Google StreetView inspires copycat Smart ForTwo police patrol in UK

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Google StreetView inspires copycat Smart ForTwo police patrol in UK – UK Auto News

Posted on 09 April 2009 Tags: a-camera-mast, a-friend-via, a-pilot-program, evening-news, local, police, Smart, uk auto news, what-the-police

Filed under: Euro, Government/Legal, UK

After revolutionizing search, advertising, and e-mail, Google is changing the way police in Greater Manchester keep track of motorists: Filming them a la StreetView.

After having seen Google’s StreetView car doing its Cylon sweep of everything, everywhere, the local authorities were apparently inspired to outfit Smart ForTwos with high-rise cameras to capture data. The cars will focus their views near “a high occurrence of ‘driver distraction’ collisions and where officers have regularly observed offenses being committed.”

The police aren’t trying to hide anything — the ForTwos are evidently outfitted in official livery, and besides, there’s that gigantic telephone pole of a camera mast sticking out of the roof as a less-than-subtle tipoff. What the police are hoping is that you won’t be able to hide anything, either.

The surveiling Smart cars are only part of a pilot program for now, but you can bet that if they’re effective, you’ve only seen the beginning of them.

Thanks, Google…

[Source: Daily Mail via CNET | Image: Manchester Evening News]

Google StreetView inspires copycat Smart ForTwo police patrol in UK originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google StreetView inspires copycat Smart ForTwo police patrol in UK – UK Auto News

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