Speeding

The police can use a variety of over 40 types of speed measuring devices to measure the speed of the motorist for the purpose of prosecution. The main categories of devices used are:

  1. Speed cameras (GATSOMETERS)
  2. Peek cameras. A smaller version of the GATSOMETERS.
  3. Hand held laser and radar guns.
  4. The VASCAR (Visual Average Speed Computer And Recorder) device. Used by police officers to calculate the average speed of a vehicle over a set distance.
  5. The SPECS system. The use of a series of cameras over a set route which utilise automatic number plate recognition to calculate a vehicle's average speed.
  6. Truvelo. An increasingly common form of speed camera device which relies upon road sensors to detect a car's speed.

All of the machines used in modern day speed detection must be properly calibrated and used only by officers specifically trained in their operation. There are also strict rules governing when, where and how the machines should be used.

If the stringent operating requirements have not been met the Prosecution may be unable to prove a speeding offence.

Vast numbers of speeding convictions are now being brought and the majority of offences are dealt with under the fixed penalty scheme. This means that motorists increasingly accept a speeding conviction without going to Court and without ever seeing the evidence against them.