http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1111211,00.html

seems to me like the UK government is more 'big brother' than the US ..for now atleast.

From your link,

"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."

Does this mean the ECU is already wired up in the UK to be remotely controlled? That's scary.

That's great! How does an everyday villan get their hands on one of those so they can stop some wealthy family and rob them?

Better yet...give it to some nice corrupt peace keepers and let them stop cars with single dames in there so they can get some quickie action.

People are so caught up in fear of terrorism that they are willing to give up anything for a false sense of security.

"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.'"

To me this is the most dangeous statement in the article, a little here, a little there and before you know it you have the thought police.

As long as there's some authorization code that no regular citizen can bypass to stop cars by remote, I'm all for it.

There have been way too many police chases in LA/OC where too many lives have been lost just because the driver wouldn't comply to the police.

Burninating the countryside!! Burninating the peasants!!

...But he was still... TROGDOR!!!!!


LoL love the avatar man (think that's what it's called).

I was stopped last week because the cop"thought i was speeding"no radar no vascar no laser no nothing.When average people can police the police they can bug my car.Im not a cop hater,but dont really care for them either.Whats the world coming to when a 21 year old snot brat punk gets a to carry a gun and harass good people for drivinga car he cant afford on his 30k a year salary.I was driving my dads car not any of mine,guess he thought i was pimp or something in the new 55 coupe.Granted there are some good cops out there but there few and far between.

I know what you mean WTF. There are good cops, but most of those become detectives and desk operators.

It's great that there will be some special codes that prevent regular citizens from tampering and all...but what happens when the corrupt cops get their hands on it? Wait...this world is perfect, no such thing as a corrupt law official...

...time to get crackin' on those Haltech and Motec programming procedures, eh??

USA numba won

There is a quote from someone (can't remember who exactly after many christmas drinks) to the effect, "those willing to sacrifice their liberty for safety deserve neither".

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety"

--- Ben Franklin

uhum. http://members.shaw.ca/blackangel1/articles/contributors/usapatriotact.htm

In some aspects, the ability to stop cars like that would be good for stopping carjackers etc but it could also be dangerous I reckon. For example, if some one was stopped at a time when engine power was needed and there was none, it could cause an accident. Even if there are security systems in place, people will find a way to hack or bypass this system.

I'm curious WTF. Did the jerkoff give you a ticket? I'm pretty sure he'd get laughed out of court if he tried that in Texas. You can get tickets tossed here pretty easily if you even find that the cops were using radar that wasn't recently calibrated. I think they can get a ticket to stand if they actually "tail you" and match your speed, then note that speed on their speedometer. I did see a guy get pulled over on the way to work one day (well I was on MY way to work, have no idea where he was going). I assume the cop was pulling him over for speeding.

About five years ago, some guy wrote a book about getting out of speeding tickets and unfortunately I never bought it. The ravages of time have dimmed some of the detail but in essence his approach was to wait until the last legal minute (like a week or less before trial) and file a Motion of Discovery, requesting five specific documents; the police report, the car's radar calibration records; and three other things. The upshot is that court clerks are too lazy and inefficient to respond to the Motion of Discovery within the specified time. Unless the prosecutor wants to get a continuance and re-set, dragging the cop back in to testify again, then they'll supposedly drop the charges on the spot. Risky at best, but something to keep in mind.

Regarding a remote "kill switch" hopefully we'll never try those here in the US. If guys can hack into the Pentagon computers, they'll be able to hack a transmission code. Too dang dangerious and too damned invasive.

As for tragedies connected with police-chases, it's simple. Make it illegal for police to give chase. Over, done and taken care of. Oh-my-God!!! you might say, but the criminals would go free. HEY, guess what, most criminals DO go free. Happens all the time - no chase involved. I'm not at all sure why exactly it is that a chased criminal (actually suspect at that point) going free is more frustrating than one going free who's never even been seen. Perhaps it's some psychological thing- if we don't see them, they don't exist but if we see them, chase them and lose them, then we somehow lose face or something. Ban police chases!!! It really wouldn't have any significant impact on crime.

Someone's bound to challenge that last "know-it-all" statement and I don't blame ya. But think about it, if something as significant as the Death Penalty doesn't clearly deter crime, how in the heck to you expect the "threat" of being chased by a cop or two to have any real deterrent effect?

Thanks Complex, I should have known it was Ben Franklin as a Philadelphian!
I think discretion should be excercised a bit more often when it comes to high speed police chases. Unless the suspect is known to be armed and dangerous, it is often better for the police to back off rather than risk deadly collisions.

I'm sorry my forefathers. We here this day have completely forgotten what it is that you and your brethen have given your lives fighting for. We no longer know not of the meaning of liberty, for we are willing to give it up for the false belief of security. I am sorry my forefathers, for you and your brother in arms gave up your lives to achieve something that we so ignorant do not deserve.