Freedom Lawyers of America

> Police call for remote button to stop cars
> Motorists face new 'Big Brother' technology
> Juliette Jowit, transport editor Sunday December 21, 2003 The Observer
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1111211,00.html
>
> After speed cameras, road humps and mobile phone bans, there could be more
> bad news for Britain's motorists. Police are urging Ministers to give them
> the power to stop vehicles by remote control.
>
> In what will be seen as yet another example of the in-creasing power of
Big
> Brother, drivers face the prospect of their cars being halted by somebody
> pushing a button.
>
> The police lobby is being led by Superintendent Jim Hammond of Sussex
> police, who chairs an Association of Chief Police Officers technology
> working group which is examining the idea.
>
> 'Providing an effective means to remotely stop a vehicle is fast becoming
a
> priority,' Hammond told a European conference. 'The development of a safe
> and controlled system to enable remote stopping has the potential to
> directly save lives.'
>
> However, Bert Morris, deputy director of the AA Motoring Trust said:
> 'People don't like the idea of Big Brother taking over their driving. In
> years to come that might be acceptable, but it's very, very important that
> there's a step-by-step approach.'
>
> Cars could be stopped by the gradual reduction of engine power so it
slowly
> comes to a stop, or by making sure when drivers come to a halt they can
not
> move again.
>
> Stopping cars remotely sounds futuristic, but the basic technology is
> already available and used in lorries to limit the top speed to 56mph and
> in new systems to immobilise stolen cars.
>
> The key is the electronics box in most new cars which, when the driver
> presses the accelerator or brake, sends a message to the engine to speed
up
> or slow down. It can be programmed to limit the speed generally or
> according to the position of the car, established via a GPS satellite. For

> remote operation, a modem, which works like a mobile phone, can be used
> tell the car to slow down or stop.
>
> Similar radio telemetry was used by Formula One pit crews to adjust the
> engines of racing cars at up to 200mph - until it was banned this year.
>
> 'The technology exists and will become more refined as time goes on,' said
> Nick Rendell, managing director of the Siemens business developing this
> technology in the UK.
>
> A senior police officer - assumed to be the chief constable or deputy -
can
> already give the order to stop a car remotely, but that power has rarely
if
> ever been used, said Morris. To use any new powers more widely, police
must
> first overcome some practical problems to reassure Ministers that vehicles
> would be stopped safety. Ministers will also want reassurances that
drivers
> would not be mistakenly stopped.
>
> ACPO insists that it would only introduce the technology when it was safe.
> It is calling on the Government to introduce the legislation which it says
> will be vital to stop vehicles when - as expected - manufacturers develop
> tyres that run when they are flat. This will make 'stingers' - the spiked
> strips thrown in front of speeding cars - useless to stop stolen and
> get-away cars or dangerous drivers.
>
> It is also linked to pressure to make cars 'pointless to steal' because of
> growing concern about more violent car crime as vehicles become harder to
> take. The RAC Foundation recently found there were as many as 1,200 car
> jackings in Britain last year.
>
> Another link is to technology which would stop cars going above certain
> speed limits - either a fixed maximum such as 70mph, or varying according
> to the local limit.
>
> The system could even be programmed to reduce speeds below the limit in
bad
> weather or when school children were expected to be about, said Robert
> Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport
> Safety, which believes the technology could cut the 3,420 deaths a year on
> Britain's roads by 59 per cent.
>
> Experts now believe the technology could start to be used voluntarily by
> the end of the decade and ultimately could be made mandatory.
>
>
> More on policing
> 02.06.2002: David Rose: Short straw for law
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,726381,00.html
> 17.03.2002: Andrew Rawnsley: Boys in blue will test Blair's bottle
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,668783,00.html
> 09.12.2001: Cristina Odone: Why do we knock the boys in blue?
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,615709,00.html
> 31.03.2002: 'Clean-up' police branded corrupt
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,742432,00.html
> 02.12.2001: I'll tackle our failing police, says Blunkett
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,742437,00.html
> 02.12.2001: Blunkett on the police: the Observer interview in full
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,742442,00.html
> 02.12.2001: Revealed: the country's worst police
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,742443,00.html
>
> Observer prisons debate
> 08.08.2002: Thinktank review: Solid convictions
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,771435,00.html
> 04.08.2002: Mary Riddell: An abuse of human rights
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,768971,00.html
> 11.08.2002: Paul Donovan: What happens when victims of injustice are
freed?
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,771367,00.html
> 28.07.2002: Michael Naughton: the scale of wrongful convictions
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,764137,00.html
> 28.07.2002: Sarah Spencer: We are all part of the war against crime
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,12079,764668,00.html
> 10.02.2002: Mark Leech: Why part-time porridge won't
> workhttp://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,647678,00.html
> 10.02.2002: Unlocking the prisons debate: responses to Blunkett
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,648091,00.html
> 03.02.2002: Mary Riddell: Prison doesn't work ...
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,644040,00.html
> 03.02.2002: David Blunkett: ...but rehabilitation and reform could
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,643990,00.html
> 03.02.2002: 'Soft touch' plan to end jails crisis
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,644055,00.html
> Observer Comment
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/0,6903,156041,00.html
>
> More from Guardian Unlimited
> Special report: crime
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/Guardian/crime/0,2759,339240,00.html
> Special report: prisons
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/Guardian/prisons/0,7368,464445,00.html
> Politics: more on home affairs
> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/Politics/homeaffairs/0,11026,584184,00.html
>