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FREE Delivery on all ordersBritain's most senior traffic policeman wants to use miniature cameras hidden in reflective road studs to target serial speeding offenders.
Richard Brunstrom, chief constable of North Wales and the outgoing head of road policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), believes that the specially modified Catseyes would lead to a clampdown on boy racers and joy riders.
In a recent interview, Brunstrom spoke out against "men who think they have a human right to drive as fast as they want", and claimed that the UK's roads have become "a very lawless environment". He also suggested police chiefs are considering building a holding cell at the Dartford Tunnel in Kent to accommodate the large number of motorists caught speeding or breaking other traffic laws at the Thames crossing.
The chief constable, who recently announced that he was standing down from his ACPO post, has consistently championed speed cameras, leading critics to label him the "Traffic Taliban".
The covert speed camera studs have been developed in Australia, which was visited by two of Brunstrom's colleagues last year. The cylinder-shaped device is topped with a reinforced lens that sits just 4mm above the ground. It works in conjunction with an infrared stud, which provides illumination for the camera without flashing in drivers' eyes, and a detection stud which calculates speed.
Similar studs are reportedly expected to be deployed in Malaysia, where they can incorporate number plate recognition technology to issue speeding tickets automatically. Such devices, when linked to an insurance database, can also identify uninsured and untaxed motorists.
"It will mark you out in a line," said Brunstrom. "It is all about bringing road policing into core police work." Brunstrom believes the camera studs should be deployed only on roads where there is evidence of persistent offending.
Speed cameras normally have to be clearly visible, according to government guidelines. Police are allowed to conduct covert enforcement only in exceptional circumstances where "extreme car drivers or motorbike riders" are engaged in high-speed racing.
Virtually invisible speed cameras mounted in the pavement will soon be issuing speeding tickets in Malaysia. Officials there have announced plans to install cameras placed in the raised reflective pavement markers known as 'Botts Dots'. A pair of the 'Intelligent Studs' sit between lanes, raised just 4mm from the ground, virtually indistinguishable from other lane markers in the road. One stud measures speed and the other houses an infrared camera that photographs the speeding vehicle's number plate, at speeds of up to 150mph. Each device includes an automatic self-cleaning system to remove dirt and road grime regularly. Malaysia already allows anyone with a camera phone or digital camera to issue speeding tickets to strangers, friends and enemies by uploading a picture to a police website.
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