- babyhawk, Jan 30 2004 Here's a solution: just install a GPS-enabled black box in everyone's car (transmitter optional), and let the cop download the last couple of minutes after he pulls you over.-- Freefall, Jan 30 2004 We're not that far away from that - I'm so traffic-burnt that I'm almost ready for computer controlled cars.....-- normzone, Jan 30 2004 [+] I like it! - now I can finally see what speed I was traveling when I hit those shopping carts in the grocery store parking lot ...-- Letsbuildafort, Jan 30 2004 I thought this would be a special form of electromagnetic radiation that travels at 400000000 m/s.-- AO, Jan 30 2004 A better bet would be for this have a build in radar detector. It only records your speed when it is hit by a radar beam. So then it records how fast you were going when the cop tagged you. Since it doesn't have a way for the user to fiddle with the reading, the cop might believe you.-- GenYus, Jan 30 2004 Thats a good solution. Anything of this nature is suspect to tampering, but this just might work.-- KLRico, Jan 30 2004 Wouldn't work. Say I'm doing 85 in a 60-zone and the cops appear behind me. I touch the brakes - [85] - and slow the car down quite a bit, let off the brakes for a millisecond and touch 'em again - [50] - and I stay on the brakes to a stop. Proves nothin'.
// A better bet would be for this have a build in radar detector... So then it records how fast you were going when the cop tagged you. //
The radar gun already does this. Why do you need an in-car report of it too? It's not like there'll be a difference (and if there is, gee, who do you think will win?)-- waugsqueke, Jan 30 2004 OnStar and other satellite-based assistance companies are leaning towards the GPS/surveillance idea as it is. Soon photo radar will be totally unnecessary as all vehicles will be tracked by Big Brother, and those doing over the speed limit will be billed accordingly. Also, vehicles already carry a 'black box' in them which records this data. Scary thoughts...-- pleasefondleme, Jan 30 2004 Have a Polaroid camera and a previously done Polaroid pic available...-- thumbwax, Jan 31 2004 a) We have only ever gotten speeding tickets when we were speeding, which seems fair enough. b) Every time we have gotten a ticket, the ticketing officer has knocked us *down* to the next lower fine category by understating how much we were over the limit, which seems more than fair. c) Black boxes for cars are more than Baked, and show the full history of the speed you were going at, if ever there is any argument about it. d) What was the question again?-- DrCurry, Jan 31 2004 Well, I can certainly see the value when evaluating car accidents. Reguardless if they came off of 70 in a 30, and it reads 25, it still indicates at what speed the brakes were hit prior to impact, etc. Or wether the brakes were even touched at all. As for speeding tickets, I don't see where you're making a connection with that ... I figure, if the cop is going to pull you over, you were probably in violation of SOME law, and he has a reason to pull you over ... I must be only seeing the applicable value when associated with automobile accidents ...-- Letsbuildafort, Jan 31 2004 I would love to have a "black box" installed in vehicles. They are becoming less expensive <link> and it could make it possible to decipher the events of an accident. Safer cars and safer drivers? Who knows, but I think it would be worth the investment. [+]-- Klaatu, Jan 31 2004 You're almost describing a very, very simple tachograph. Tachographs have been around for years and (in the UK) are a legal requirement for heavy trucks. You could probably get one for your car though.-- hippo, Jan 31 2004 random, halfbakery