Avoid Speeding Tickets with Your Smartphone?

Like many other drivers out there, I tend to unintentionally exceed the speed limit. I recently came to the conclusion that I should be able to combat this problem with my trusty Android. So I set out to find an app that would know the legal speed limit of the road I am currently driving on, and alert me if I exceeded that limit. So, after some research, I downloaded Trapster (free of charge) and Speedview Pro ($1.99). Here are my thoughts on the two.

Trapster: This app's strength depends on its users, who are expected to report different “enforcement points” (live police, mobile speed cameras, or check points) when they encounter them on the roads. Although the Trapster app touts having five million users nationwide that are constantly reporting these subterfuges, I found that there were very few reported on the roads that I frequently take. Another downfall: I would see a reported live police enforcement point, and then notice that it had been posted to the app in 2007. Not the most useful in preventing speeding tickets for me today.

Speedview Pro: This app provided me with more of what I was looking for (a warning when I exceeded the speed limit) but it still didn't quite hit the mark. The app depends on the user to manually set the speed limit, and uses that information to know when to alert – either visually or audibly – the driver. There are three different road settings I could set limits for – urban areas, highways, and freeways – and there is an uber-sensitive dial that I slide left or right to select the desired speed limit. All in all, it's not the safest, most convenient tool to use while already on the road.

Essentially, neither of these apps provided me with the ease-of-use or reliability that I am looking for. And, to add insult to injury, I recently discovered that my wife's Blackberry Torch comes equipped with Navigator 2.0, which displays on-screen freeway speed limit information. The speed limit is shown in the corner of the screen, and the digits flash red when the limit is exceeded. Even this feature doesn't seem to come with noise alerts when speeding occurs. Alas, my search for this possibly nonexistent app continues...

Curt runs Journyx, who provides timesheet and project resource management software and you can follow Journyx on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.

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