A laser radar that can detect speeding up to 320 km/h at a distance of 1,200 meters has become a new instrument of the Local Police of Elche (Alicante) to combat what is, without a doubt, the most common infraction they commit. drivers in Spain. In fact, two out of every three traffic fines issued each year in our country are related to excessive speed, an infraction that is considered one of the main risk factors on the road.
Traffic authorities have a series of radars, fixed and mobile, to control speed on interurban and urban roads. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is responsible for the former, with the exception of Catalonia and the Basque Country, which have their own powers, while speed control in the urban area corresponds to the respective town councils.
Local police forces, although in a more modest way except for large cities such as Madrid or Barcelona, ??also have a range of technological resources and control tools. These are normally fixed radars that catch drivers who are speeding at a certain point that, by law, is mandatory to communicate in advance.
It is also mandatory to disclose the sections in which agents temporarily place mobile radars. But it is not necessary to inform the exact point where they are located, hence they are more feared by drivers, since GPS navigators do not know their exact location.
Furthermore, some speedometers, such as the one used by the Elche Local Police, have the peculiarity that they can detect speeding from 1,200 meters away, which makes them even more imperceptible to drivers.
This radar is called TruCAM and is manufactured by the Madrid company Tradesegur. Among the clients of its sophisticated model that allows it to detect excess speeds of up to 320 km/h, are the DGT, the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Ertzaintza. The device’s technology allows it to capture three images per second of the license plate of cars traveling at a maximum of 320 km/h, with a margin of error of 2 km/h. The images are sent in real time to traffic officers for downloading to mobile devices.
The camera’s LCD screen is transflective, so the radar can capture images of offending vehicles both in bright sunlight and in the dark, as it also incorporates a night filter. According to the technical specifications described by Tradesegur, the TruCAM devices have dimensions of 21 cm in length, 9.8 cm in width and 31.7 cm in height – smaller than the Velolaser -, making them easy to camouflage.
Weather conditions are also not a problem, in principle, for the normal operation of the radar. The devices are resistant to dust and water and can operate at a temperature between -10ºC and 60ºC. Its autonomy is in a range of between 8 and 10 hours. Likewise, they are immune to radar jammers that very few drivers carry in their car as they are prohibited. The fine for the mere fact of carrying a radar jammer in the car, even if it is not being used, is 6,000 euros and the withdrawal of six points from the driving license.
