| Have you had the heart sinking feeling of opening | | | | and others. |
| up the mail and finding a traffic ticket, with a | | | | Is this legal? Yes, and most police departments |
| $100, $250, $375 fine or higher? Yet you were | | | | endorse the use of GPS POI databases of red |
| never pulled over by a policeman - so how did | | | | light cameras and speed camera locations. The |
| you get this violation? Are your insurance rates | | | | departments goal is to have vehicles slow down |
| going to go up? | | | | and be careful through those locations. Your GPS |
| The ticket has a picture of the back of your | | | | is not a radar detector, it does not jam any |
| vehicle with the license plate clearly visible. You | | | | signals. Since you have it in your car, why not |
| have been caught by an automated red light | | | | turn it on and have it warn you of any upcoming |
| camera or speed camera system. Cities across | | | | speed traps or intersections with traffic cameras? |
| the country are installing these systems to free | | | | Here is what you should look for in obtaining a |
| up officers, catch all violators regardless of time | | | | POI database for your GPS. You want a database |
| of day, and hopefully cause drivers to be more | | | | that has the largest number of locations in the |
| careful. | | | | database. Hundreds of cameras are being added |
| As a professional truck driver, limousine driver or | | | | across the country daily. One firm has over |
| delivery driver - your earnings are diminished by | | | | 140,000 locations in their database already. If you |
| traffic fines. Even the typical driver can't ignore | | | | have less than 10,000, you're not doing yourself |
| the possibility of getting a ticket and then having | | | | much good. |
| to fight the traffic ticket, or pay the fines and | | | | You also want the database to be easily |
| risk your insurance rates going up. | | | | downloaded to your particular brand of GPS. Make |
| A growing solution is to use your GPS as a traffic | | | | sure the provider has their POI database |
| camera warning system. First, how does a red | | | | formatted for your brand. Some have a generic |
| light camera system work? The city pays for | | | | database that takes a few steps of reformatting |
| cameras or speed detectors to be installed at | | | | for your brand. It is easiest to have a database |
| intersection or road locations where many traffic | | | | already formatted for your particular GPS brand. |
| violations take place. Cameras, sensors and lights | | | | You want the database updated often. While you |
| are installed so that when a vehicle drives too | | | | may not upload the POI locations everyday, you |
| fast, or runs the red light, the lights flash and the | | | | want a provider to be updating the database |
| cameras capture the vehicle making a violation. No | | | | every day. That way when you do choose to |
| officer intervention is needed. The license plate is | | | | refresh your database, you are getting the latest |
| read by the computers and through vehicle | | | | locations known. |
| registration databases a ticket is issued and sent | | | | Lastly, you want to be able to upload your |
| to your home. | | | | database as often as possible. People who drive |
| So why not use a radar detector? First, many | | | | for a living may want to refresh their database |
| states have made radar detectors and jammers | | | | daily. Some providers limit the number of times |
| illegal. Second, most radar detectors can't detect | | | | you can refresh your database in a set time |
| red light cameras since they are not sending out a | | | | period. |
| signal like a radar gun. | | | | Costs can vary for the database. While some are |
| Your GPS is the answer. There is a feature on | | | | free, in general, those tend to be the smallest |
| every GPS called POI, or Points of Interest. A POI | | | | amount of locations and hardest to load. You can |
| database holds locations of any address or | | | | buy a monthly subscription, yearly, or the best |
| location of places you may want to be | | | | bet seems to be the lifetime subscriptions. For |
| acknowledged about. For example, a relative's | | | | $99, a lifetime subscription can allow you |
| home, or a hotel, restaurant, or park. You can | | | | download the speed light cameras locations onto |
| add that location to a POI database so that when | | | | your GPS anytime. They tend to have the most |
| you approach the location, the GPS will beep as | | | | locations and are usually formatted for the major |
| you approach and display what the location is. | | | | GPS brands - making it the simplest and fastest |
| Whenever you save an address that you want | | | | method of updating your GPS POI database. If |
| the GPS to give you directions to reach, that | | | | you think $99 is expensive, think how much just |
| location becomes a Point of Interest (POI). | | | | one camera ticket violation will cost. Avoiding just |
| You can load a database of POI into your GPS | | | | one ticket will pay for your lifetime subscription |
| and have it signal when you approach any of | | | | itself. |
| those locations. So companies are now providing | | | | You can reduce the chances of getting an |
| many POI databases for red light camera | | | | expensive traffic ticket using a GPS POI red light |
| locations, speed camera locations, and others. This | | | | camera and speed camera download. It's legal and |
| works for any GPS - Garmin, Tom Tom, Magellan | | | | makes better drivers of us all. |