In the Car

I was driving home on Erie Boulevard today.

I neared an intersection where I would be turning left, and ahead of me, in the middle of two of the three lanes sat a car. A driver was headed out of a parking lot to my right; there was a car at the light, stopped; and there was a car in each of the second and third lanes to my left.  Everyone was sitting still, uncertain what to do as the car's light were on, there was a person in the driver's seat, and nobody was sure if it was a breakdown - of the car, or possibly, the driver.

Eventually, as a car began to pass on the left of the lane-crossed car, the driver looked up - yes, she was on her phone - and moved more or less into the second lane from the right. I say more or less because the light had turned, so she stopped again, mostly in a proper lane but not entirely, and went back to the phone.

In one possible scenario, there was an emergency on the phone she was dealing with. In another, she was just - as most of us are by our phones - pre-occupied and not paying full attention to driving. A feature on the car that reminded the driver to wake up and drive might have been welcome in that scenario, and most of us wouldn't object to the idea of a car speeding through a quiet neighborhood being spotted and the driver found.

But that's only half the story when it comes to the way things seem to be going when it comes to cars, travel, and digital technology. Drivers behave irresponsibly as they navigate streets, roads and highways; they speed; they make videos; they get involved in text and other conversations and don't attend to the job at hand.

The other half, of course, is a big cloud of "them," looking to use the tools they've been handed to take better control of those streets, roads and highways, catch anyone who violates a rule, and use the power of locating and tracking power to determine what, when, and how people are doing things, and then use that knowledge to control behavior and monetize it.

One big concern of late is the much-discussed Flock Camera.

First, what are Flock Cameras? ALPR (automated license plate reader) systems, produced and distributed by Flock Safety. They capture and log vehicle details into databases. They can capture clear images of license plates ond passing cars, and can log the vehicle's make, model, color, and unique marks like bumper stickers, dents, or window stickers.

The data is stored on a cloud network available to police and HOAs and other interested parties. These entities subscribe, and can search databases for information, and police can get instant alerts when a passing plate matches a search such as a stolen car, or suspect in a crime.

It's also true that ordinary individuals can be tracked, though they've done nothing to warrant it, and some people have already begun to worry about the camera tracking near schools where speed limits are reduced for certain hours "on school days." But if I've overheard one conversation about "what is a school day?" I've heard dozens, and people are urging school districts to use the flashing lights to alert drivers that the lowered speed limits are in force.

Of course we know that security cameras have been, and continue to be, a useful tool for keeping an eye on property and places when nobody is physically present, and have been helpful in finding the person who stole something, broke in, or committed another crime in a given area.

The difference is that a security camera outside or inside a private property will capture either legitimate owners/users of the facility, or people who are there, by definition, illegally. Flock cameras are capturing anyone and everyone, most of them simply citizens who have a guaranteed right to travel on the public roads of their town, city, county, state and country.

More, because the ability to maintain data is so vast, people now are concerned that their routine comings and goings can become data points. And data, of course, holds great value and power.

The ability to find and deal specifically with an individual driver has, like most technological innovations, a genuine positive side. We can plug a destination into our car's navigation system, and get a set of friendly directions that will immediately "recalculate" our route when we make a wrong turn or road work has blocked our way. Our phones plug into the car's media system, and we're alerted when our tire pressure or oil pressure are out of safe limits.

I'm even about half-sold on the self driving option on some newer cars. I've experienced it, and while it's a bit strange at first, on a routine commute or surely on a long highway trip, it could be a very useful feature. It still concerns me to be in a vehicle moving 70 miles an hour down a road and the driver is busy reading a book or playing a game with the kids. But given that that seems to be happening even when some drivers are nominally driving the car, perhaps it's not too far-fetched.

More of us begin to fret a little when the "breath test to start" option is discussed - you have to blow into the alcohol monitor before your car will start? Or Yyou seem sleepy, I'll pull over here... “

 

But when the personalized options are monetized, it can really begin to alarm and anger the driver.

The general term is "gated" features, and not very long ago I was alerted to the fact that some things drivers simply opted for when buying a car - and may have paid an upcharge for - were now built into the car itself, but not enabled unless the buyer was willing to pay a subscription.

Some examples:

Certain cars have gated the key fob, remote start or smartphone apps on certain models.

Others demand payment for "premium connectivity," such as live traffic, satellite maps, and streaming audio.

Still other vehicles experimented with software-locked hardware, such as heated seats, or advanced driving assistants.

The category that really baffled me was Performance. Software limits were placed on vehicle speed, horsepower, or battery capacity and only extra fees paid would unlock these features.

Where this all goes remains to be seen, but as with most thing technological, the balance is the game.