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New speed camera snaps drivers from half mile

Police are currently testing a camera so accurate it can tell if drivers are using a mobile phone or lacking a seatbelt from nearly half a mile away

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A spokesman for Dorset Road Safe said that Concept II cameras would help boost detection rates among motorists who think they are above the law.

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By Nathan Rao
The Express

DORSET, United Kingdom — Motorists will soon face a new speed camera that is so accurate it can tell if they are using a mobile phone or driving without a seatbelt from nearly half a mile away.

The ultra-sophisticated devices are the latest generation of hand-held speed detectors used by traffic officers.

Police are currently testing them out before they become a powerful new weapon in the war on road users flouting the law.

Known as the Concept II, the hi-tech device is fitted with laser equipment that sends out infra-red light pulses to target a suspect car.

The laser technique is already widely used by police in Britain, but the Concept II comes with an especially powerful high-definition lens.

Sharp It can hone in on the interior of a car and tell police via sharp images if a driver is unbuckled, using a mobile phone or eating a sandwich at the wheel — all from a range of more than 656 yards, or about 0.4 of a mile.

The Concept II can process photographs and store hours of video evidence to DVD — enough for details of almost 4,000 separate offences.

Dorset Police is carrying out trials after buying two of the cameras for £25,000. It comes after the force launched a zero-tolerance campaign against motoring offences.

The initiative, which costs £800,000 a year to fund, is part of a joint venture with local councils known as Dorset Road Safe.

But critics have slammed the proposed use of Concept II as a means of “maximising” offences to make extra money.

Ian Belchamber, who represents an anti-speed camera campaign group in the South-west, said: “Dorset Road Safe is under a lot of pressure to keep the money rolling in.

“Dorset’s driver awareness courses for offending drivers is the most expensive in the country. So there is a huge incentive to maximise the number of offences. It doesn’t surprise me at all that they will look to new methods and the latest technology available in order to reach that goal.”

A spokesman for Dorset Road Safe said that Concept II cameras would help boost detection rates among motorists who think they are above the law.

Evidence The spokesman added: “Although the cameras have a much greater range, we would look to operate them at a maximum of 400 yards to detect speed, seatbelt and mobile phone offences.”

Traffic officers were testing them from the back of their speed camera vans, but were not yet using the video evidence to prosecute offenders.

The zero tolerance campaign had helped to cut road accident injuries by 18 per cent, the spokesman added.

Copyright 2012 Express Newspapers

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