There are more than 60 jurisdictions across America that now use closed circuit video to patrol street and highway intersections with stop lights. The aim is to prevent drivers from running red lights and to catch and fine drivers who do run the lights. The application has been in place in some locales for more than 10 years but it is spreading. And so is the controversy. Some lawyers, representing the accused red light runners, charge that the camera systems are nothing more than revenue generators for towns and cities. More troubling, a draft report from the office of U.S. House of Representatives' Majority Leader Dick Armey (Rep.) will suggest that yellow light times are reduced when red light cameras are installed - and that endangers people's safety.
Satellite Security Systems (S3) of North America uses Motorola's reflex two-way, GPS, client Internet access and a proprietary monitoring and support center to track mobile assets. The systems also allow end users to obtain information such as speed, direction of travel, longitude and latitude of vehicles as well as remotely control functions of a vehicle. S3 wants to spread its technology to individual consumers so mom and pop can track a teenage son or an old-age relative. There are also some significant hurdles. For example, there are plenty of places near and far where a truck or grandpa would be out of range of wireless communications. And then there's the bad press: a car rental agency is under investigation for charging customers fees for speeding as determined by its vehicle tracking system.