Having just done a whirlwind tour of Massachusetts I can tell you that the police are out in force. On the way up from Connecticut, we say about 5 speed traps or an average or one every forty miles or so. Devices used varied between laser and radar and a number of cars were in the process of having tickets issued as I passed by.

I didn’t think much of it until I returned and read Tom Keating’s blog about the Undetectable Speed Detector which basically uses a camera and a computer to determine speed. No laser and no radar means nothing to detect which means speeders are screwed. There is no defense against such a device except perhaps cloaking technology which we all know Earthlings are banned from using (Sorry about the totally geeky Star Trek reference).

Seriously though, the concept of this technology in mass production is very scary. Imagine the highway cameras that are literally everywhere and the cameras at many intersections can now have this same ability. Since your car is being photographed already it is an easy job to just send you a ticket. No cops needed. No paperwork. There is even technology that will read license plates so if the camera surmises you are speeding it discovers your plate number, queries the Motor Vehicles database and sends you a ticket. Wait till the Motor Vehicle departments start asking for our e-mail addresses. We can have our ticket sent to our Blackberries within a few seconds of us being caught speeding. Isn’t technology great ;-(