New GPS device helps you avoid getting traffic tickets
It seems somewhat doubtful that when GPS was first invented that the inventors had ‘avoiding traffic tickets’ ticked off in the ‘pros’ column of their checklist, but that hasn’t stopped one company from leveraging the technology to do just that.
Cobra, a longtime manufacturer of CB radios, radar detectors and navigation equipment, has launched a new GPS device named SL3 GPS Safety Camera Locator with AURA Camera & Driving Hazard Database (we imagine this will be shortened on the box…). The concept is that the device warns you via a series of LED lights and beeps when you are in close proximity to red light cameras, speed cameras and other potential road hazards. Using your vehicles speed, the SL3 will calculate how far in advance to warn you of the potential problem, hopefully giving you enough time to slow down or choose an alternate route if it is something like road construction.
The AURA database is a constantly updated resource of the locations of various types of speed cameras and the numerous hazards a driver could face on the road. Via a USB connection, the owner of the SL3 will be able to hook the device up to their computer and download the latest updates from AURA that are published daily. Cobra also gets involved by verifying that data of speed and red-light cameras and dangerous intersections by communicating directly with municipal police departments, traffic bureaus, state transportation agencies and proprietary data partners.
The initial price for the SL3 is $99.95 and includes one year of free updates from AURA, but there is no mention of what it would cost you after that initial year.
It’s amazing to see how technology changes over time, and it’s even more amazing how GPS, a system originally devised for the military, keeps being adapted to some of the oddest civilian uses.
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