A small camera is mounted behind the rear window of your car and when you see someone tailgating you, you press record with a button on your dashboard.

The recording contains date and time, but also the speed you are driving and the coordinates as all this is pulled from your navigation system with Bluetooth. It also measures the distance with the tailgater and records this in the image.

As soon as you have made a sufficiently incriminating recording, ideally with the tailgater approaching at top speed and flashing lights, you go to the right (or left in some countries) as fast as possible, as you would otherwise do, and you stop the recording with another button on your dashboard (again over Bluetooth).

At the nearest police station you take out the memory card from the device and let them make a copy of the recording together with your statement. This will result in a €400 fine for the tailgater, at least in my country.

Merely having the device will reduce stress because of the empowerment it gives, but tailgaters will also fear the device and soon you can expect people to mount a fake device.
-- rrr, May 28 2007

Tailgating http://www.safespeed.org.uk/tailgate.html
All about tailgating and how you should react [rrr, May 28 2007]

Dutch database with fines http://www.om.nl/boetebase/
In Dutch, a database maintained by the public prosecutor with fines and their amount [rrr, May 28 2007]

//at least in my country//

Good for your country, [rrr]! [+]
-- pertinax, May 28 2007


Great idea, a speeding bun to boot.

This would pretty much just be a software update to some cars that already have a reversing cam. I speculated recently that police could offer a deal where for $1000 you buy a 6-point camera system which runs constantly, writing over itself every 10 mins unless told otherwise. Advantages: 1) Instant evidence in an accident. 2) Police give you 20% of every fine. 3) Cheap insurance for participation in optional safe driver audit program.
-- marklar, May 28 2007


I don't like the idea of trying to keep a tailgater in frame at speed whilst operating a button on the dash.
Should be automated.
-- coprocephalous, May 28 2007


Marklar, could you make that into a seperate Halfbakery entry? I want to vote for it and discuss it.
-- rrr, May 28 2007


It is difficult to automate it if you also want to record how the tailgater is approaching. Ideally, you see a potential tailgater in your rearview mirror in the distance and you push record already. But an automated start of the recording once something is too close is not that difficult to implement if the setup already measures the distance to the tailgater.
-- rrr, May 28 2007


A definite bun; but I like the continuous recording/overwriting version even better.
-- Cosh i Pi, May 28 2007


Countered by the Bottlenecking Cam, which shows the view from the approaching tailgater, as you and two other horse-minded drivers subconciously decide that three abreast is the safest thing for your herd, sparing anyone the danger of being in front.

That first link is pretty good.
-- normzone, May 28 2007


[+]. Perhaps it could have a short range motion detector so if someone passed a given distance it would start recording. This would also be great for when someone rear ends you, or if you happen to piss off a cop enough for him to smash your taillights out (although I doubt that happens very often).
-- acurafan07, May 28 2007


Disappointed - I thought this was to record events at tailgate parties.
-- nuclear hobo, May 28 2007


I'm imaging a future proliferation of diamond-shaped signs that say "Tailgate Cam on board" (whether you actually have one or not).

Excellent idea.
-- phundug, May 28 2007


How is the Police department going to identify the vehicle with video of only the front of the car?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, May 29 2007


[Galbinus_Caeli] In most countries, there are registration plates on the front as well as the back.
-- Cosh i Pi, May 29 2007


Not bad, but let's bring this idea into the 19th century with some image recognition software, so it can read license plates, and a cellular modem so it can send that information to police stations immediately. Include the automatic distance sensing operation, and you have a totally safe, totally hands-free solution to the tail gating problem... Well, of course if you're driving faster than the speed limit, it solve another crime problem at the same time, so getting people to carry these cameras might be difficult.
-- ye_river_xiv, May 29 2007


[ye_river_xiv] I suspect that folks who are bothered by tailgaters are mostly folks who stick to the speed limit. Those who don't are generally inclined to accelerate away from tailgaters, because they don't care about the limit. Obviously they can't do that if there's someone in front of them, but it's relatively rare that you get tailgated in those circumstances - tailgaters are usually (not always, I know) trying to make you get out of the way, either forwards or into another lane, and don't bother if they can see that you can't.
-- Cosh i Pi, Jun 01 2007



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