Big brother is watching: gps speeding tickets!

[Stark]

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GPS: Gotta Pay for Speeding
Coming to small claims court: Roadrunner vs. Acme Rent-a-Car.
By Colleen Van Tassell
Published 06/14/01
James Turner is taking Big Brother to small claims court.
Turner's taking his own car. Big Brother's driving a rental.
A rental outfitted with a high-tech device that tracks your every move. One that records your speed. One that enables rental car agents to rip off unsuspecting drivers.

Turner's really suing Acme Rent-A-Car on Whalley Avenue in New Haven for cozying up with Big Brother. He's trying to recoup a $450 charge for allegedly speeding on his way to Virginia in an Acme minivan. The van was equipped with a Global Positioning System, or GPS, which transmits data via satellite. It clocked him &quot;going at speeds in excess of 90 mph on three separate occasions,&quot; according to court papers. The internal device did, but the cops didn't.

When Turner signed Acme's rental agreement last October, he didn't notice the warning at the top of the contract that read: &quot;Vehicles in excess of posted speed limit will be charged $150 fee per occurrence. All our vehicles are GPS equipped.&quot; >>



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This is amazing. The big question: will future technology give us new freedoms, or take away those we already have? This story shows what could happen. 😱

 

[Soybomb]

If the guy didn't read the contract I don't feel alot of sorrow for him. Its not like the government is putting a gps in your car and checking the speeds, its a rental company trying to protect their investment. Maybe it will help stop people from beating up on rental cars so much..

 

[Shmorq]

Once word spreads about this, you can be sure that nobody will rent from Acme Rent-a-Car.

This is kind of like the EZ-Pass thing (in NY area). Since it logs exactly the time when you cross a toll, it's possible to figure out whether or not your were speeding based on the time and the distance between the tolls. However so far, this information hasn't been used to pass out speeding tickets which is the right move since otherwise, nobody would use it.

 

[littleprince]

just because he didnt read the contract in full he should be screwed?

important things like this should be pointed out to him!!

dont tell me you read every single little contract...

 

[frizzlefry]

Wow! kinda reminds me of the agreement with autowraps or some other car ad agency. You are required to have a GPS installedi n the car. You must obey al speed laws. And they can track you and see if you aren't obeying. They don't ticket you but your'e out of your extra cash. Sucks dont it?

 

[Wedesdo]

hehehe.. Acme-Rent-A-Car is dead...

this was probably a little ploy on their part to get a little extra cash from their customers - however, after everyone finds out about this, their business will slowly drop to zero...

they deserve it

 

[Soybomb]

<< just because he didnt read the contract in full he should be screwed?

important things like this should be pointed out to him!!

dont tell me you read every single little contract...

>>

It says the warning was at the top of the contract, so its not like it was hidden and he had to dig for it. he was just too lazy to read it. As a matter of fact,I don't read all contracts, but if I'm giving a company my credit card number, makng myelf responsible for damages to a $20k piece of equipment, etc, there is a pretty good chance I'd make it a very thorough skimming. To be blut, the dumbass didn't read what he signs, and now thinks he should be bailed out. This happens way too much in our society. He needs to be responisble for his own actions, take his lumps, and learn his lesson.

 

[Sloth]

Everyone keeps saying the company is dead. It will be the next big thing for rental companies. I am sure you will see more and more of it as time goes on. The companies want to protect their investments. Soon enough you will have to go with the small no name company if you want a car without it.

If you think people will not use it, think about bank charges for using someone elses ATM. For the few customers it will chase away they will make up for the $$ in the fines.


S.

 

[Viper GTS]

So if you want to speed you need to keep it above their limit the entire time. Then you only have one &quot;incident.&quot;

90 mph all the way.

😀

Viper GTS

 

[Mrburns2007]

Find the GPS equip and turn it off or cut the cable.

 

[blueghost75]

lol at viper GTS......

yea, i wouldn't do any business with them, and if i had to, i would find the GPS and do something to make it not work.....

 

[Rogue]

Something to remember here. Speeding does not equal wrecklessness all the time. I can see them wanting to track &quot;theft&quot; of the vehicle, but it's universally accepted that if you speed and get into an accident, there's some level of liability there. Theft is something that costs car rental locations a lot of money, speeding ultimately costs them nothing as the driver's insurance should cover any damage done as a result. This is just another &quot;big brother&quot; feature that will ultimately fail.

 

[Dually]

Look they are looking to make a buck not a difference. Msot people speed even if its over by 1 mph and that will cost $150 each time! They are scammers.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Our rental department has had gps units in their cars for about a year now. I don't think they bother with speeding too much, just location.