Are you guilty of texting while driving? Well, your days of breaking the law undetected may soon be over as a Virginia-based company is developing a radar gun that can detect radio frequencies, which will pick out drivers who are guilty of texting.
ComSonics, a Harrisonburg-based company, is reportedly working on the radar gun in question that is "close to production." However, the device is awaiting legislative approval before it can go into production.
So how does the ComSonics radar gun work, you ask? The radar gun scans the radio frequencies emitted from inside a vehicle when an individual is using a phone, reveals ComSonics' Calibration Services Manager Malcolm McIntyre. This method is similar to the technology employed by cable repairmen when they are locating where the damage in the cable is; they look out for leaking frequency transmissions.
Moreover, the technology used by these radar guns is capable of distinguishing between frequencies for calls and texts. This feature will be helpful to law enforcement personnel. In some states like Virginia, it is legal to make calls on the phone but not text.
However, the effectiveness of the radar gun raises certain questions. For instance, considering the radar gun works on detecting frequencies, how will the device be able to distinguish if the text is being sent by the driver or a co-passenger? Unless, the ComSonics radar gun only singles out solo drivers. Then there are times when people use voice assistants to send texts instead of typing it out themselves; what happens in such a scenario?
Another concern with the ComSonics radar gun is that of privacy. If the device can detect frequencies, it may be capable of picking up the content of a user's text as well. However, McIntyre assures that the device is not capable of decrypting information sent by drivers.
Whether ComSonics is able to win over law enforcement personnel for the device's adoption remains a question. It is only when the company crosses this hurdle, as well as legal approval for production, will we know how the device may fare in the long term.
