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CamerAlert iPhone App Snaps Mobile Speed Camera in Action
Article by: maft
Date: 5 Mar 2010
 Remember how useful POICapture was on the TomTom's for capturing new speed camera locations? If so, then you will probably remember how annoying it was when TomTom pulled support of their SDK that allowed developers to create add-on software like POICapture.
Since then there hasn't really been an easy way to capture camera locations 'on the go' that include details like camera type, speed and heading in just a few simple clicks. Well, that was until we released CamerAlert for the iPhone. Since it's release just a few weeks ago we have had nearly 4,000 submissions from CamerAlert alone! Practically all of the current M6 SPECS cameras were reported and/or confirmed by CamerAlert users massively speeding up the verification process.
Today's story is slightly more interesting, but only because it has some pretty pictures! Click the link below to read about a recent submission from Lifetime member, 'mrdaveone'.
Yesterday morning 'mrdaveone' used CamerAlert to snap a photo of a mobile speed camera van he passed just south east of Birmingham. The photo is taken within the app itself and because of this it is geo-tagged and can provide instant confirmation of the location being submitted. To support this we also check the various map views which, rather unsurprisingly, also confirm the location beautifully!
The camera in question is now active in the database as MOBILE:80809@40. 'mrdaveone' was driving south west at the time so marked it as being on the other side of the road (the heading is automatically submitted to us). Take a look at the images below (click for full size):
Firstly, above, we have the actual photo submitted via the CamerAlert app. It is clearly on the other side of the road, next to an industrial building with some trees in the middle of the road. Let's take a look at the map shall we?
The blue pin shows where 'mrdaveone' was at the time of his submission. The layout of the road confirms the photo's geo-tagging accuracy - it is clearly a dual-carriageway with a physical gap between. Now we move to satellite view:
You can see the trees that line the central reservation and also the presence of an industrial-type building in the background - which can also be seen in the photo. Finally we take a look at the OpenStreetMap view of the area:
This time we can even see a name for the building, GEA Buck Systems, and a quick internet search confirms the location of the company. Also note that the position of the bus stops differs from those in Google Maps. Both OSM and Google get the bus stop data from the same source, the only difference being that users of OSM will have corrected the location data of the sites. It is perfectly feasible that the van, in fact, parked at the bus stop on the north east bound road.
All in all it is quite clear that CamerAlert is an ideal way to submit accurate camera locations with photographic evidence (you can also submit a voice note to describe the area) which allows us to quickly confirm the location. This then allows everyone to benefit from accurate locations and a very fast turnaround from sighting to being in the database! Any CamerAlert user can now download an update and this site will already be in there. Normal database users will, however, have to wait until next Wednesday!
| Comments
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 Posted by spook51 on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:37 pm |
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So the photo was taken by the driver with his iPhone whilst driving and PGPSW is happy to admit to accepting submissions that way. I see......
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| Posted by foxdie on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:42 pm |
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| spook51 Wrote: | | So the photo was taken by the driver with his iPhone whilst driving and PGPSW is happy to admit to accepting submissions that way. I see...... |
PGPSW aren't responsible for people breaking the law to take a photo, and on top of that, they have no way of knowing if said submitter is responsible for a vehicle at that point or not.
It's the users responsibility to make sure they make submissions safely and without breaking the law, not PGPSW.
Jason “Foxdie“ Gaunt
http://trackmygps.co.uk/
@jasongaunt |
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| Posted by MaFt on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:43 pm |
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| spook51 Wrote: | | So the photo was taken by the driver with his iPhone whilst driving and PGPSW is happy to admit to accepting submissions that way. I see...... |
actually, no. the submission details shows the recorded speed as 0mph so the user was not driving. also, had the user been driving the iphone camera would have blurred rather a lot anyway.
MaFt
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| Posted by spook51 on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:48 pm |
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| foxdie Wrote: | | spook51 Wrote: | | So the photo was taken by the driver with his iPhone whilst driving and PGPSW is happy to admit to accepting submissions that way. I see...... |
PGPSW aren't responsible for people breaking the law to take a photo, and on top of that, they have no way of knowing if said submitter is responsible for a vehicle at that point or not.
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A quote from the report, "'mrdaveone' was driving south west at the time...."
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| Posted by MaFt on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:50 pm |
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ok, 'had been'...
you get the gist...
MaFt
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| Posted by BigPerk on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:56 pm |
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But if this was me and I was stopped at traffic lights, I would still consider myself | Quote: | | "driving south west at the time...." |
Wouldn't anyone?
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360) |
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| Posted by spook51 on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:57 pm |
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I get the gist but (in my view) there are some risky statements in the report. You only need a road safety numpty to pick up on it and accuse PGPSW of incitement (new camera sites being rewarded by Lifetime membership) and you could be in deep do-do.
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| Posted by MaFt on Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:19 pm |
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he's already a lifetime member so there's no 'reward' as such.
and if the road-safety brigade want to join in then let them. i'll happily defend the article until i'm blue in the face.
MaFt
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| Posted by PaulB2005 on Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:31 pm |
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spook51 - Seriuosly. It's down the the individual taking the photo to make sure they are responsible. No-one else....
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| Posted by spook51 on Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:33 pm |
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That's fine by me. I've had the misfortune to have to occasionally work with some rabid road safety zealots in the past so it was just a friendly warning.
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