Ford trying to patent system that reports speeding vehicles to police

[Mephistopheles Janx]

Well... who would have guessed that a company that championed ridiculously fast cars and sells 500+HP monstrosities would pull this dystopian bullshit?

DETROIT (WKRC) - The Ford Motor Company is attempting to patent a camera system that reports speeding vehicles to authorities.

According to WXIN, a patent application was filed by Ford titled "Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations." The application was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 18, per the station.


Ford initially filed for the patent on January 12, 2023.

The station reported that Ford discusses using vehicles to monitor each other's speed in the application.

- How Ford's system reportedly works, per WXIN:

When an equipped automobile detects a nearby vehicle is traveling over the posted speed limit, it will use onboard cameras to capture an image of the speeder.
The equipped vehicle will then be able to send a report containing both speed data and pictures of the speeding vehicle directly to law enforcement or roadside monitoring units.
Car Scoops reported that authorities will also receive GSP location data.
Ford said in its application that the surveillance vehicles would make law enforcement's job easier because they wouldn't need to quickly identify violations and engage in pursuits, per WXIN.
Ford added that some of the work could be delegated to self-driving vehicles, which could also be equipped to detect speeders.
According to the station, because real officers wouldn't be present to witness the alleged speeding violation, it remains unclear what legal argument the automaker would have if it tried to implement the technology.

Speed cameras currently serve as stationary enforcement of speed limits, although they can only issue tickets based on a vehicle's license plate number because they are unable to confirm the driver's identity.

WXIN noted that Ford often files patent applications for emerging auto technology, but not all of those technologies make their way to production.

https://local12.com/news/nation-worl...mits-law-force

[Couch-Potato]

Originally Posted by loochy

Me is trying to patent a system to never buy a Ford

Right.

Ford's trying to build cars that snitch on drivers for speeding.

Tesla is already selling cars that are 100% driverless.

Hmmm...which of these technical advancements will the consumer prefer

I guess we'll see...

[Bearcat]

[QUOTE=BWillie;17613030

My work will be posthumously praised in the same vein as Hawking, Einstein, and Van Gogh.[/QUOTE]

Can't ****in' wait.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Can't ****in' wait.

Ahh yes you wish for my death. I do not wish for your death Bearcat. I wish you the very best.

[displacedinMN]

so does it self report?

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by stanleychief

I wonder if Ford is playing 4D chess here. If you have a patent on such technology, nobody else (in theory) would be able to develop a similar system without licensing it from you. Ford already sells a ton of vehicles to police departments, which would likely be the real customer of such a system. I doubt they were thinking of equipping consumer vehicles with this.

This was my initial thought as well.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by CapsLockKey

What they really need is a way to identify idiots staring at their phone while driving. They are more dangerous than speeders.

Remember when that was a thing?

My memory is not very good on this, but I know my Challenger won't allow you to input to the GPS while the car is moving and I thought some phones had that as well?

There were a lot of states that had strict laws on cell phone use while driving but they seem to have just given up as it is so rampant now.

[srvy]

If Ford would do this they may as well change their name to NARK.

I can actually see a day in the not-to-distant future with smart cars that have programmed all road speed limits in the US and govern your speed so that you can't exceed it. It will also detect road construction and govern slow downs till you are clear.

[Mecca]

A who would buy this?

B guess we won't need nearly as many cops then since writing tickets seems to be what they prefer to do.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Mecca

A who would buy this?

B guess we won't need nearly as many cops then since writing tickets seems to be what they prefer to do.

Do they even write a ticket anymore? I think the traffic division has been cut to the bone. I cant even remember seeing a motorcycle cop this spring or summer. I don't see radar cops on overpasses at all. What I do see is expired plates and Temp tags.