Phantom Alert: keeping mediocre driving alive
Designers of a controversial new software say it can help you find red light and speed cameras, and even DUI checkpoints.
In Washington, drivers can get a $124 ticket if caught by a red light camera. Driver Darrel Miles is not a fan.
“Because if you go through a yellow light when it just turns yellow, it gets your picture. Not even red yet and you get a ticket for it,” said Miles.
Enter Phantom Alert, the software you download into your GPS that claims to help you avoid those cameras.
Supporters of the cameras say they decrease accidents, but opponents say they’re little more than money makers for cities sucking millions of dollars out of the economy.
Authorities worry Phantom Alert will encourage people to continue their poor driving habits without feeling the sting of a costly ticket.
But, the designers of the software argue it is they who are making the roads safer.
“If people know how many cameras and checkpoints are out there, it will scare them into driving safely,” said Phantom Alert CEO Joe Scott.
Police don’t necessarily buy that argument and concede they’ll never outsmart American capitalism, but dangerous drivers will pay one way or another.
“Either they’re going to get a ticket or they’re going to get into an accident,” said Lt. Heidi Hoffman, Lakewood Police Department.
As for where the company gets its information, camera locations are already available to the public. Some information comes from drivers who report speed traps and mobile cameras and, in some cases, the company says it’s getting data from police themselves who are using it as a public service.
