RE: Mobile Phone Beats Mobile Camera
Monday 8th October 2007
Magistrates were stunned when a scientist charged with speeding at 42mph told them: “No I wasn’t . . . I was only doing 29.177196mph.”
Dr Phillip Tann’s lawyer then produced data from a revolutionary device he was testing – showing the exact time, location and speed of his car.
Instead of being 12mph over the limit when his Mercedes was zapped by a mobile speed camera, he was actually less than 0.8mph UNDER. The case has now been dropped.
Dr Tann plans to talk to police chiefs about how his invention – built into a mobile phone – could help stop speeders.
The boffin, 45, who runs his own technology firm, was stunned to get a letter accusing him of speeding in Sunderland because he had seen the police trap.
He checked data on the device and found cops were wrong. His lawyer gave the city’s JPs a CD of his recordings.
Dr Tann said that police cameras are not 100 per cent accurate but that his system is.
Mobile Phone Beats Mobile Camera
Boffin’s mobile phone helps court drop speed charges
Dr Phillip Tann’s lawyer then produced data from a revolutionary device he was testing – showing the exact time, location and speed of his car.
Instead of being 12mph over the limit when his Mercedes was zapped by a mobile speed camera, he was actually less than 0.8mph UNDER. The case has now been dropped.
Dr Tann plans to talk to police chiefs about how his invention – built into a mobile phone – could help stop speeders.
The boffin, 45, who runs his own technology firm, was stunned to get a letter accusing him of speeding in Sunderland because he had seen the police trap.
He checked data on the device and found cops were wrong. His lawyer gave the city’s JPs a CD of his recordings.
Dr Tann said that police cameras are not 100 per cent accurate but that his system is.
Discussion
mgv8 said:
So is every one else geting the fine and points removed????
Oh no, You have to have a Phd and have to be using a device which will stand up in court with the backing of an expert witness (yourself) a the time.
If you just come to court and prove the laser doest work properly, wasn't used properly or even want to see the evidence they have taken of the enforcement session you will get sent packing...
So, all we need are similar devices installed in all cars that accurately monitor speed and location. These can then automatically alert the powers that be when we endanger life by exceeding the speed limit.
Simple! See how this puts an end to potentially unjust convictions based on unreliable radar guns and cameras!
Simple! See how this puts an end to potentially unjust convictions based on unreliable radar guns and cameras!
carl_w said:
So this device is either 100% accurate (I think Heisenberg might dispute that) or accurate to at least 8 significant figures? I think not.
Thats the thing you see... the more significant figures, the more accurate it is! 
You might have noticed that VASCAR is actually 100 times more accurate that your own speedo, and laser equipment?
That is because VASCAR is dependant on the police operator flicking a switch twice whilst he makes a judgement trying to guess parallax error twice as he is some distance behind you. All this whilst driving over the speed limit of course...
Yet this evidence is almost always shown to the court to a hundredth of a mile per hour with no stated margin for error.
My guess is that as the doctor is no doubt aware of scientific procedure he would have given the exact reading that was obtained and then if he were to be cross examined been able to give an reasonable assesment of the margin of error.
carl_w said:
That's a lot of money.Here's some freeware.
I guess the difference is that with the freeware you are recording the details on to the local phone, whereas the Tann stuff sends it back to the a central repository...
This sounds like menaces to me.
Pay this guy the cash, for his crazy invention, or the government will clobber you for speeding, irrespective of your actual speeding (or not) status.
I think that the police aren't going ot bother measuring speed at all before long. They'll just stand by the road, and take down numberplates.
Driving is officially bad for the environment. If you are driving, then you are likely to have committed an offence at some point anyhow. When they catch you driving, then you're subject to the generic offence/taxation scheme.
Pay this guy the cash, for his crazy invention, or the government will clobber you for speeding, irrespective of your actual speeding (or not) status.
I think that the police aren't going ot bother measuring speed at all before long. They'll just stand by the road, and take down numberplates.
Driving is officially bad for the environment. If you are driving, then you are likely to have committed an offence at some point anyhow. When they catch you driving, then you're subject to the generic offence/taxation scheme.
Why was the proffesors evidence even accepted at all.
the scope for altering the data to fit the circumstances was just too easy.
He may as well have said I wasn't speeding 'cos I said so'
What checks were done to ensure the data collected was even the correct data set and not replacement data.
Have the algorithms been checked for mathematical accuracy.
Seems the case probably folded because the police discoverd their instruments callibration certificate was out of date when the looked to mount a defence.
the scope for altering the data to fit the circumstances was just too easy.
He may as well have said I wasn't speeding 'cos I said so'
What checks were done to ensure the data collected was even the correct data set and not replacement data.
Have the algorithms been checked for mathematical accuracy.
Seems the case probably folded because the police discoverd their instruments callibration certificate was out of date when the looked to mount a defence.
mark69sheer said:
...the scope for altering the data to fit the circumstances was just too easy.
He may as well have said I wasn't speeding 'cos I said so'
What checks were done to ensure the data collected was even the correct data set and not replacement data.
Have the algorithms been checked for mathematical accuracy....
What you have said there in that section is scarily like exactly what happens when you get accused of speeding with a laser gun!He may as well have said I wasn't speeding 'cos I said so'
What checks were done to ensure the data collected was even the correct data set and not replacement data.
Have the algorithms been checked for mathematical accuracy....
All of those comments are even more valid in that scenario!
Jeremy Kyle said:
it does seem odd he got away with this so easily.
is this story made up to increase his sales???
Not a case of got away.is this story made up to increase his sales???
Rather than lose a high profile case which will bring the inaccracy of the laser device used into the public eye, they would much rather drop the case.
If they played out the 'endgame' of this one, the doctor's device would have been certainly enough to raise reasonable doubt and they would have lost.
There have been plenty of cases that have been dropped solely so the CPS didn't have to release the full video recording of the enforcement session...
Mr Whippy said:
Hows this work then, mobile phone > mast triangulation and then speed averaging?
Sounds 'fairly' accurate, if his averaging isn't over say 100m (between polls) and he didn't spike his speed over 50m of it (for example)
Dave
Probably a GPS enabled phone, polled many times per secondSounds 'fairly' accurate, if his averaging isn't over say 100m (between polls) and he didn't spike his speed over 50m of it (for example)
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
Hows this work then, mobile phone > mast triangulation and then speed averaging?
Since it requires a GPS-enabled mobile phone, I guess it works via GPS. GPS receivers provide their own estimates of precision for individual readings (I can't recall if that's DOP or FOM) but in no circumstances is it ever 1 millionth of a mph.
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