Nokia-owned Navteq acquires Trapster

You commie douche!! As thou the fascist state does not take enough our money,or restricts our freedom, you dare to suggest that we are guilty of trying to protect ourselves?! What a Big Brother douche!!!!!

Yikes…biased reporting much?

“According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 9,479 fatal traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2009, resulting in 10,591 deaths.”

And how many of those were caused by Trapster? Horrible reporting.

Guess where know where this guy stands on speed traps etc. Probably a car hating bicyclist.

I love this post. It is pathetic and hilarious at the same time. Brilliant!

This thing is a life saver when trying to avoid DUI checkpoints in LA

@ Mr. Epstein: Get off your high horse. People are not going to stop speeding, with or without this service, it only serves to pillage the nation’s citizens for violating speed limits which even the NHTSA admits are outdated to today’s vehicular technologies. The reason speed limits still exist has a lot more to do with minimizing road damage and oil consumption/pollutants than saving lives. If speeding indeed posed the risk you apparently seem to think it does, speeders would be arrested and jailed, much like people who are caught actually endangering their safety and that of others by driving drunk are, and not just cited, which has proven ineffective time and time again.

Wow. This article is supposed to be unbiased? That is a broad brush your painting there with those comments.

i’d love to see research that identifies that drivers who are aware of speed traps, DUI checkpoints, speed radar, traffic light cameras, and other specialized enforcement are prone to drive fast, recklessly, or without due regard for speed.

anyone who uses this app can tell you that it encourages safe driving. anyone that has driven anywhere knows that you can usually get away with 5-10 mph over the speed limit, safely, especially on interstate highways. in fact, most speed-related accidents on highways occur because someone is driving too slowly (below the speed limit).

trapster identifies enforcement points and makes their location public (nothing illegal about it since they are in plain view, on public property, in marked cars, and subject to trespassing laws). it compiles data on the frequency of reporting, and over time it estimates the likelihood of “favorite” spots.

i firmly believe that trapster serves to encourage safe driving by publicizing the widespread “dragnet” of speed traps and emphasizing the ubiquity of enforcement.

Trapster has missed a huge opportunity to be relevant. With the Valentine radar detector, it bypasses the need for user generated data by uploading radar detrctions directly to their database. If navteq can produce its own radar detector and impliment and improve on this idea, then trapster maybe saved.

After ten years as an EMT, this idea is great, it can only help increase my skills dealing with tangled metal, and bodies.

I think trapster is an interesting idea. I would be happy if there was some kind of “Here” button. I don’t need a map or much of a gui really. Also, why give the number of fatalities without context or comparison?
That number is 0.00490% of drivers… Fun fact ~7000 people die from falling every year.

I have used this service before, and I don’t think it works well in my area.
The problem is the traffic police change there locations quite often.
Sometimes not even returning to the same spot for a few months.

I personally think it would be a better idea to have a service in which a user can plug a radar detector like device into a Cell phone (or maybe pair it over bluetooth); which can more accurately detects were a patrol car could be, uploads the information real time.
Then I invasion something like a “google maps layer” one could put on, while your Navigating; thus letting the driver know a head of time so he/she could adjust.

I’m a truck driver and its very dangerous how these 4 wheelers slam on their brakes when they see a bear shooting radar on the side of the road without regards to traffic behind them. Now we gotta worry bout morons with trapster testing their brakes all over while pounding out a text. Oh yea I have spoken to a few troopers at the scales who have iphones and trapster that report bogus speed traps or themselves to see if it slows down the flow of traffic. They say there are alot of users out there. I could care less my truck is limited to 62mph.

Way to turn something small and news-worthy into an unnecessary opinion column, Mr. Epstein.

I thought you guys were trying to transition into a more professional tech news service. There’s a reason you chose not to title the post “Zack hates Trapster, which by the way, acquired by Navteq.” Your opinion was not relevant to the news story. If you want to hate on Trapster, put it in a separate post, one that doesn’t claim to discuss its acquisition.

Zach my boy, don’t hate because your Prius can’t get enough speed to trigger a speed trap. I think you’re writing for the wrong publication, I believe most readers here are no fan of the man.

What a ridiculous, over-the-top, and biased comment from the author here. Worst article I’ve seen here since I started reading years ago. Please keep your hippie, car-hating comments out of the mobile device coverage that the site is justly renowned for.