Yesterday while driving back to Pasadena from Norco.  I was plagued by a tailgater.  I wasn’t in the fast lane and I wasn’t driving slowly.   All of a sudden there was a car a few feet from my back bumper going 70 mph.   It scared me.  I contemplated slowing down, speeding up and slamming on the brakes.  Finally in desperation I invented the tailgateometer and now I’m giving the idea to you.  This brilliant devise automatically posts the license plate number of any vehicle that tailgates the owner to the website BadDrivers.com.

LAPD traffic

The technology already exists to do all of the steps of this process.  The remote components of  the tailgateometer consist of a proximity detector, a speed indicator, a digital camera, a gps and a 3g network phone.  All of these are cleverly combined into a compact box that peeks out from your trunk.  At the web site there will be scanning software to convert the image into alphanumeric characters and a web site that publishes the data.  The data will be sortable by location, time and by license tag number.

What about liability?  First there is no presumption of a right to privacy in a public place.  Second the picture will speak for itself.  Third the publishing of the information doesn’t presume to say who is driving the tailgating car or that they are guilty of any traffic infraction.

a tailgating incident in the Philippines

It is like having your own personal redlight camera.  The existence of a few thousand tailgateometers will have a real effect on peoples driving and will save lives.  It will be a particularly effective tool against young drivers who when they are in their cars today feel that they are anonymous and can get away with things like tailgating.  I not sure if the tailgateometer should be announced or concealed.  What do you think?

The cost in production should be less than $150.  Sell price could start as high as $800 and would have to be in the $300 range to sell real volume.  It would cost about a hundred thousand dollars to build a prototype.