Here on the East Coast we have something called E-Z Pass, where you attach a gizmo to your car’s front window (right above the rear-view mirror), pay a lump sum online, and then can pass through tollbooths without stopping – you slow down, a scanner notes your info, and the toll is automatically deducted from your account.
I personally don’t have this – don’t use toll roads/bridges all that often – but I think my understanding is correct.
On some roads, like, say, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the amount you pay is based on the distance traveled. If you don’t have E-Z Pass, you pick up a ticket when you get on, then hand over the ticket and your payment when you exit. If you have E-Z Pass, the system notes where you get on and then makes the distance-based deduction when you get off.
Here’s my question – is any note made of how long it takes you to travel between those two points? If you, say, drove from Harrisburg to Philly, a distance of about 120 miles, in, say, and hour and a half – which would be illegal and therefore not anything I would advocate doing, let alone do myself – could you get caught by checking the E-Z Pass info?
Theoretically, yes. They have all this info. But as an inveterate speeder on the NYS Thruway, and as a longtime EZ Passer, they’ve never bothered me once (about this), so I’d have to say that they’re not interested in using it for such purposes.
Truckers make heavy use of these transponders (some have three or four), they are also used by state DOT’s to bypass weigh/inspection stations. They are used to verify the driver’s log book and citations are written for log violations based on transponder records. I have yet to hear of anyone being cited for speeding, but I’ll bet they’re going to try it. There will probably be court challenges before it’s settled.
I believe EZ Pass records have been subpoenaed for such things as:
-Cheating husband caught crossing the bridge to see girlfriend
-Interstate crimes involving transport of kidnapped victims
-Miscellaneous interstate crimes
It is a matter of time before someone exits the turnpike, causes a fatality and eventually sees the EZ Pass records subpoenaed to demonstrate they were driving fast that day.
Much like the black boxes in autos, the intention was not to provide evidence for a crime, but when the black box in your car that manages the engine can also be used to show you were doing 50 mph when you hit a kid in a wagon on a suburban street, it is just a matter of time before these records are routinely subpoenaed. (The last example is based on a real one, in which a guy killed someone on a suburban street with his Firebird. Defense attys tried to keep out eveidence dowloaded from the car’s computer…which showed he was doing 70mph…or somethine like that).
They could do this, but then less people would use E-Z Pass. This is undesirable because the toll authority really wants people to use it, because it cuts down on traffic and lets them get rid of expensive toll takers.
EZ pass can be used for this, but so can those tickets that you pick up at one point and drop off at the exit (they used to ticket on the NY Thruway many moons ago this way, public putrage stopped this, as well as people avoiding toll roads, way before EZ pass). Years back they sent out a note saying that they will only turn over records to the authorities under cort order.
The statement usually has date and time of entering and leaving such a roadway.
I remember a news story about something similar several years ago with a rental car company (in Texas, I believe, but I’m not sure). They installed GPS units in their cars and were able to tell when the renters were speeding. When they turned the car back in they got hit with hefty penalties for breaking the rental agreement.
Apparently some fine print in the rental contract allowed this, but the public outcry was so great that they discontinued the policy after only a few months.
There is one large difference between data that is collect in your cars control units and EZPass records. Info that is collected in your car’s control units cannot be used in a civil case unless you / your lawyer agree. I am not sure about a criminal case.
I know that we actually reworded our owner manuals a couple years back to reflect this.
If you really want to know, I will dig out out an owner’s manual and post the verbage.
I can’t find any information right now, but I do recall a case where such information was used. I don’t recall if it was criminal or civil, but the owner had no say due to the fact that after the insurance company had written off the car, it then belonged to them.
I was at a legal deposition where I had to testify, and afterwards I got to hear the two lawyers discuss whether or not the data from the car’s SRS crash sensor could be downloaded, and analyzed. The conversation started with our lawyer asking if the data could be downloaded. Which makes perfect sense we were asking to use something that belongs to the person that was suing us.
You do of course realize that once the insurance company pays off the owner of the car for a total, they own the car, and everything in it. I would expect that that includes any data stored in an electronic control unit. So if the new owners decided to allow someone to donload the data, I would think that the previous owner would not have much to say in the matter.
Perhaps it happened in Texas, but it definitely occurred in Connecticut, where American Car Rental of New Haven used GPS to track renters and “charged drivers $150 each time they exceeded the speed limit for more than two consecutive minutes,” according to the New York Times. The Department of Consumer Protection pursued a case against the company, which was forced to stop the practice.
And in California, another car rental company used GPS to track when its cars were driven out of state and subjected the drivers to a higher rate for doing so. This was also pursued by the state government.
But how do they prove that a particular ticket is connected to a particular car? Do they have the toll booth workers calculate quickly and then take the license plate # of every car suspected of speeding before letting them through the toll booth?
E-Z Pass records can be connected to the tag’s owner at a later, more leisurely time, and, being computerized, speed calculated very easily. I suppose the owner can claim that someone else was driving, but I know that that’s not a defense against red-light cameras, and I imagine speeding laws can be re-written that way as well.
The tollbooths already have cameras aimed at license plates to identify toll evaders. There would be no problem at all using those images to match against speeders’ tags.
OK, I called a buddy of mine who is a wheel, not a mushroom like me. He forwarded to me an e mail with 7 attachments! :eek:
I’m not going to qoute from all of them for many reasons, not the least of which is I like working here . The gist of the situtation is:
In 2003 California became the first state to adopt a law related to EDRs. The state requires disclosure to the consumer that a vehicle has EDR capability, and sets requirements for data access. Since then eighteen states have considered EDR laws; five states adopted laws, four failed to adopt, and the remaining states have legislation pending. It is expected that other states will also consider the issue in 2006.
Car makers are pushing for a federal standard so that they do not have to comply with 50 different laws (makes sense to me)
Most of the concern about EDRs has to do with SRS (airbag) systems, but the same laws apply to data that federal regulations require car to record when a check engine light is set.
Anyway
I believe that currently 5 states have laws about EDRs (no I don’t have a list)
Here is the wording of the New york bill which I belive is typical
You will note that system such as On-Star are covered under this law. Also if a technician accesses data such as running parameters when a check engine light is set, this is OK. Data about crashes (not including data that would identify the car in question is OK for research). Other than that
Some time in the mid 70s, the pre-electronic W Va turnpike had a trooper ticket my grandfather for speeding between two toll booths… he didn’t get clocked, they just used the records from the other toll booth, presumably relayed via phone.
It doesn’t take a computer when the taxman cometh…
. The gist of the situtation is: