Sexy Jihad

Slashdot, GeekCoffee and InformatonWeek are all reporting on a new deal between the UAE & IBM to track drivers to monitor speeding. Excerpt:

IBM said it has signed a four-year, $125 million deal to build an automobile-monitoring system and install a device in cars to track drivers in the United Arab Emirates, making it the largest telematics deal in history.

The UAE’s CERT Telematics, a unit of the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training in Dubai, signed the deal to help improve road safety throughout the country, according to IBM spokesman Cary Ziter. “The project started with a social problem. They have a population of 3 million and 2 million have drivers’ licenses. Their population has boomed and their roads have become clogged,” Ziter says.

CERT Telematics has committed to buy at least 100,000 PDA-like units, which will be installed within automobile carriages, Ziter says. The telematics device will use multiple microprocessors based on IBM’s Power Architecture, and will have the capability to monitor the speed of the vehicle and send out a warning if the car surpasses the posted speed limit. IBM engineers will design the infrastructure for the traffic-tracking system. Wireless access points, which will monitor the devices, will be installed on street lights and other places along the roadway.

The telematic device will include several wireless technologies, including GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellular capabilities and General Packet Radio Service. Bluetooth and an optional driver-identification feature using RFID also will be on the device, as will IBM’s speech software, Via Voice.

Ziter says the devices will not only be used to track the speed of drivers, but could also be used to inform drivers when they’re approaching a car accident or nasty weather, such as a sandstorm.

While it is a good thing they’re doing something about speeding (It’s widely known that a lot of people in the middle east drive like idiots, they think they own the road), this is just too big brother for me. People do a lot of other bad things too, but that doesn’t justify tracking everybody wherever they go. This WILL be abused and people WILL get devices to just medlle with the equipment so it doesn’t register properly.

What I think they should do is stop playing favourites. The system in the UAE is as follows:

In UAE, a car’s plate number can have variable number of digits. No 1 is reserved for the Sheikh of the province (there are 7 provinces there, Dubai being the biggest one). No 2 is usually the Sheikh’s brother, and the 1 digit numbers are all family members of the sheikh. Cousins and close friends get 2 digit numbers, as well as their wives and their children. The 3 digit numbers are also relatives of the relatives of Sheikh. Ordinary cars have 5 digits on their plates.

The situation is that no one can stand in the way of a lower-digit car. If you see a 2 or 3 digit car coming from the opposite direction, it doesn’t matter if it’s your line of road or not, you have to make way for him. The police can not issue tickets to these cars. They do not obey the speed limit; mostly they have Ferraris and Porches which easily pass the 180 mph, and no one can even stop them. Legally, the police can do nothing with them.

What also is an issue here is that these richer kids usually get a Ferrari or Porsche as their first car (often before their 18th birthday…), with absolutely NO driving experience.

These people can effectivley do what they want. I’m sure that if they did a study they’d find that these sorts of morons cause the most accidents. They should just treat everyone equal, like any other civilised country. That would set a good example and make the roads a lot safer. But knowing the Middle East, I’m NOT holding my breath…..

BTW For those of you not aqquainted with the finer issues of Dubai with it’s relationship with the rest of the Middle East, check out this article.

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