Safe Speed Forums

I read in an industry electronics magazine that there is an EU directive to make GSM systems mandatory by the year 2009. This will automaticaly call the emergency services in the event of an accident.

Sounds good (ish) but I would imagine personal communications equipment will become smart enough to do that anyway if you want. Plus is this a cynical ploy to make sure the police get convictions for minor bumps that would not normaly get "processed" through the system.

Maybe I am getting too jaded by all this police state stuff.

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Speed camera policy Kills

I'm left wondering how a GSM system would recognise an accident and not waste police etc. time with false alarms. For example, what happens if you drive a little quickly over a pothole or speed bump. What happens if you take your car out for a track day and have a prang. What happens if you accidentally drive into the back of your own garage. None of those incidents would require police presence, yet I suspect that such a system would "issue a call-out".

I also wonder whether the Government would be obliged to provide the GSM account.

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Will

It operates when the airbag sensor goes off.

Nope, you have to pay for that. Yet another Stealth Tax. The government get the VAT on the subscription.

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Speed camera policy Kills

So as long as i dont have airbags ill be fine?

/me strokes classic car

If this scheme encourages even one person to disconnect their airbag, then it's a bad thing.

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Carl Prescott

And if you have an accident out of range of a transmitter (central London for instance according to a recent article) you have to lie there screeming for help because everyone thinks your car already called for help?

Or around midnight on NYE when it takes hours for even an SMS message to get through?

Good point. The Emergency services do not use GPS/GSM based navigation systems because of the unreliability of the network.

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Speed camera policy Kills