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All about the new Vitronic Poliscan Speed Cameras

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

They began 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 for use around Perth and Bunbury. The Multanovas are being shipped to regional centres such as Geraldton.

**Update May 2011**

After threatening legal action, Vitronic forced the original website hosting the Poliscan Operator's manual to take it down. Obviously Vitronic do not want the general public having access to this information to use in their legal defence!!!

No doubt Vitronic will be trying to force the many other sites hosting a full colour version of their Operator's manual, to take it down. Of course [we] do not recommend that you download your own copy before the website is forced to take it down, because that would be a breach of copyright. And heaven forbid the public actually have any information to assist them to challenge their speeding fine.

Which brings up the next point...

Fines are being issued to drivers that by Vitronic's own admission in their manual - SHOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED.

What's most interesting in the Poliscan Operations Manual is the section explaining which photos/scenarios should NOT be used as valid evidence. In this section (page 98 onwards) it discusses, with examples, the types of photographs that should NOT be used as VALID EVIDENCE, and therefore SHOULD BE REJECTED. You can get most of this explanation from THIS WEBSITE.

Even with this explained in black and white, a member of the public reported recieving a fine from a Poliscan speed camera, but when he compared his photograph against those provided in the manual, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED - as it did NOT meet the requirements for "valid evidence" AS DESCRIBED IN THE MANUAL!

Driver's are being issued with speeding fines from Vitronic Poliscan speed cameras, that by (Vitronic's) own admission in their operations manual - SHOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED!

So to all the sheep that bleat "don't speed and you won't get fined" - THINK AGAIN.

Saving lives or revenue raising? I think everyone knows the answer to that question these days.

Well there is another alternative...

Poliscan Speed Camera Jammer

There are now several laser jammers on the market that will not only detect the Poliscan, but also prevent the Poliscan from locking onto your vehicle for a few seconds - enough time to ensure you have not inadvertently drifted above the posted speed limit. Naturally these products are illegal to use in all states of Australia, however some have argued that if the governments are going to illegally book motorists (sometimes when they are not even speeding) then they have no problem in fitting their cars with these devices.

Previously, radar detector owners had no difficulty in being pre-warned of a Multanova speed camera ahead with a good quality radar detector, such as the Valentine One.

However as WA radar detector owners will attest, the Poliscans are presenting a problem when set up in reverse.

A "rear set up" is when the speed camera is taking speed measurements of vehicles after they have passed the camera. In this configuration, even the Valentine One does not give much warning. However with the Laser Interceptor, you can once again have warning.

Did you know that a Poliscan has measured a stationary car doing 26km/h? Read about it here and here (translated from German). Also another report on a faulty speed reading from Poliscan speed cameras here as well as a German (the country where the Poliscan is manufactured) court overturning a ticket because the Poliscan could not be proven accurate here.

There were 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 at around 10m away.

Some media reports also have stated these speed cameras cannot be detected by a radar detector. This is not quite correct, as our testing shows a variety of radar detectors can detect the poliscan, however the cheaper (poor quality) detectors are giving very little warning (just like with the older Multanovas)

The biggest problem for radar detector users, however is when the cameras are set up in reverse (taking the photo of the vehicle AFTER it has passed the camera. Just like the Multanovas set up in this method, the Poliscans are much more difficult for radar detectors to detect.

There still is some debate as to whether the portable Poliscan cameras (the ones used in WA) are 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 are only TWO lidara that uses a VPR.

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 right?).

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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