Coyote is a subscription based speed camera alert service used by over 1.7 million people in Europe. It uses crowd sourced information from other Coyote users to warn drivers against fixed and mobile speed traps. Coyote goes beyond other traffic focused apps by giving subscribers additional services, such as indicating when your vehicle enters an average speed zone allowing you to make real time speed adjustments by calculating your average speed in the area.

Dashboard Mounted Coyote

Screen Shot

As with all crowd sourced based applications the larger the user base, the more likely the information will be accurate, timely and beneficial to the end user. This is where Coyote’s user based of 1.7 million customers certainly provides a leg up to other systems and is a product worth considering for customers in the 28 European countries the service is offered.  The cost of the Mini Coyote V2 device in the UK for example, including a 12 month subscription is £185.00 (including VAT).

The proliferation of these types of smart phone applications, or purpose built devices, does beg the question as to whether they ultimately provide safer roads, or simply allow people break the law?

On the one hand by knowing the specific location of a speed trap the majority of drivers will slow down, which is the intended purpose of the trap in the first place.  On the other hand, drivers may simply take another route and continue to drive above the speed limit, or in an aggressive manner.

Whichever side of the debate you fall on, technology will continue to be used to notify drivers of speed trap locations and police forces and governments will continue adjust their tactics as a result.