- Can you imagine a world in which our very possessions
call the cops on us if we do anything wrong?
Newsflash. We're already there.
(dramatic guitar music)
In early December 2015, a driver named Cathy Bernstein,
allegedly was involved in two hit and run collisions,
back to back in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
But her car wasn't going to stay quiet about it.
Instead it automatically dialed 911,
and that's how police were able
to identify her as a suspect.
Bernstein drives a Ford outfitted with a 911 Assist System.
The purpose of the system is to contact emergency services
through a voluntarily-paired cell phone,
if it detects that the vehicle
has been involved in an accident.
It gives responders a chance to track down someone
who may be unable to call for help.
Bernstein didn't speak to an operator on that first call,
so the car did what it was programmed to do.
It handed over important data,
assuming the driver was incapacitated.
The supplemental information included
the make and model of the vehicle,
the time the incident happened,
and even the GPS coordinates of the car.
A 911 operator later spoke with Bernstein,
who denied that she had been involved in an accident.
But the operator persisted that
the systems don't call emergency services randomly.
In fact the operator flat-out asked Bernstein
if she had left the scene of an accident,
which Bernstein denied.
Police paid a visit to Bernstein,
and took her to a hospital for treatment
before escorting her to jail.
Also being treated at that hospital
was one of the other drivers involved in the accidents.
Talk about awkward.
Ford spokesman Alan Hall told the Washington Post
that the car did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Bernstein could have been badly injured
as a result of the accidents,
and the call could have saved her life.
Soon this sort of technology will be in many more cars.
The European Union will require all new vehicles
to include similar emergency assist systems
beginning in 2018.
That's pretty interesting, since the E.U.
tends to place a high value on peoples privacy.
Car systems like these have the potential to strip away
some of that privacy in favor of safety.
Though at the moment the 911-assist is an opt-in feature.
Drivers have to turn it on and pair their phone
with the system in order for it to work.
In the end maybe we should be thankful
that systems like these could cut down
on hit and run incidents.
Even if it does turn our possessions into tattletales.
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(one note bell music)