Foxy’s Blog

Press release. In some areas speed cameras could increase the risk of fatal and serious accidents, a study has concluded. The RAC Foundation, which carried out the study, believes some of the cameras appear to be causing accidents rather than preventing them.

The research found that at 21 camera sites the number of collisions appeared to have increased. Only a third of speed-camera partnerships overall supplied data in a usable form, the true extent of the problem could be much worse. Speed cameras can cause accidents if a driver is speeding, sees the speed camera too late and jams his foot on the break in fear of been finned. This kind of behaviour can provoke chain collisions if drivers following are distracted.

Despite evidence of some speed cameras causing more harm than good, Prof Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, insisted the cameras played an important role in road safety. “If cameras were turned off overnight there would be something like 80 extra people killed a year and 800 people killed or seriously injured so the evidence is very good that on average they do work, they are effective.” So cameras aren’t going away for now.

To avoid fines and accidents related to speed camera, Android smartphone users can download FoxyTag’s new application Camera Tagger. It is a simple and free Android application that warns drivers about speed cameras, mobile speed cameras, traffic light cameras and average speed cameras (SPECS). An alarm is launched 15 seconds before encountering one. In fact, in the UK, the police encourage use of these systems, as drivers who are aware of speed camera locations are more likely to slow down at accident black spots.

The 15 seconds delay is enough to react in an appropriate manner and avoid accidents and fines. For instance on motorways people generally drive slightly faster than the limit. When Camera Tagger triggers the alarm, stopping accelerating is usually enough to cross the speed camera at the right speed.

FoxyTag motivates neither speeding nor any other risky behaviour, but allows the driver to concentrate on the road instead of having his eyes fixed on the speedometer, by fear of being flashed.

Camera Tagger in action

For more information please visit:

http://www.foxytag.com
http://market.android.com

– Foxy

Press release. Speed cameras stand no chance against FoxyTag’s robot. This robot saves drivers money by helping them tag speed cameras, which is the key to FoxyTag’s success.

Many drivers feel that the only thing speed cameras have done successfully is to reduce the number of traffic officers patrolling our roads with many decent people losing their driving licences. To prevent this from happening a computer robot helps drivers mark the location of speed cameras. FoxyTag’s robot creates links between people sharing the same opinion about a speed camera, and uses this trust network to return only pertinent information to the user. It also protects the server against spammers and people harming the system.

This robot makes FoxyTag unique. It is the only worldwide collaborative speed camera warning system that is completely self-managed. Spammers and other malevolent users are automatically excluded, and honest participants receive reliable up-to-date information thanks to the trust links created between them.

Drivers tend to brake suddenly when they see a speed camera (even if they are not speeding), which can provoke traffic jams or even accidents. Having a speed camera locator system could save lives and money.

Some people have decided that Post-it notes, Silly String, and even pickaxes were the finest way to deal with such an invasion of their private car time. FoxyTag offers a legal, free and better way of dealing with them: BoBCam. Using the FoxyTag worldwide collaborative camera database and its robot, a new free speed camera warning application offers new features. This Android application warns its users when approaching speed cameras, mobile speed cameras, average speed cameras (SPECS) and also traffic light cameras. Fixed and mobile cameras will launch an alarm 15 seconds before the critical point.

BoBCam automatically tracks the driver’s speed through a SPECS zone and displays the speed the user needs to adhere to respect the speed restrictions. The most useful feature is probably the offline mode that makes the worldwide 48’000 speed cameras available without internet. The application will automatically switch between online and offline depending on internet availability. This means BoBCam can be used abroad for no extra fee.

According to Robert Morris, a delivery driver with tight deadlines, BoBCam can make you save points on your driving licence and money: “BoBCam has already saved me a couple of hundred pounds and I have only been using it for two weeks.”

BobCam in action

For more information please visit:

http://www.foxytag.com
http://market.android.com

– Foxy

Press release. Police in most countries are expanding the use of hi-tech speed cameras. BoBCam’s job is to remember the locations of these speed cameras in order to warn drivers before encountering them.

Average speed enforcement systems (SPECS) use linked cameras that cover a length of road. They are used to control speeds by calculating the average speed of a vehicle from the time it takes to pass between pairs of safety cameras. Average speed cameras can be used as a temporary measure during road works so their position can change.

BoBCam, a new and free Android application warns its users before encountering speed cameras, red light cameras, average speed cameras and even police traps. But when the driver is in an average speed section the application shows the remaining distance and the speed he should do to stay under the average speed limit. If the user is under the speed limit then the speed limit for the section will be displayed in green. However if the driver’s average speed if higher than the limit the recommended speed will be red and re-calculated every second so the user can adapt his speed accordingly.

BoBCam uses the worldwide FoxyTag database which is already used by many other systems and with a growing number of users. The application can be used offline as it has an updatable database containing 40’000 speed cameras worldwide. If the phone has a network access the application will use the FoxyTag server to get more reliable information. It is possible to tag new speed cameras by marking the spot as having a camera. Users can confirm speed cameras but they can also remove a speed camera that doesn’t exist anymore.

FoxyTag’s collaborative model makes it the most complete and up-to-date speed camera database in the world. FoxyTag motivates neither speeding nor any other risky behaviour, but allows the driver to concentrate on the road and not on his speedometer for fear of being flashed.

BobCam in action

For more information please visit:

http://www.foxytag.com
http://market.android.com

– Foxy

Press release. Nearly a quarter of drivers in Britain have been penalised for speeding in the past four years with 6,500+ speed cameras on UK roads. The number of motorists caught speeding is set to rise as enforcement cameras make a comeback across the UK.

Scamera Hunter is a new and totally free speed camera warner on Android. Its purpose is to help drivers save money by warning them about the speed cameras that are in front of them. Not only this application warns users when approaching speed cameras but also mobile speed cameras, average speed cameras, traffic light cameras and ghosts (places where there are often mobile speed cameras). The most important point is that this application can be used abroad as it has an offline mode. If you have no network coverage the application will automatically switch to offline so that the user can use it without using a foreign country’s 3G network (which can be very expensive). When driving in an average speed section the application will tell the user if his average is too high or not. Thanks to the new FoxyTag Android API the application uses the FoxyTag database which contains information on more than 40,000 speed cameras worldwide. This free application allows users to tag any kind of camera and add them to the database so that other users can be warned.

The system relies on a trust engine so if the user participates by confirming existing cameras, he will create a trust link with other users and benefit from more reliable information. FoxyTag’s collaborative model makes it the most complete and up-to-date speed camera database in the world. FoxyTag motivates neither speeding nor any other risky behaviour, but allows the driver to concentrate on the road and not on his speedometer for fear of being flashed.

Scamera Hunter in action

For more information please visit:

http://www.foxytag.com
http://market.android.com

– Foxy

According to a survey by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), 82 per cent of people now think it is acceptable for authorities to use speed cameras.

However 45 per cent think that raising income is still a main reason for their use, according to the results of the IAM’s annual speed camera survey. Interestingly, the more prevalent speed cameras are in a given region, the less popular they are with local people.

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The Austrian Oaf! Arnold Schwarzenegger dodges a ticket again after being stopped by a policeman for the second time in a week.

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The number of speeding tickets issued in Bristol since roadside cameras were switched off has dropped by more than two-thirds. However, accidents have not gone up. In fact, the number of collisions on Avon and Somerset’s roads has continued to fall.

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A new report on speed cameras in Thames Valley which will be published on Tuesday casts doubt on their effectiveness as a road safety tool.

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Local Area Command (LAC) Highway Patrol Sergeant Dave Bramble believes the removal of two speed cameras at Tilbuster and Llangothlin last November has had no detrimental impact.

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Press release. FoxyTag provides for free an Android API allowing anyone to develop very easily his own speed camera warner and to benefit from the most complete speed cameras database.

FoxyTag is a worldwide speed camera warning system working on mobile phones. The system is collaborative and self-managed: The users “tag” the speed cameras and some electronic trust engines check the quality of the posted information. FoxyTag contains today more than 37′000 fixed speed cameras, mainly in Europe, South Africa, Australia, Maghreb, UAE, Brazil, China, Taïwan, USA, Canada, Russia, New Zealand, Singapore and Israel. FoxyTag signals also mobile speed cameras and ghosts (places where there are often mobile speed cameras).

The business model is very simple. FoxyTag manages the server and the database, and there are independent partners who create applications for the smartphones. These partners can sell their application as they want, they simply pay a fee to use the FoxyTag system. This way of doing allowed to create rapidly different speed camera warning systems for Java, iPhone and Android.

In order to accelerate the production of new applications, FoxyTag offers to its partners an API containing all the code to build a speed camera warner. The developers can then either simply customize it by changing the images, or to undertake further developments to provide new functionalities. According to Xavier Lemarchand, a former iPhone developer converted to Android, this offer is essential to ensure the involvement of new partners: “The success of a new application is so random that developers want to produce a first draft as quickly as possible, even if they have later to rework some parts before starting improvements. This API limits the risk.”

The first speed camera warning system built on this API is called AndroEye and is available free of charge. Then followed Cam Tag, iRadars, SpotRadars and StopRadars, all available for 2.35 EUR or for free in their Lite version, version supported by advertising.

AndroEye in action

For more information please visit:

http://www.foxytag.com

– Foxy