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Everything you need to know about police radar, laser and speed cameras in Tasmania1) What are the different types of police radar / laser & speed cameras used in Tas?
2) What products offer the best protection against these types of police radar / laser / cameras?
3) What are the penalties / demerit points and speeding fines for Tas?
4) What are the road fatality statistics for Tasmania? 5) Summary for police radar, laser and speed cameras in Tasmania What Radar / Laser speed measuring devices are used in Tas?
Firstly, it needs to be explained that there are four different RADAR bands (frequencies) used throughout the world plus LASER (which is completely different to radar).
The four radar bands include:
X-Band (10.275GHz up to 10.775GHz) - not used anywhere in Australia K-Band (24.050GHz up to 24.250GHz) Ka-Band (33.400GHz up to 36.000GHz) Ku-Band (13.175GHz to 13.675GHz) - not used anywhere in Australia
Radar (short for radio and ranging) works by transmitting a pulse of electromagnetic (EM) energy, also referred to as RF energy at a moving object. Using the Doppler principle the radar gun ‘listens’ to the change in pitch of the radio waves as they reflect off the moving vehicle and thus determines the speed. Similarly, when a train blows its whistle as it passes you – you can hear the change in pitch of the whistle, as the train moves past.
The radar beam starts out as a small diameter pulse when it leaves the radar gun, but grows quite rapidly as the distance increases from the gun. At a distance of 300 metres, the radar beam is now 100 metres tall and 200 metres wide! If 6 cars were simultaneously hit by a radar beam (six vehicles driving down the freeway), 6 pulses would come back to the radar gun, and the radar gun would detect (and report the speed of) the largest signal of the 6 signals present. To overcome this shortfall, the latest radar units with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) can identify the strongest and the fastest targets to try and help the police officer identify which vehicle's speed is being displayed on the radar gun.
Because the radar beam is so large when traveling down the road, a radar detector can be located almost anywhere in or on the vehicle, and it will detect the radar signal. Radar will penetrate glass, plastic, even people, but is reflected by metal and metallic objects. Radio waves will only travel in a straight line, so you are relying on reflections of other objects to give you advanced warning if you do not have a line of sight with the radar gun.
Traffic radar uses a radar beam to measure speed. Think of the beam as a searchlight. It’s invisible because it’s made of microwaves instead of light, but otherwise it acts very much like a light beam. It travels in straight lines. It’s easily reflected. It scatters as it is passed through dust and moisture in the air. And — this is essential — it has to hit your car before it can determine your speed. Radar can’t see around corners or through hills. It can’t see you when you are behind another vehicle. When in the clear, how strongly your vehicle reflects determines at what distance the radar can detect your speed. Generally, larger vehicles reflect more strongly than smaller vehicles. Trucks are more “visible” at further distances than cars. The principle on which radar operates is absolutely reliable. Radar equipment, on the other hand, is only as good as the quality of its design and manufacture. Traffic radars tend to be unreliable. They’re cheaply made and therefore vulnerable to many interferences that cause false readings. And, compared to the military and weather radar which have rotating antennas, traffic radars are vastly simplified. This simplification means that traffic radar cannot tell one car from another. The operator has to do that, and since the operator can’t see an invisible beam any better than you can, he frequently doesn’t know which vehicle’s speed is being read. This is a source of many undeserved tickets.
As a defense against radar detectors, many police radar units can be operated in the Instant-on mode, also called the Pulse mode. This means the radar is in position, but it is not transmitting a beam. So it cannot be detected. When the target is within range, the radar operator switches on the beam and the radar calculates the speed, usually in less than a second. This calculation happens too quickly for the target (you) to respond in time. Still, you can defend against Instant-on by recognizing it when the operator zaps traffic ahead of you.
As well as radar, there is also LASER (also known as LIDAR, - LIght Detection And Ranging), which operates at a frequency of 904nm ‡ 33MHz. A police laser (LIDAR) gun emits a highly focused beam of invisible light, in the near infrared region of light, at 904nm of wavelength, with the beam being around 50cm in diameter at a distance of 300m from the laser gun. Unlike RADAR which determines a vehicle's speed by measuring its Doppler shift, police laser (lidar) calculates speed by observing the changing amount of time is takes to "see" reflected pulses of light over a discreet amount of time.
Because the laser beam's diameter is so narrow, if a laser gun is aimed at the license plate, the beam is so small, that most times, none of the laser signal would actually “spill over” up to the windshield, where your detector is mounted. Thus, a radar detector with laser detector mounted on the windscreen would not even detect the laser beam targeted on the license plate (or headlights or bumper for that matter). This means the beam of a laser gun is accurate enough to target a single vehicle out of, let’s say, six vehicles driving down the freeway. The laser gun can target and detect that single vehicle in less than ½ second after the trigger is pulled, while the surrounding vehicles would not detect the laser beam as it passed right beside their vehicle!
Other than radar and laser, there are other ways of calculating a vehicle's speed being:
In Tasmania, the police use the following speed measurement devices:
Dash Mounted radar (aka moving radar) set up in police cars:
There are reports from some websites that Tas also uses the Bee III dash-mounted (moving radar) manufactured by MPH industries in the U.S. The MPH Bee operates at 33.8GHz (ka-band version) which is outside the ACMA allocation for Australia, therefore if the MPH Bee is in fact used in Aus, it is likely to be the K-band version.
Hand-held laser (aka lidar): The Tasmanian police, like many Australian states, use the LTI Ultralyte 100LR speed laser (lidar) gun. The LTI Ultralyte 100 LR used in Australia is the 100pps (pulses per second) model displaying speed and distance in km/h and km respectively. The LTI Ultralyte 100LR operates at a frequency of 904nm, and as per all speed lidar guns, has an extremely narrow divergence of the radar beam, as well as able to acquire a vehicle's speed in less than one second.
Speed Cameras:
How accurate are these devices?
The assumption being made here, is that the speed measuring equipment is being used according to the manufacturer's guidelines (see below).
What are the guidelines for use of this equipment??
Contrary to what the government or police would have you believe, the accuracy of these "speed measuring devices" can be somewhat doubtful, particularly if the manufacturer's guidelines for use are not strictly followed. Police officers, and mobile speed camera operators are trained in the proper use of these devices, but that isn't to say these guidelines are always followed. It is estimated that 10% of all LIDAR infringements are incorrect and up to 30% of all moving radar speed readings are also incorrect!
The Australian standards AS 2898.2-2003: "Radar speed detection - Operational procedures" - can be purchased HERE
The Australian standards AS 4691.2-2003: "Laser-based speed detection devices - Operational procedures" - can be purchased HERE
What does all this mean? It means that there are requirements for the correct placement and setup of speed camera devices as well as guidelines for the use of radar devices. Rules that must be followed for setup, placement and testing! But are they?
How do Police Radar, Laser & Speed Cameras make mistakes? The Texas Department of Public Safety produced a comprehensive manual based on the Federal tests. It cautions operators, "...the radar does not generate 'false' readings. Anytime a reading appears, the radar has sensed a signal. The radar operator must be familiar with situations that can produce 'error' readings." If the operator does not detect the error, a ticket will be wrongfully issued. Here are the radar "errors" detailed by the Texas manual:
1. Antenna Positioning Error 2. Look-Past Error
Texas instructors warn, "It is a widely-held misconception that the reflected target signal received by the radar antenna will always be that of the closest vehicle to the antenna. There are times, due to traffic conditions, that the closest vehicle is not returning the strongest signal."
The Texas instructors confirm this problem with radar, saying "It is not unfair to say that the reading you register could be a larger, better target three-quarters of a mile down the road."
3. Vehicle Interference Error Texas tells its radar operators that this "...situation becomes more critical if difference in patrol speed and interference-vehicle speed is five to ten mph. A target vehicle moving 61 mph may be recorded at 66-71. These borderline speeds are more difficult to detect with the eye."
4. Cosine Error
If this reflector were positioned straight ahead on a collision path, the patrol speed estimate would be close enough. But the further the object is located off a direct line to the target, the lower will be the estimate of patrol speed. This is a simple trigonometry problem relating to the cosine of the angle between the target and the ground reflector, hence the name Cosine error. Since Cosine error always makes patrol speed seem smaller than it actually is, it always acts to raise the reading of target speed.
5. Double-Bounce Error 6. Beam-Reflection error
7. Road-sign error
8. Radio-Interference Error
9. Fan-Interference error
However, in the case of moving radar, they say, "Sometimes a steady fan speed will override patrol car speed reflected from the roadway." When this happens, the false speed reading produced by the fan will be substituted for patrol speed in the moving radar's calculation of target speed. Since the calculation consists of subtracting patrol speed from closing speed, if the fan reading is less than patrol speed, then the speed displayed for the target will be incorrectly high.
Police LIDAR can also make errors if not operated according to the manufacturer's guidelines.
1. Stationary - Laser cannot be used in moving mode, they must be used whilst stationary. Similar to radar, laser cannot be used in the rain, snow, or high dust environments.
2. Interference - If for any reasons intended signal returns are interrupted, it may not be able to determine target velocity. Bright lights (such as Halogens) beaming directly into a laser aperture may desensitize or entirely masks target's echoes. The brighter and closer the light source the greater the chance of interference.
3. Cosine Error - Is the angle from 0* perpendicular to the target vehicle. The greater the cosine angle the greater the error. However, cosine error is always in favor of the motorist, one of the speed readings will be will be proportionally less than the actual speed of the target vehicle.
4. Sweep Error (also known as pan or slip error) - Is manifested when the laser is aimed at one part of the vehicle, say the license plate, and due to the motion of the operator, the laser also targets a side mirror during the same trigger pull. Sweep Error adds to the real speed of the target vehicle. See videos below.
5. Reflection Error - On very hot days with low humidity a visible mirage/reflection of the target vehicle is created. In many cases, when the laser is aimed at the target vehicle the infrared beam also receives readings from both the target vehicle and the mirage causing a Sweep Error.
6. Overexposure Error - When a laser gun receives an extremely powerful reflective signal, such as a sun flare off a vehicle, the computer's timer can't see return of the 904 nanometer signal it sent. It can't compute a speed reading. In general, the laser gun is looking for the strongest return reflection of its own emitted beam for speed computation.
Daily Mail, 15th October 2005.
Experts and two investigations by the BBC's Inside Out program and The Daily Mail have revealed that the police's favourite speed gun, the LTI 20-20, is flawed and can produce incorrect and unreliable speed readings. The device is used in some 3500 speed traps around the UK, but motorists have been prosecuted for speeding when they're adamant that they weren't over the limit. However, the main expert witness called by the CPS to defend the equipment in court is the boss of the UK importer, Frank Garratt, a former police officer and now a millionaire.
In tests the speed gun recorded a wall speeding at 44mph. (Yes, a brick wall, that's not a misprint) Other tests showed a bicycle doing 66mph and a parked car doing 22mph. The Daily Mail reports that even when the camera is set up following the police's own guidelines and the manufacturer's handbook some of the readings were wildly off the mark.
The newspaper wrote "The Mail can expose the scandal of a speed enforcement industry in which the collection of fines is considered paramount - whatever the consequences for innocent drivers caught in police traps by faulty readings." Lawyers told the paper that motorists are now rebelling by refusing to pay fines and fighting their cases through the courts. One solicitor, Barry Culshaw from Southampton, is representing 15 clients who all claim to have been a victim of faulty LTI 20-20 readings.
Another discovery, writes The Daily Mail, is that vital video film, often taken as secondary evidence, is often mysteriously withheld from accused motorists by the CPS. On at least 10 occasions the CPS has suddenly dropped the case against a motorist when ordered by a judge to hand over the revealing footage.
Dr Michael Clark is Europe's leading expert on laser technology and a former directory of a company making laser detection equipment for traffic lights and car parks. He's also a fierce critic of the speed gun and has acted as an expert witness on behalf of many motorists since he defended himself after being caught for alleged speeding.
Dr Clark says the gun is defective because its wide beam can easily pick up the wrong vehicle and if not held firmly on the target (which is a difficult task itself) it can produce an erroneous speed result because of "slippage".
Reflections from road signs and from other cars, even stationary ones, can also make the laser device misinterpret the true speed of the vehicle. The LTI 20-20 works by sending out a beam to measure the distance of the target from the officer operating it and also how long it takes for the beam to reflect off the target and bounce back. The operator looks through the sights and sees a red dot which he aims onto the target and presses a trigger. Critically the beam must be held firmly at the same point on the moving vehicle. But if slippage occurs and the beam moves up, down, or along the vehicle the gun will measure an inaccurate reading.
In tests in the USA, it was shown that if the beam slips from the windscreen of a car down to its grille on the bonnet it can add 8mph onto the vehicle's measured speed. If it slips along the length of the car - which is possible when a vehicle comes around a corner into the speed gun's sights - a whopping 30mph can be added on to the reading.
The BBC's experiments with the LTI 20-20 were dismissed by both the UK importers and ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) saying it was impossible for the gun to make any errors and that the BBC used an American version of the gun which they claim has less reliable software.
However, that claim was been rejected by the Daily Mail who obtained a UK version of the gun - a LTI 20-20 Ultralyte certified by Tele-Traffic, the UK importers based in Warwick.
Dr Clark points out during the experiments that the gun uses a multi-mode laser which uses 3 beams, not one. Over a long distance the beams widen so if it's targeted onto one vehicle it can unintentionally hit another vehicle nearby by mistake. Dr Clark said "A policeman can't tell from 400 meters away - or even at a longer distance in many cases - exactly which car he is marking." To demonstrate his point they parked a car at the side of the road and drove a white van past it at just 3mph. The laser gun was pointed at the car from 371 meters away which, according to the handbook, is easily within its capabilities.
As soon as the van drove past the parked car the laser gun picked up the moving van. It was impossible to target just the parked car along and as a result the car was recorded as travelling at 3mph, even though it was really stationary. The experiment was repeated with the van doing 26mph and the gun clocked the parked car at 26mph.
Another problem is reflection from other vehicles. They pointed the gun at a different parked car and slowly drove the white van past. It recorded the parked car doing 22mph. Dr Clark explains "The beam sometimes catches the reflection of a nearby car. It zig-zags to this car before carrying on to the target vehicle and returns by the same route."
In their final experiment they pointed the gun at a brick wall with no moving vehicles in the area. They moved the beam along the wall instead of keeping it perfectly still on a single point to create the slippage effect. The gun was confused and showed a speed of 44mph. Dr Clark said "This shows how a traffic officer can mistakenly pick up a reading from a wall by the side of a motorway or even an empty road if he doesn't target a vehicle properly. Of course there's no record to prove if an officer had targeting the vehicle properly or not. Assumption of accuracy is always taken for granted even if the officer had unwittingly made a mistake.
ACPO state that the gun shouldn't be used at distances more than 500 meters, but Dr Clark says that it's being used in some cases at double that distance.
Despite the recent media interest in these issue the shortcomings of the gun was discovered nearly a decade ago in 1996 in the US state of New Jersey. The state temporarily banned the gun after a court witnessed someone targeting the gun on a wall of the courtroom and it measured 4mph. The lawyer, Joe Maccarone, defending a motorist accused of speeding called on an expert from NASA. The expert said that at just over 300 metres there was only a 60% chance of a human operator hitting a 12 foot wide target with a laser gun. Cars are only 6 foot wide so the chances of hitting something other than the target are very high indeed.
Hand-held laser mistakes videos:
The police and the government would like to have us believe in their "utmost confidence in the accuracy of speed cameras". Of course they would, as a proven fault could cost them millions of dollars in repaid fines and loss of revenue, not to mention a loss of confidence. Victoria was the first state to set a precedence with the Government having to repay 26 million dollars in unjust fines from faulty speed cameras. What is the best defense against each of these speed measuring devices??
Simple! - "Don't speed" - I hear echo amongst the narrow minded. That's fine, and we agree whole heartedly, but "Don't speed and you won't have to pay a fine" assumes three very important things:
1) The speed limit is clearly indicated (Kwinana Freeway road works with two different posted speed limits on either side of the road ring a bell?)
2) Your car's speedometer is accurate.
3) The radar, laser or speed camera that measures your speed was accurate.
"Speed cameras play an important role in detecting speeding motorists and I think everybody would love to think the cameras play a good deterrent role. But the problem is you have to have confidence that they work properly and if they don't than the public will lose confidence in them and they'll lose their deterrent value."
So what happens when you are driving down the road, sitting on 80km/h (according to your speedometer) in an 80km/h stretch of road, but you cop a speeding fine?
Dash Mounted radar (aka moving radar) set up in police cars: The Silver and Golden Eagle dash mounted radars are manufactured by Kustom Signals Inc in the USA. When transmitting in "constant on" you will be able to detect the long-range radar beam with any reasonable radar detector. Due to the laws governing the use of radar detectors in NSW, only the Bel STi is unable to be detected by the Stalcar RDD.
At this point, some people have asked the question about radar jamming. Your most important question
in purchasing a so-called radar jammer should be "does it work?" Phantom, Phantom II, Phaser or Phazar, the Phantom III and The Black Widow.
Hand-held laser (aka lidar): Laser guns are another "deadly" device in
that they can calculate your speed in less than a second. Although
most radar detectors include a laser sensor, they usually offer little more
than a "ticket notifier" when they go off. Having said that, there ARE
circumstances where a laser (detector) can and has, provided adequate
warning...although these are few and far times in
between. Click on the video below and to the left (allow
pop-ups) to watch just how quickly a laser acquires a vehicle's speed.
"That being stated, these results suggest that, especially in close-range laser encounters, the Valentine 1 is the top performing laser detector, by a wide-margin, followed by the Escort 8500 X50 and more closely, the STi Driver, and the Beltronics RX65 Pro.." But as aforementioned, just detecting the laser won't be enough. The most cost effective solution is with the use of Veil anti-laser paint. Veil will give you additional seconds warning time when used in conjunction with a good laser detector. You can read more about Veil in our laser jammers section. The best defense against laser is by the use of an active laser jammer. Unlike most active radar jammers, active laser jammers do work. An active laser jammer will prevent a speed being displayed for a brief time whilst you adjust your speed if necessary. The best laser jammers for the Australian model LTI Ultralyte according to the Guys Of Lidar 2007 test are the Laser Interceptor and the Blinder. You need to look at the results for the Ultralyte 100pps as these are the laser guns used in Australia. The Laser Pro Park finished fifth in the test against these laser guns. Fixed Speed Cameras:
The best product for alerting to a fixed red light camera is a GPS device that stores these locations in a database. Many GPS manufacturers offer products that add this service (called "point of interest") to their navigation products. A GPS based device is perfectly legal to own and operate in Tasmania at the time of writing.
How does each radar detector
perform detecting Tas radars, lasers & cameras?
Summary for best radar detector for Tasmania:
What are the laws governing the use of radar detectors in
Tasmania? Division 3 - Horns and radar detectors
Using radar detectors and similar devices 225.
(1) A person must not drive a vehicle if the vehicle has in or on it a device for preventing the effective use of a speed measuring device, or a device for detecting the use of a speed measuring device, unless the person is exempt from this rule under another law of this jurisdiction.
Penalty: Fine not exceeding 10 penalty units. Note: Drive includes be in control of (see the definition in the dictionary. (2) Sub-rule (1) applies whether or not the device is operating or in working order.
Note: Under the law of this jurisdiction, radar detectors and similar devices may be subject to confiscation; see rule 354
PART 22 - LOCAL ROAD RULES
Note 1
The rules in this Part are not part of the national scheme. They apply only in Tasmania. Division 1 - Powers of police officers and authorised persons seizure of detection devices
354. (1) A police officer or authorised person who has reasonable grounds for believing that a motor vehicle is equipped with a detection device may; (a) enter and search the motor vehicle; and (b) doing as little damage as possible in the circumstances, seize any device that appears to the police officer or authorised person to be a detection device; and (c) cause any device so seized to be tested; and (d) cause any device so seized to be produced in court as evidence in any proceedings under rule 225.
Note 1: Authorised person and police officer are defined in the dictionary.
Note 2: Rule 225 makes it an offence to drive a vehicle having a detection device. (2) If a person is convicted of an offence under rule 225 the detection device to which the offence relates is forfeited to the Crown. (3) In this rule "detection device" means; (a) a device for preventing the effective use of a speed measuring device; or (b) a device for detecting the use of a speed measuring device.
Start of valid time period for this component: 01 Dec 1999. End of valid time period for this component: 29 Nov 2009
Can the police determine if you are using a radar detector?
YES! There are two ways a police officer can tell if you are using a radar detector in your vehicle:
1) By visual detection
2) By detecting it electronically
What are the Speeding Fines for Tasmania? (source)
If I wasn't speeding, how can I challenge/beat a speeding fine?
If you have been booked for speeding, and you were, then you should face the music and cough-up. But what if you weren't actually speeding?
Remember that when you are pulled over and booked for speeding, the incident is alleged… not proven! The following rules will ensure you do not make the mistake of answering the police’s questions the wrong way.
Quite often the first question a policeman asks you is "Do you know why I pulled you over"? Here, the policeman is looking for an admission of guilt. By answering him "because I was going too fast?" immediately incriminates you by admitting you were speeding (even if you weren't).
The other question commonly asked by a policeman when he pulls you over is "Why were you speeding?" Again, he or she is looking for an admission of guilt. Do not admit that you were speeding or may have been speeding. There will be no chance of defending yourself in court later on. Remember that you are not under arrest and your only obligation is to hand over your driving license and registration.
Remember the 3 rules when pulled over:
Rule number one is your answer to the question, "Why were you speeding?" Simply reply:
"I was not speeding Officer, I was sitting exactly on the posted speed limit"
Rule number two is your answer to the Officer if he persists in repeating question 1 by saying his equipment (Radar / Laser) has shown that you were speeding. Simply reply,
"I was not speeding Officer, if your equipment says I was then I would strongly suggest that it is faulty. Will you show me the last infringement notice you issued so I may compare to see if their speed was the same as the one you are claiming I was doing?"
In most cases, the policeman will show you your reading but refuse to show you his or her previous infringement fine, citing that he is not obliged to do so.
The third rule is perhaps the most important of all. Under the National Safety Committee guidelines for the use and implementation of Police Speed detection devices, the police are only supposed to be operating them in known "Black Spot" or high accident areas. Innocently ask the question to the policeman,,
"Why are you operating this speed detection device in this area? Is it a known black spot or high accident risk area?"
If you follow the above rules you will stand a good chance of winning your case in court should you wish to defend the infringement. The justice system is there for all of us, not just the police. If you win it costs you nothing! For further information and consultancy about how to defend yourself against and a police Laser (lidar) gun , the mobile radar or a speed camera, contact speeding fine consultants
Remember that when you are pulled over and booked for speeding the incident is alleged…. not proven!
What are the road fatality statistics for Tasmania??
Summary for police radar, laser & speed cameras in
Tasmania |
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The
first dash-mounted radars used in Tas were the KR10-SP
manufactured by Kustom Signals Inc in the USA.
These units can
be used in stationary and moving mode, and can be used in "instant on" mode
or "constant on" mode. One antenna for front only or two antennas for
front / rear.
The
first speed camera used in Tasmania were the tripod
mounted AWA slant radars. The AWA Slant radar
requires a minimum of three officers to operate
effectively. For an optimum level of safety, however,
four to five personnel are required. This places a heavy
burden on human resources, particularly if it is
operated over a number of sites during one day. POLTECH International
Limited (POLTECH) listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange (PLL) in July 1998. It has since gone
into receivership leaving many failing cameras in their
wake. It is thought Tasmania has replaced the
Poltech cameras with the Redflex cameras.
LTI
20-20 exposed as unreliable (
The
first RDD used in the NT was the VG-2 which "listened" for the radio frequency
leakage (around 10.5Ghz) emitted by the local oscillator - inherent to
all radar detectors. Most radar detectors are now immune to the
VG-2 (often referred to as "shadow-technology" but there is a newer RDD
out, made by an Australian company; 
In