[IP] British police advocate further Big Brother controls
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:27:51 +0100
From: David Shirley <david@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: British police advocate further Big Brother controls
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
X-Spam-Filtered-At: eList eXpress <http://www.elistx.com/>
Dave,
The Chair of the British Association of Chief Police Officers, Jim Hammond,
is continuing his Orwellian view of British road law. An article in the
Observer today (also covered on slashdot.org) covers his view of how
technology should be used to give police officers control over our cars.
This is, frankly, getting tiring, and is an example of what is happening in
all too many countries in Europe.
David Shirley
The article:
<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1111211,00.html>http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1111211,00.html
Police call for remote button to stop cars
Motorists face new 'Big Brother' technology
Juliette Jowit, transport editor
Sunday December 21, 2003
The Observer
After speed cameras, road humps and mobile phone bans, there could be more
bad news for Britain's motorists. Police are urging Ministers to give them
the power to stop vehicles by remote control.
In what will be seen as yet another example of the in-creasing power of Big
Brother, drivers face the prospect of their cars being halted by somebody
pushing a button.
The police lobby is being led by Superintendent Jim Hammond of Sussex
police, who chairs an Association of Chief Police Officers technology
working group which is examining the idea.
'Providing an effective means to remotely stop a vehicle is fast becoming a
priority,' Hammond told a European conference. 'The development of a safe
and controlled system to enable remote stopping has the potential to
directly save lives.'
However, Bert Morris, deputy director of the AA Motoring Trust said:
'People don't like the idea of Big Brother taking over their driving. In
years to come that might be acceptable, but it's very, very important that
there's a step-by-step approach.'
Cars could be stopped by the gradual reduction of engine power so it slowly
comes to a stop, or by making sure when drivers come to a halt they can not
move again.
Stopping cars remotely sounds futuristic, but the basic technology is
already available and used in lorries to limit the top speed to 56mph and
in new systems to immobilise stolen cars.
The key is the electronics box in most new cars which, when the driver
presses the accelerator or brake, sends a message to the engine to speed up
or slow down. It can be programmed to limit the speed generally or
according to the position of the car, established via a GPS satellite. For
remote operation, a modem, which works like a mobile phone, can be used
tell the car to slow down or stop.
Similar radio telemetry was used by Formula One pit crews to adjust the
engines of racing cars at up to 200mph - until it was banned this year.
'The technology exists and will become more refined as time goes on,' said
Nick Rendell, managing director of the Siemens business developing this
technology in the UK.
A senior police officer - assumed to be the chief constable or deputy - can
already give the order to stop a car remotely, but that power has rarely if
ever been used, said Morris. To use any new powers more widely, police must
first overcome some practical problems to reassure Ministers that vehicles
would be stopped safety. Ministers will also want reassurances that drivers
would not be mistakenly stopped.
ACPO insists that it would only introduce the technology when it was safe.
It is calling on the Government to introduce the legislation which it says
will be vital to stop vehicles when - as expected - manufacturers develop
tyres that run when they are flat. This will make 'stingers' - the spiked
strips thrown in front of speeding cars - useless to stop stolen and
get-away cars or dangerous drivers.
It is also linked to pressure to make cars 'pointless to steal' because of
growing concern about more violent car crime as vehicles become harder to
take. The RAC Foundation recently found there were as many as 1,200 car
jackings in Britain last year.
Another link is to technology which would stop cars going above certain
speed limits - either a fixed maximum such as 70mph, or varying according
to the local limit.
The system could even be programmed to reduce speeds below the limit in bad
weather or when school children were expected to be about, said Robert
Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport
Safety, which believes the technology could cut the 3,420 deaths a year on
Britain's roads by 59 per cent.
Experts now believe the technology could start to be used voluntarily by
the end of the decade and ultimately could be made mandatory.
--
ELWOOD: It's 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a
pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
JAKE: Hit it! </blockquote></x-html>
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