Article: Tailgaters 0wn3d/pwn3d ?

[Autowoofz]

Will it works in $ingapore, especially we got drivers love to cut lane sudden-out-of-no-where syndrome which make worse on the 2sec gaps distance ?

 

@ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1204tailgate1204.html

 

 

Robert Anglen

The Arizona Republic

Dec. 4, 2006 12:00 AM

 

If your idea of a sporting event is riding the tail of a slowpoke on the highway, think again.

 

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is bringing a new device to the game in an attempt to take out tailgaters. Call the ploy laser tag.

 

Using a new laser device that measures the distance between two moving vehicles, officers are citing hundreds of motorists with tailgating tickets that can run more than $100. And they are promising more to come.

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"Tailgating accounts for most of the collisions in the Valley," said DPS Officer Michael Beaudoin, who has written about 100 tickets using the laser in the past year.

 

"The majority of the reactions I get from drivers are that they don't realize they are tailgating."

 

Tailgating is not only a cause of accidents, it is also a factor in many road-rage incidents.

 

Beaudoin said the new device is virtually argument-proof. With it he can show drivers exactly how close they were following another vehicle.

 

"I love it. It seems to be a great tool," he said. "It seems to be educating the people I do stop."

 

The device is sure to please people fed up with aggressive drivers whose cars fill the rearview mirrors.

 

But it also rankles some who think officers have better things to do.

 

"That's dumb," said Mia Hillery a 28-year-old event planner who drives daily between north Scottsdale and Chandler.

 

"It seems like they could spend money on so many different things. . . . They need to catch speeders more than tailgaters."

 

The Arizona driver's license manual cautions motorists to keep at least two seconds between their vehicle and the one in front of them. That's supposed to allow enough time to react if the front driver slams on the brakes.

 

Beaudoin said he regularly targets cars with less than a second of distance between them.

 

"I've seen people at 0.04 seconds. That is less than half a second," he said.

 

The tickets are based on a state law that prohibits "following too closely." It doesn't define tailgating beyond "more closely than is reasonable and prudent."

 

For Beaudoin, that means two seconds in typical driving conditions.

 

Beaudoin, who is assigned to the East Valley, said the laser is most effective just before rush hour, when traffic is beginning to get heavy but is still moving fast. Typically, Beaudoin sets up on Loop 101.

 

The laser is similar to a radar speed gun except it also can measure distance between vehicles.

 

Beaudoin said he sets the gun to measure the distance from his position to the center of a traffic lane. When two cars pass that location, he uses the gun to track the speed of both vehicles and calculate the distance between them.

 

The laser device, called a Lidar, is manufactured by Laser Technology Inc. of Colorado, which invented the radar speed gun. The Lidar is being used extensively in Australia, Canada and Hong Kong. The device also has proved popular among several police departments in Oregon.

 

Unlike radar units for tracking speeders, the Lidar laser is much more accurate. For instance, a radar typically shoots a beam that is 12 feet wide at 100 feet. By comparison, the laser beam is only 3 feet wide at 1,000 feet.

 

In addition to detecting tailgating, the Lidar device also can be used for speed detection and accident reconstruction.

 

The cost of a tailgating ticket varies in each Arizona jurisdiction, state Motor Vehicle Division spokeswoman Cydney DeModica said. Fines for following too closely in Phoenix are $115 plus any court fees.

 

DPS has nine Lidar units, all being used in the Phoenix area. But the department is looking at purchasing 19 more.

 

Sgt. Tim Bolger of the Highway Patrol Division said the DPS has an $80,000 grant that probably will be used to buy the guns, which cost about $3,995 each.

 

But he said there is one drawback: repairs. If a gun gets damaged, the department has no choice but to send it back to the manufacturer.

 

Bolger said the DPS is hoping the manufacturer will train and certify officers to do standard repairs on the device to reduce costs.

 

"We have the grant, and we are moving forward with the process," Bolger said.

 

Lydon Fitzgerald, 19, who drives daily between Mesa and Tempe, said the thought of a tailgating gun will make him more careful.

 

"I'm going to watch my tailgating. I'll be going, 'One 1,000, two 1,000.' "

[Blackyv]

why not?? as long some smart alec can justify the purchase and showing very good moolah contributor to TP's pocket, buying 50 pieces or so of this gadget at one go is a peanut...

[Yanuk]

how are they going to get me if I tailgate? put a car half a meter behind another car. Then from the side of the road, you try to see if you can see the number plate of the car behind.

[Yinpin2003]

i dun think sg will hv it right

[Blackyv]

i think this gadget will measure the distance btw 2 cars and capturing the speed also. with this 2 information, and some standard guideline formula to base on, it can tell is u tailgating..

 

for example (my own thought..):

 

standard guideline of gap for a speed of 60km/h is 3 meters, so If any two cars moving at that speed together with a gap btw them only 1.9m, that means the car behind is tailgating lor...

[Blackyv]

u dun "think" so early........ i dare not say out loud now since they always have new budget to buy new gadget every year.... 2007 is nearing with new budget to spend soon..

[Chemz]

come to think of it. i think the thai govt should get it. they'd be loaded overnight.

[Route88]

I dont think this applies in SG.

Not much road space

[Corgan]

They should do something about road hoggers as well.

[Shull]

its because of the existence of road hoggers you have tailgaters..

[Trex7764]

Spore oredi has the perfect device to catch tailgaters. Its just that LTA not enforcing the rule thats all.

 

If u are wondering what it is, its the ERP Gantries.

 

U are considered tailgating if the separation between the car in front and your car is < 2 seconds.

[Tanzy]

Let's do maths!

 

Vehicle separation at 60km/h is 33m because at that speed, that is the distance covered in 2 seconds.

At 100km/h it is 56m. More than 10 car lengths!

 

Based on the 2 second rule, everyone in Singapore is tailgating.

[Imaginary]

I take issue more with road hoggers. They are the major cause of traffic jams and accidents. Tailgating is more often than not a natural effect of road hogging.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Imaginary

[Trex7764]

RIGHT ON!

2 seconds is the minimum time required for a normal human being to react and stop his his car in time to avoid kissing the vehicle in front. If you cannot stop your vehicle, you are considered to be tailgating

[Superblackbox]

u r darn rite. Its because of road hogger. come alive of tailgates...

just how many time u see ppl road hog on the 1st lane. and still ther are many who will say. HEY I Travel speed limit mah. i can be on 1st lane? .

 

try tht in NSH n one will knw whts going to be shaft up yur S...

[Devilmaycry]

Lately, I'm seeing a rising trend of road hoggers on the expressway. Not sure why, might be due to the lowering price tag of owning a vehicle in sg that more cars are on the road nowadays.

 

Frankly speaking, I don't mind hoggers in any of the right lane be it CTE, AYE, KJE, BKE etc, if i can overtake the slow vehicle easily on the left, i will just carry on with my journey without showing signs of frustration. However what irritates me the most are the frequency that I'm seeing this on sg roads.

 

Btw, I'm also not encouraging tailgating cos it's a dangerous and wild act. If you don't know your car condition, better not try. Your tires(V impt), weather(not really impt), brakes(V impt) and lastly your judgement(depends on individual). If your car mostly all stock with mod bodykit , you can never perform this act. And if your vehicle belongs to 1600cc and year manufactured less than 2000. You are a danger to other road users if you're tailgating.

[Raining]

For differences between singaporean and msia drivers its a cultural thing although I maybe generalising a tad too much . I go malaysia pretty often and notice malaysia drivers generally more polite and forgiving. If you signal right ( in singapore we use highbeam ) on the 1st lane, most will give way to you. Of coz road rage is very prevalent in my experience. I got one incident on the way to KL while queuing behind a toll, a Msia car ( Filled with 5 people ) simply charge into my single lane and scratch my ride. What follows is they ( all 5 ) came down his car and tried to kick/spit/bang my ride as he assumes I am travelling alone with my gf and try to bully me to cowardace. What he didnt know is I always uses walkie talkie and carry a steering-lock metal bar in msia with my friends. After they ( all 5 ) realised I have much more cars and a hell lot more people .....well , you can guess the rest.

 

Even with the above incident I still felt malaysia drivers are generally better drivers. Besides the bad eggs, most are more forgiving, more willinging to give way. Do bear in mind that inter-state travelling takes many hours for them , so they have every right to feel frustrated in the event of road hoggers or tail gaters. More so than us I'm afraid.

 

Of course I dont wanna turn this thread into a Flag bashing thingy as these are from my own experiences. Then again, the way they cut lanes at customs really powerpack

[Raining]

Hmmm.... yea man. Strange thrend emerging ... 10 years back right lanes are for cars travelling super fast ... 10 years later too many high tech gizmos/media scare everyone so all abide the speed limit. But watching some folks going at 70-80 kmh on right lane really frustrating sometimes