GPS Tracking For Cars

Did you know that you can find devices that allow you to use GPS tracking for cars? The proliferation of GPS devices is something marvelous to behold, and for this reason GPS manufacturers are testing out different ways to use it to see if people will buy these products. Today, parents can have large amounts of information about the location and driving activity of their teens with ease in a very inexpensive way.

The main ways that cars can be tracked are by cell phone or by a stand along GPS tracking device.  Tracking can either occur in real-time, with the device transmitting its location as predetermined intervals (like every 5 minutes) or the movements of the car can simply be recorded by the device for later retrieval. 

The difference between these two methods is called data logging and data pushing.

Right now, as you sit and read this article, there are at least 24 satellites orbiting the earth 11 nautical miles above its surface. These same satellites transmit a signal that specialized receivers are able to pick up. The data that is transmitted by the satellites is processed by the GPS unit to give the user some type of fix on their own location. The specific items that the receiver is going to need is the place in the sky that the satellite transmitted the data from and when exactly it sent it.

A GPS device then transforms this information and calculates the space separating the receiver from the satellite. This is achieved by processing the speed of the signal and multiplying it by the amount of time it took the signal to reach the GPS receiver. The equation for this looks something like this:

Speed x Time = Distance Traveled

The equation communicates to your GPS how far away it is from the signaling satellite. This just tells you how far away you are from the single satellite. One satellite just isn't enough. Three satellites is the magic number of signals that you need to receive in order to get a proper fix on your location. You might know this principle by the name of trilateration and it is very much like triangulation, except that trilateration works in three dimensions while triangulation works in just two.

After figuring out its position, the tracker will record its position in a data table and then it does one of two things with that information - keeps it or sends it out. If the GPS tracking device for cars keeps the information it is called a data logger. This type of device is unable to provide real time GPS tracking. For real time updates you need a data pusher. A data pusher will send the location of the device to a central processing station. It is at this point that the information from the device can be accessed by a third party - it could be a wife trying to locate her husband or a dispatcher tracking a police car.

The justifications that some will come up with to use GPS tracking for cars are many and valid. Luckily, companies that provide these devices make it easy for consumers to use them. Just make a few payments and you are in. The company that you go with will be able to do the rest. Make sure that you do your due diligence and make sure that the GPS tracking company you are going with is reputable so that you don't get scammed by someone with unscrupulous character. In the final analysis, if this type of location monitoring is for you then consider using GPS tracking for cars.

• Teen Drivers - Teen drivers are definitely prone to driving poorly.  They have two things working against them in this, 1)they have little to no experience behind the wheel of a car and 2) they have a propensity to take stupid risks, especially teenage boys.  By installing a GPS tracking device in their automobile you can monitor their driving habits and make necessary parental moves when it is revealed that they have been driving erratically, speeding, or making sudden stops.  Parents need this information if they are to help their teen drive safely.
  
• Cheating Spouse - If you suspect your spouse or significant other of cheating on you then I think that it is well within your rights to find out if they are cheating.  One way to do this is to install a tracking device in their car.  This will tell you all sorts of information which you can then use to better understand if they are stepping out on you.  You can know where there car is - this will help you understand if what they tell you about where they are is truthful or not.  If they are at some hotel when they said they are out drinking with their friends then you know they are lying to you and you should probably confront them about it.
  
• Fight Speeding Tickets - Police scanners are not always the most reliable things in the world, but if you don't have any evidence to support your claim that you were really going the speed limit no judge on earth is going to take your word over the word of a police officer.  GPS tracking for cars provides strong evidence for you to bring to your court case that will prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were in fact driving at the speed limit when the officer pulled you over.
  
• Theft Recovery - There is nothing sweater than catching a criminal who has stolen something from you.  With GPS installed in your car you can find exactly where your car and the criminal are so that the police can go out and catch the bad guy and return your property to you.  Wouldn't that be great?
  

As the video above highlights so well, tracking someone's car with a GPS device can have a negative impact on a relationship.  Here we have a teenager driver who gets a tracker installed in the wheel well of his car by his parents.  He then goes out and drives 95 mph on a country road!  There are no roads in America that I am aware of have a posted limit that high, so he was obviously breaking the law and being extremely dangerous.

What would have happened if a deer stepped out in front of the car?  Or the limb of a tree fell?  Or a person tried to cross the street?  It would not have ended well for this teen driver.

His reaction is classic - "I wasn't driving 95 mph, the device must be stupid.  I wasn't even on that road."  Yeah, right.  And monkeys might fly out of my butt.

His parents had every right to install that tracker and find out exactly how he drives when they are not around.  It is their truck (they bought it and have their name on the title) and they have a right to see that their property is handled appropriately and safely.  They also have a parental duty to train their children to be safe and conscientious citizens.  Driving 95 mph is neither safe nor conscientious.

It is a shame that the teen is now paranoid about his parents tracking him, but they should continue to do so because they have a right to know and it just might make their teenage son drive a little safer and stay out of trouble.