Back in 2023, reports of a patent quietly filed by Ford ruffled a few feathers. The concept was to build features into a vehicle that could be used in the event a driver missed a few payments; when triggered they could remotely disable certain components, enabling the vehicles to effectively repossess themselves.
Reporters with Motor Authority have uncovered a new patent filing from Ford and something tells us it could be equally controversial.
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The patent application is titled “Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations” and was published in July. It details a “speeding violation responder system” and how it could use sensors to detect the speed of surrounding vehicles. If found to be traveling in excess of posted limit, the system can activate a camera to take a photo of the vehicle, at which point, says the patent, “a record may be generated.”
Ford blasted initial reports on the patent, saying some sources had incorrectly indicated that “driving data from customers’ vehicles would be shared with law enforcement.” They say that, instead, this would be a feature built into police vehicles – automating something via built-in sensors that police officers are already doing.
Another variation that the patent does lay out pertains to the way this tech might be used as a supplement to an overtaxed police force – outfitting autonomous vehicles with the technology could mean patrolling for speeders could be largely outsourced to machines.
Ford also stressed that the patent – like many in automotive – is intended “to protect new ideas” and may not mean that Ford has plans to incorporate these speed detectors at all.
And while Ford makes some good points, some observers are still skeptical. Motor Authority said it feels the patent “leaves unanswered questions about the limit and scope” meaning law enforcement could be “one of many possible use cases.”
Adam Ismail of the The Drive appears to agree that there could be leeway, going so far as to say the patent proposal “would turn every new Ford on the road into the police’s eyes and ears.”
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