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Someday soon you may get a ticket for breaking the speed limit mailed to you. Thinking back, you won’t be able to remember passing any police officer while pushing the speed limit. That’s because you didn’t, you passed a civilian’s Ford which clocked your speed and snitched on you. I know, I’m as shocked as you.

This new system is outlined in Ford’s patent application for “Systems and Methods for Detecting Speed Violations.” The automaker filed the patent in January 2023, but the USPTO finally OKed it and published it during summer 2024.

According to the documents, Ford is exploring a system its cars could use to monitor the speed of nearby vehicles. That’s right, not just Ford’s vehicles, but everyone on the road. They could use their navigation cameras to track another vehicle’s speed, take a picture of it, and send a report to a nearby police cruiser. They could even send it off to a roadside monitoring unit the police set up.

I have so many questions. But the biggest is “Why, Ford? Why?”

I understand that as Ford implements new safety systems on its own vehicles, the cost of insuring a Ford may go down. In addition, it may earn higher safety ratings from various organizations which can boost sales. It’s in Ford’s best interest to engineer safety systems for its own vehicles.

A South Dakota man was pulled over for speeding and cited for careless driving. However, he gave a funny reason for his his speed.
A person speeding | Darwel via iStock

I would feel a bit violated if one of these systems reported a Ford driver using their own car to speed. I might even avoid buying a Ford for that reason. But I would at least understand: the result could be safer ratings and lower insurance costs for Fords. And certain folks might be more likely to buy their cars.

But what I can’t understand, is why Ford would spend research and development money to build cars that can scour the road for anyone breaking the law. This isn’t Ford’s job, it’s the duty of our law enforcement officers.

Perhaps this is a feature certain Ford owners would love to be able to select: pressing a button on their dash to report some nearby speed demon who is frustrating them. But they could also just read the car’s license plate, pick up the phone, and make a report.

It’s interesting that this is coming on the heels of the bipartisan infrastructure bill requiring all new cars to monitor their own drivers to make sure they aren’t impaired. But even that bill didn’t mention anything about monitoring nearby vehicles for speeding.

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.