I think it's a little silly to think that speed is the factor. If you're an idiot, you can cause quite a bit of damage just going 25 miles an hour.
The route (get it?) of the problem lies in the fact that people are reckless. They feel invincible in their cars because they're big machines. Even those gory videos they show in driving class of deadly car accidents don't discourage people from cutting someone off or changing lanes without a turn signal. No, speed isn't the problem, people are the problem.

Speed is also a problem. Sure the root problem is people are idiots. That is a given. But speed is a factor in many horrible accidents. The more speed, the messier it gets. There are plenty of factors that could be addressed when trying to curb bad accidents. Speed I think is one of them. But I cant deny people's ass hole gene and just plain stupidity behing the wheel of a deadly weapon are big causes as well.

That's why the social aspect of it is so cool -- *if* it reaches "critical mass", at least in some geographic areas, the users vastly outnumber the cops, and will vote down any false-flag reports quickly, like how malicious Wikipedia edits generally get reported relatively quickly and removed.

I for one have mixed feelings -- sure, speed traps get the assholes that do 90 in a 55 zone to slow down, but 90+% of the time they're just going to get the X fastest people driving that day, even if they're going 70 when the flow is going 65, where X is the cop's quota. The stated purpose of these things is to make money. Also, the service is useful for reporting "speed traps" in the original sense of the term -- areas where the speed limit suddenly drops (usually *not* for safety reasons) and a cop sits there and nabs people that don't notice the change. That's obviously unfair and even illegal in some states, but they still do it.

Also also, I don't think they mentioned it above, but it looks like they offer red-light cam reporting. I'm 100% in favor of that (frankly, if I thought there were a safe way of shooting the damn things I'd be in favor of that too) because they're such a terrible idea. There was just a story on the radio yesterday about how all kinds of municipalities are actually lowering the amber light time -- making the intersections *less* safe -- to raise the revenue the cameras generate. I won't make my full spiel about why they're unconstitutional here, or I'd be typing all day, but suffice to say any service that makes these abominations less attractive to money-grubbing pols is OK by me.