Free speed camera app
Around the majority of the developed world, a fair proportion of speed limit-related law enforcement has transferred out of human hands to the realm of machines. However, in which a person traffic policeman might give you the benefit of the doubt if you don't slow down fast enough when the limit falls on a road, a camera will merely record you overstepped the mark, and that is it. Therefore a good knowledge of rate limits and where the automatic systems employing them are located is essential for the modern motorist. That is where TomTom's Speed Cameras comes in; it's pretty much all the app does.
TomTom's Speed Cameras is a program for iOS just, such as the company's fully featured sat-nav app. It is even more restrictive, however, because a cellular data connection is a must. So it only runs to the iPhone 3GS and above or one of the 3G iPads. It is not compatible with all the iPod Touch or wifi-only iPads. The app itself is free, but it is completely useless on its own. You will have to purchase a subscription, which costs #16.99 a year, although a introductory offer of a single month for #1.49 is accessible.
With the app installed along with a subscription applied, the interface could not be simpler. During regular driving, a stylised street graphic fills the screen, using a speed limit sign on the right and your existing speed on Google maps with road speed the leftside. If you're within the limitation, the speed shows in white, but if you exceed the limit it changes to light red then a darker red. We noticed that Speed Cameras wasn't aware of the limit in some suburban side roads, except where this had been reduced to 20mph. However it needs to be rather evident the default rate is 30mph in residential neighbourhoods, and all significant streets were detected correctly.
The most important role of the program, naturally, comes into play when you are approaching a speed camera. As you near the camera, then a warning beeps and a space countdown starts at the base. Occasionally, cameras are detected that are not on your current route, but just around a nearby turning, which can be a specially handy safeguard in case you turn into a side street that also involves a reduction in speed limit.
An even more useful feature is the way average speed zones are introduced. Instead of merely telling you to maintain below the limit, Speed Cameras keeps track of your existing average inside the zone. Therefore, if you do end up accidentally going too quickly at any stage, you can peg your speed back enough to keep the typical lawful. For long average zones, this will be quite handy indeed.