| |||||||||
Weekly Updates
|
Mobile Cameras
|
Fixed Cameras
|
|||||||
|
Technical Information
Introduction
The Norfolk Partnership currently uses three difference applications of camera detection of speeding.
You can visit the manufacturers' websites by following these links:
Gatso Speed Measuring Cameras The cameras used in the familiar yellow painted fixed housings are type 24 Gatsometers. When a car passes at excessive speed, the camera takes two photographs of the rear of the vehicle at an interval of 0.5 seconds. It uses cassettes of 35mm colour film, 30 metres in length, enough for 800 exposures (400 pairs). The Secretary of State first approved this type of camera on 24th June 1992 with an extended approval in November 2000. Every camera set is required to be calibrated at the factory in Holland once a year. A series of short white lines are painted on the surface of roads covered by the fixed unmanned roadside cameras as a way of verifying the speed reading on the film. Because two photographs are taken of the speeding vehicle (0.5 seconds apart), it is possible to compare the two photographs and work out how far it has travelled in the interval using the check marks on the road. Using a simple formula, the viewer can confirm the speed reading given by the camera. It must be stressed that secondary checkmarks are there to safeguard the motorist against a faulty or false camera reading. The speed given in any prosecution is the speed recorded by the camera. It should be noted that there is no requirement to have secondary check marks on stretches of road where mobile teams operate, as the equipment is being used to back up the enforcement officer’s opinion. RedSpeed Digital Cameras This equipment is fully digital and does not require the use of film. The cameras are activated by a loop embedded in the road surface and will take three pictures. The first and second photographs will show the movement of the vehicle and the third is a close up of the vehicle to determine the make, model, colour and registration number. The time and date will be recorded with each image. These images are down loaded direct to the viewing office for processing via a standard ASDL line. This equipment was type approved by the Secretary of State in May 2003. As is the case of fixed roadside Gatso cameras, there is a requirement to have secondary check marks painted on stretches of road covered by RedSpeed digital speed cameras. The marks are placed exactly one metre apart, so the distance travelled by the speeding vehicle between the two photographs can be calculated. This is done purely as a safeguard for the driver to ensure the speed registered by the camera is accurate. With digital cameras, the speed between the check marks is calculated automatically by the processing equipment. Where there is a discrepancy or the equipment fails to produce the secondary speed check, no action will be taken against the driver. Lti 20-20 TS/M Speedscope This is the speed measuring equipment currently used by the mobile enforcement team. The laser device is linked directly to a VHS video system that will run constantly during the whole period of operation. The Speedscope can be trained on vehicles up to 1,000 metres away and will record the time, date, speed, distance, site coding and whether the vehicle is travelling towards or away from the checkpoint. All this data is stored on to a 'tape logger' which is downloaded onto the tape at the end of each check. This equipment was type approved by the Secretary of State on the 1st November 1993. Processing Offences All reported offences are entered into the ERIC operating system. Films are then viewed to obtain correct offence/data details. The registration number is checked, using the Police National Computer, to obtain the details of the keeper of the vehicle. All data/offences are exported onto the computerised Vehicle Procedures Fixed Penalty Office (VPFPO) system. These details are sent overnight to the DVLA at Swansea where another check is made of the keeper details. The notices of intended prosecution are then sent out, within the statutory 14 day period, to the registered keeper recorded on the DVLA database.
|
||||||||||||||||
