New device would let police detect texting and driving
Speed Trap Ahead
A Virginia-based company has created a device that promises to be the bane of distracted drivers everywhere, according to CBS Local in Washington.
Most U.S. states have laws that allow people to talk on their cell phones while driving. But texting is illegal nearly everywhere while driving, and for the cops trying to spot texters on the road, this is sometimes a slippery slope. After all, it's pretty hard to tell if somebody is texting or talking when they drive past you at 60-plus mph.
That's where ComSonics, of Harrisonburg, Va., enters the picture. The company is developing a device that's able to alert police when a mobile phone is used inside a vehicle — and the product can differentiate between phone call and text usage, reports the Virginian-Pilot. The technology was originally designed for cable repairmen who needed to find a leak in a cable. Because of the way it points and shoots to do its work, which is similar to how a radar gun operates, ComSonics decided to make a few tweaks and develop it for potential use by police.
The hurdles the company seems to be facing, according to 2014 stories, include a legislative green light and "commitment from law enforcement." For all you privacy advocates, here's an interesting tidbit: ComSonics told the Virginian-Pilot that the device "could not decrypt the information that is transmitted by drivers."
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