-Caveat Lector- http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001281700,00.html TUESDAY AUGUST 14 2001 How motorists can evade the devices BY ROBIN YOUNG DRIVERS are being offered an increasingly complex armoury of devices and information to help them to avoid being caught by speed cameras. Devices such as the Geodesy warning system, made by Morpheos, a British company, use the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate all 4,300 fixed speed cameras in Britain. Geodesy, powered from a vehicle's cigarette lighter socket, sits on the dashboard and bleeps and flashes when the vehicle nears the speed control points for the cameras. The system can be updated daily from the Internet via a modem and will load information about new cameras spotted by users so that they can be verified and added to the database. About 6,000 motorists have bought the system in the past year, at �380 each. Martin Birch, co-director of Morpheous, said a new version of the device was under development. A rival detector, made by Origin, which also manufactures units that make use of GPS technology, is expected to go on sale next month. Tim Rock, Origin's director, said that he hoped to sell 5,000 a year in Britain, initially at �350. GPS systems cannot detect handheld or mobile cameras. However, radar speed-trap detectors capable of doing so have been legal since 1998, when a motorist successfully argued before the Queen's Bench Division that radio emissions from police radar speed guns did not constitute "messages" under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1949, and could, therefore, be intercepted without licence. The Government has the situation under review, but police have accepted manufacturers' arguments that radar detectors are a good thing if they make motorists slow down, even if it means that they do not receive a ticket. Manufacturers of both GPS systems and of radar detectors such as the �349 Snooper S5 or �545 Valentine 1, claim that their products are not only legal, but "safety devices", because they encourage motorists to slow down at accident blackspots. More contentious is equipment such as the �289 Snooper SLD 920 Laser Blinder, which claims to offer motorists protection against all UK laser speed guns by temporarily stopping them from obtaining a reading. "It is possible that a device this effective could be perceived as interfering with the ability of a police officer to carry out his job," says one website, which offers the system for sale, "so we cannot recommend its use in the UK". Steve Warren, who reviews such equipment on his website ukspeedtraps.co.uk said that laser jammers may not be legal, but that he had tested the Blinder on the four main laser guns used in the United Kingdom and found that it worked. A number of websites give details and reviews of equipment available, and www.SpeedCamerasUK.com provides the locations of more than 500 speed cameras across Britain. The information on the website is updated weekly. A typical entry describes the position of the camera, often with a warning such as "hidden until the last moment by a bridge". However, other drivers avoid being caught by speed cameras without recourse to expensive equipment or regular Internet updates � by not breaking the speed limit. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
