New UK road signs to detect and warn of mobile usage

[FROSTYBALLS]

See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/10/uks-first-road-signs-will-detect-warn-drivers-using-mobile-phones/

[Guest]

3 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/10/uks-first-road-signs-will-detect-warn-drivers-using-mobile-phones/

I like the idea.I really do, i want to see people get off their damn phones while driving.

But I hate it when a good idea is fraudulently presented as operationally sound. This here is basically tech fraud, and genuine fake news.

There is all sorts of technical issues with this - Its just not technically capable of making the determinations it claims. Its accuracy and reliability level would be appallingly bad.

To make it actually work, you would have to triangulating the signal to a moving precision of 10cm by a large network of sensors along a long path, say a mile. Even then, you still cant determine if that is in a car or not, you would need ridiculous amounts of additional detectors to determine what is a car, if there is a car, if the cars position matches the phone, if the car is left or right hand drive, and if he phone is in the drivers seat during the call. Then you have the problem of when a phone is legally secured, used on hand free, BUT not via bluetooth, like so many aftermarket head units, plus SOS and CS systems in prestige cars, motorcycles, pushbikes, etc.... the list of determinations is huge.

6000 grand wont get you anything other than a sign that goes off from any nearby mobile call. 60,000 would help start, and 600,000 would more likely be needed for ONE sign.

With the system described as it is now, anyone could trigger the warning at any time just by making a normal call near the basic radial sensor. Be that a passenger in the car on their phone, pedestrians anywhere near the sensor on theirs, another car along side with their passenger or driver on the phone, etc. The list of possible false flags is just to large to make this credible with current tech. Augmented reality systems are slightly better at achieving this goal of phone detection while driving, and cheaper, but they too are terrible inaccurate, unreliable and expensive.

IMO They would have been better to put the money into signs signs saying "Mobile Phone detectors in area, fines may apply", as well as officers to patrol the area with eyes and ears.

Again, I support the initiative and the ideology here, but this just isn't a practical solution, its very poor way of using funds which I feel could have been spent better for the purpose. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hardly fake news. The Norfolk County Council website contains the following information - https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/2018/07/norfolk-is-the-first-place-in-the-uk-to-trial-new-mobile-phone-detection-technology

[hubrad]

She says use of a mobile is illegal, carelessly omitting the word ' handheld '.