Australia to launch world's most advanced speed camera to spot drivers from 600m

 

The new Concept II laser speed camera will be able to detect speed, seatbelt and mobile phone offences from 600m away.

London,Febrauary10,2012:The world's most advanced speed camera - so accurate it can catch you using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt from 600m away - is being assessed for Victoria. Victoria Police yesterday told the Herald Sun it was "watching with interest" the beefed-up laser camera's introduction in Britain. The $18,500 Concept II laser speed camera is being used by police in Dorset as the latest tool in their zero-tolerance approach to driving offences. As well as checking speed, the device's camera resolution is reported to be sharp enough to pick out an unbuckled belt at a range of up to 600m. The camera is able to record both a still image and video evidence to DVD. Critics say the camera is just another way to boost revenue. But a spokeswoman said Victoria Police was monitoring the development of the super camera. "We have not tested or seen this technology in Victoria, but we watch the overseas testing with interest," she said. Local police and road authorities have been battling for years to discourage people from driving while talking on phones. Last month alone police detected 5734 mobile-phone driving offences and 3584 seatbelt breaches in their 52-day holiday road blitz. Road safety campaigners have called for the new technology to be tested in Victoria. Working Against Culpable Driving co-founder Penny Martin, whose son Josh was killed by a hoon, said the camera could help cut the road toll. "If there's already technology around the world doing this sort of thing there's no reason we shouldn't trial it," she said. "People might say it's all about raising money, but these things aren't in place to inconvenience drivers; they're there to stop people dying." TAC road safety manager Samantha Cockfield said it would also monitor the effect on road trauma after it was introduced by Dorset Police. "We know from evaluations of previous automated enforcement technologies how successful they can be in reducing the number and severity of injury crashes," she said. The two cameras being used in Dorset in the south of England are not yet recording video evidence, but have already caught some bizarre behaviour on stills. Project manager Brian Austin said one driver was caught playing a harmonica using both hands.
"He thought he was driving quite successfully while playing the instrument," he said