Now you can dob in a speeder via smartphone app
New app introduced in the UK gives anyone with a smartphone the ability to record evidence of speeding driversA new smartphone app launched overseas promises to deliver accurate and verifiable vehicle speed measurements thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, in a bid to catch drivers breaking the speed limit.
Put simply, it means anyone with a smartphone will be able to record evidence of speeding motorists before reporting them to the authorities.
According to Speedcam Anywhere, users simply need to snap a short two-second video clip of a passing vehicle, which the app then uploads to an AI server that can determine its speed.
It will then generate a report providing evidence of the vehicle’s speed and its make and model (which it acquires from the registration plate), along with the posted speed limit in the location the video was captured.
Available now in the UK and under evaluation for launch in the US – but yet to make its way to local app stores – Speedcam Anywhere won’t store vehicle details and personal details such as the vehicle’s owner won’t be available.
The report also provides an impact statement on the event, including the vehicle’s increased stopping distance, how many times more likely its driver was of killing a pedestrian on impact and how much extra CO2 and noise was being generated by the vehicle.
The app, which is claimed to help make “roads safer” and “air cleaner”, can also gather data to identify speeding hotspots and provide reports including the number of vehicles detected speeding and the average speed those vehicles were travelling on certain roads.
According to its website, the aim of the app is to draw attention to speed-related problems.
“Higher speeds make road crashes more likely and always make outcomes worse,” says Speedcam Anywhere.
“Speed is a particularly significant cause of pedestrian and vulnerable road user deaths and serious injuries, where a 4mph (6.4km/h) increase in vehicle speed doubles the likelihood of a pedestrian death in the event of a collision.”
For those concerned about the legalities of the new smartphone app, Speedcam Anywhere says privacy laws in the UK allow people to take photographs of private property in a public place.
The same goes in Australia where it’s legal to photograph the private property of others (including vehicles) in a public space, however, other countries have different privacy laws.
While the app doesn’t pass on information directly to authorities, Speedcam Anywhere says that – just like a dashcam – its users can provide evidence to local police, who can use their discretion to prosecute motorists caught in the wrong.
The personal speed camera tech is able to capture vehicles up to 20 metres away when using a ‘high-end’ smartphone – so across a few lanes of traffic from a parked car, for example – but it won’t accept images from a moving vehicle.
That’s because it determines the speed of vehicles in its growing AI database based on their wheelbase and overall length, using a clear view of the whole vehicle passing across the screen from a 45-degree angle.
“It needs to have a clear view of the wheels, and to get an accurate measurement, a clear view of the numberplate as the vehicle passes. Do not pan the camera to follow the vehicle,” says Speedcam Anywhere.
“Lower spec phone cameras, rain, bad light and being further away from the vehicle will reduce the likelihood of the capture succeeding.”
As for accuracy, Speedcam Anywhere says its AI tech can detect vehicle speeds with +/-10 per cent accuracy in ‘Basic’ mode and +/-2mph in ‘Pro’ mode.
The catch is the company charges £14.99 (about $A26) for 1000 ‘credits’, which it says is enough for 100 captures in Pro Mode or 1000 captures in Basic Mode.
“Processing the captures using AI is expensive. Speedcam Anywhere charges a small fee to cover this. Practice in Basic Mode before using more credits in Pro Mode,” cautions Speedcam Anywhere, which says it does not receive any money from speeding fines.
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