back to article Plod hopes Bluetooth messages will stem drinking

Police in Edinburgh are to pester locals with Bluetooth messages asking them how they plan to get home, in the hope of making them think before getting behind the wheel drunk. The news comes courtesy of The Scotsman, which reports that Bluetooth nodes will be placed near drinking hotspots (otherwise known as Scotland, in our …

COMMENTS

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  1. alan
    Thumb Down

    Is it just me...

    or would a copper be a better solution?

    why must everything be solved by (inappropriate) use of technology?? Oh yeah thats right, its cheaper (well initially), sounds good, and shows that they are hip young and cool (why else would they know about bluetooth and mobiles?), and above all proves that they are doing something.

    sorry about all the brackets

  2. Eden
    Pirate

    Am I evil or....

    Is anyone else tickled by the image of someone crashing because they decided to check their bluetooth message while driving past one of these =p

  3. James Marten
    Stop

    Pointless

    Or about as pointful as health warnings on cigarette packets, or "Please drive carefully" signs at the entrance to a village. Those sensible enough to heed the messages will drink reasonably, not smoke or drive carefully without having to be told, while the others will carry on regardless.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    heh heh

    and the responce of course is "No - Your mum"

  5. npupp
    Paris Hilton

    pft

    This does rely on people having bluetooth turned on, which if it is, after being told the first time on a night out will be promptly switched off. Hardly going to get through to the target audience this way.

    Generally, people don't. why bother ... unless your pissed and wanna send pr0n... oh....

    Aside: Is marginally better than email spamming ... possibly... wait. no. Vision Express and Cineworld spam bluetooth crap (videos and pictures) when you're in range 'round here. Is f'cking annoying.

  6. Laurent_Z
    Gates Horns

    those drinking themselves to death

    "proportion of those drinking themselves to death in Edinburgh have their Bluetooth phones set to discoverable -"

    ...and possibly already driving, will open their mobile to read that new message, thus endangering both themselves, other drivers and humble passerbys...

    Also there is a law against spamming my mobile without my prior consent and abusing communication means (unwanted mail or something or another closely connected, for some reasons, with canned beef).

    Tags for this post : Hell / Good Intentions / Meeting.

  7. Steven Knox
    Boffin

    Title!?

    The article makes it clear that the police hope to curb drunken driving, not drinking. Good thing, too -- the former is still [barely] within the realm of the possible, whereas the latter...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Thats a great use if public money...

    how many people have BT switched on 24/7?

    Here's a novel idea. Instead of wasting money on shit like this, get some more frikkin' coppers* on the streets.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    umm....

    I know that I can be a bit thick headed, so can someone explain to me the difference in (1) connecting with out permission to an open WiFi network and (2) connecting without permission to a discoverable bluetooth device?

    On the face, it legally seems the same.

    If bluetooth spaming is legal, I hope the pub owners decide to do a similar thing and broadcast their drink specials. Maybe they can get new business.

    I do think that if a business started ad spamming via bluetooth, there would be a hell of an outcry.

  10. Ian Ferguson
    Thumb Down

    Whoa, hang on... isn't that a threat?

    If I was walking to/from work past one of these broadcasters and received the message, I would freak out. Bluetooth messaging is usually used to send message anonymously. I would read this as a threat; as in "I'm going to send you home in a bodybag".

    I know it's a good cause and all, but I suspect the number of people offended by this message will outweigh the number educated by it.

  11. Geoff Kennedy
    Pirate

    hmmm

    so... to receive said messages your phone must be discoverable. Said messages will be sent via a secure government server (oxymoron anyone?)

    I give it 2 weeks before someone starts using open bluetooth connections to gather information from open bluetooth connections.

  12. Roger Greenwood

    A straw poll

    in our house revealed :-

    6 people, 6 mobiles, no bluetooth on. But then this is Yorkshire. Anyone care to suggest they are less savvy oop north?

  13. Christoph
    Thumb Down

    spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, ...

    Presumably to be closely followed by 'community service' messages from every religion in the area explaining how you are condemned to eternal torture unless you worship (and give all your money to) their particular god.

    And more messages telling you that the *only* way to avoid AIDS and pregnancy is abstinence before marriage.

    After all, it's for your own good. So you should be very grateful to them for telling you.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    I bet

    that if you do crash your car while trying to read the message the dibble sent to your phone, on the way out of the hospital you will be arrested for using your phone while driving...

    I also wonder if a possible defense would be entrapment !

  15. David

    Yorkshire police also doing this

    Police in Yorkshire are also doing this with a campeign called DES which is short for DESignated driver

  16. James O'Brien
    Joke

    "Who's taking you home tonight? Bus, taxi, police, paramedic?"

    Personally I choose the Police or the Paramedic. Why you ask? Well who better to get you home safely without being pulled over then a cop? Or who better if you start to suffer alcohol poisoning to save you so you get home safely then a Paramedic? If I take the bus I risk not getting off at the right stop and having to walk possibly being mugged on the way home and a cab, well hell I hardly understand some cabbies as it is when I'm sober just think about how it would be drunk.

    Point made

  17. Havin_it

    Bit pointless in central Edinburgh

    ...where anybody managing to do more than 2.5mph at any time of day or night has my unbridled admiration.

  18. Tom Wood

    Paramedics...

    ... and other ambulance crews won't take you home. They'll take you to hospital, or perhaps leave you in the hands of the police if more appropriate.

    The last thing they need is someone suggesting that they might be an option to get home from a night out. Every weekend, dozens of ambulances are diverted from life-threatening emergencies to people who are claiming to be ill because they are too tight to pay for a taxi.

  19. Sabine Miehlbradt
    Coat

    Alcotest

    What's wrong with the good old alcotest in front of the pub?

    You know, actual policeman looking out for drunks and asking them how they get home, then offering to do a test right here to find out if they are over the limit before anything bad can happen. They can just ignore car-sized groups where one is obviously sober and looks like the DD.

    They sometimes do it in Germany in front of discotheques and it's usually well received. Most people don't want to be driven by a drunk and a lot of people just overestimate what they can have and still stay under the limit. Few people/groups actually find drunk driving cool while they are sober.

    Another successful move was mobile driving simulators. One driving school ever offered real tours while drunk to teach people they cannot drive as good as when sober. Technically, the instructor is the driver, so the student may be intoxicated and still suffer no penalty.

    Mines the one with the car keys. I don't drink anymore, since I found better things to do with my brain.

  20. Matthew
    Thumb Down

    And this works how?

    It assumes that

    1) People have BT on 24/7

    2) People actually accept a random BT device to connect to their phone (unlikely)

    Plus in my experience no one without an IT degree can get BT to work in the first place :-D

    Perhaps if they spent the money on extra police? just a thought...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Must've missed something

    I thought Nulab and their plod thickos had declared wireless hijacking 'antisocial' behaviour punishable by shooting at dawn? One rule for nanny, apparently...

  22. Pete
    Jobs Horns

    17 to 24

    Any self respecting cool 24 year old has an iPhone

    and we all know about iphones a bluetooth...

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    I don't use bluetooth a lot...

    So can someone tell me, is there any way to message back: "You. You've pulled!"?

  24. Sooty

    hands up...

    anyone who leaves bluetooth on all the time?

    nope, didn't think so. If i need it for something i switch it on, and back off afterwards (using the convienient timeout function that a lot of phones have), but, as i've not yet come across a reason to use bluetooth, it spends it's time swtitched off.

  25. YumDogfood

    Pants down comms

    This is just calling out for some wag to message fake police messages such as "Important Police information! Incident ahead; Park up NOW, all parking fees have been waived, do not keep tickets. You will be messaged when the incident has been cleared. Alternate routes are available through Craigmillar, Granton, Pilton and Burdiehouse."

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