All about the new Vitronic Poliscan Speed Cameras

The WA government has began trialling their new laser based speed cameras - called "Poliscans" as of April 2010.

They had been testing different speed cameras back in 2007 in order to replace the aging 27 Multanova speed cameras. Vitronic (manufacturer of the Poliscan) won the contract, with 30 of these new laser based speed cameras purchased with a staged deployment over the next 18 months. The Multanovas are being shipped to regional centres such as Geraldton.

Since we are getting several phone calls per day on these new cameras, here are the facts:

There are statements in the media that these cameras can detect and photograph you at 100m away yet the technical specifications of the Poliscan specify a maximum of 75m. The reality is they start their speed calculations around 40m and take the actual photo of your vehicle when less than 10m away.

Some media reports also have stated these speed cameras cannot be detected by a radar detector. Turns out there is some truth to this claim, as the Poliscans seem to be more difficult to detect for some radar detectors.

**UPDATE**

We have now confirmed that when the Poliscans are set up in reverse (IE taking a photo of the rear of your car AFTER you have driven past the speed camera) even the best radar detectors aren't alerting until it's too late.

There still is some debate as to whether the Poliscan is a VPR (variable pulse rate) lidar or whether it's just the mirror rotating to create the 45 degree arc for the laser beam that is "simulating" a VPR

We first saw VPR lidars with the European version of the Truspeed (some called Truspeed2) as well as the Trucam (which combined a laser speed gun with camera). At the time of writing there is only ONE lidar that uses a VPR that can be legally used in the USA

Below is the pattern of a Truspeed2 (VPR) on a wave scope.

So this new speed camera is more difficult to detect, it is not impossible, as demonstrated in the video below taken in Perth, Western Australia. Once again, the best radar detector for picking up WA speed cameras in advance is the Valentine One - it has the best optics / laser detection circuitry of any radar detector available (proof) and as per videos below, is one of the few detectors that gives consistent alerts to the Poliscans.

Here are a few more videos from YouTube showing the Valentine One against a Vitronic Poliscan Speed Camera.

Projected annual revenue in Western Australia is forecast to jump from $40 million to almost $120 million. (But it's never about revenue raising). Will a 3-fold increase in fines give us 1/3 less the amount of fatalities on our roads? No of course not, yet this will not deter the government continuing with the program. Why? Because it needs the money. They KNOW speed camera programs DO NOT WORK in lower road fatalities, yet they choose not to tell the public this, because they NEED the revenue (thanks Kev for signing all those cheques). It's allocated in the WA budget. If the WA government (or any government for that matter) stopped collecting speed camera revenue, they'd have to make up the shortfall by increasing taxes somewhere else. Speed cameras in Australia rake in over a billion dollars in revenue each year.

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