Email

By Greg Bartlett

GPS technology is a space-based positioning system.  It uses space satellites to provide up-to-date positioning and tracking information.  GPS operates under a space/control/user system.  This means that all the information starts with the several dozen satellites in space, then moves to several different monitoring or control centers here on the ground.  From the control centers it moves to the millions of users, who range from the military, to law enforcement, to plain civilians.  GPS technology comes in several different forms.  One of these forms is a GPS tracking device for your car.  It is helpful equipment to have in your car.  It lets you know where your car is, how fast it’s going, and where and when it’s stopped.   And, the device’s reliable information is now being used in court.

GPS & Radar

It used to be that if you were caught speeding, there wasn’t much you could do about it.  You would have to take the officer’s word for it, get your ticket, pay your fine, and move on.  Now, however, you have another option.  It has been successful in a few cases in other parts of the world, but not yet here in the US.  Here’s the trick…install a GPS tracking device in your car as soon as you purchase the vehicle.  There are many benefits to having a tracking device in your car.  One of these benefits is that it logs all your travel data and stores it on the GPS tracking device for later retrieval.  Some of this travel data includes your speed, your stops, and your route.  People have tried to use the device’s logged data in court; they bring their tracking device into court and retrieve the data to prove their case.  The GPS tracking device can show the time, location, and speed at which your car travels.  So far, this approach has actually worked in a case in Australia and one in England.  One man in Ohio recently tried this, but, unfortunately for him, it did not hold up in court.

Because of their prevalence in today’s society, it is fairly common to see GPS in cars.  The more common they become, the easier it is going to be see GPS tracking devices permitted in court.  Before long, I am sure we’ll see GPS tracking devices in court, and their information will soon be an acceptable form of evidentiary support.