Speed detectors are to be banned as part of the new Road Safety Bill, which we reported on last week. Within a year, they could be illegal. Here's the government's own wording:
"The intention is to ban the jammers and detectors through legislation in a Road Safety Bill. It is proposed that the Bill will contain prospective powers for the Secretary of State to make an order prescribing what would be illegal to carry and use in a vehicle."
The thinking behind the move is as follows:
"The speed enforcement detectors and diffusers undermine the use of all speed enforcement equipment. Their use allows drivers to believe they can speed unless alerted to the presence of speed enforcement. That would run the very real risk of reversing the trend in reducing those killed or seriously injured on our roads resulting in economic costs to the community.
"Should legislation be brought in, the road safety benefits are clear. The existing GPS systems can contain information including the location of all approved speed camera sites in the country and the speed limits that apply there. Providing this information to drivers can only improve the prospects of drivers amending their speeds in order to comply with limits at or near camera sites.
What these systems cannot do is detect the presence of a speed enforcement device as one is approached. This means that the police can retain the ability to enforce speed limits as a normal part of their traffic duties. We do not know how many SEDDs [speed enforcement devices] have been sold or are likely to be sold. We are confident that very few diffusers are now being sold. They have been found to be unreliable in comparison to the GPS systems."
Only radar and laser detectors are included, GPS-based devices are not. The report said that those device which emit radar signals will be banned -- though very few if any do -- as will those that detect radar and laser.
Here, again, is the exact wording:
"There is no difficulty with drivers carrying in their vehicles devices that inform them of the location of fixed safety cameras and cameras operating from mobile units. These have the same intention as the signing, visibility and conspicuity rules that form part of the financial scheme under which most cameras are placed. These devices operate currently under Global Positional Systems (GPS). They work by keeping the position of cameras up to date on a computer and identifying where they are in relation to a vehicle by use of a satellite. There is no intention to ban these.
"There are two other types of devices that we are seeking to ban. The first is the jammers. These devices prevent cameras from working by deflecting the beam issued by the camera equipment or preventing the beam from emitting. They are particularly dangerous in that they prevent speed enforcement cameras from operating and therefore allowing drivers to continue to speed past the camera site. Also contained within this definition are those sprays, materials, etc that obstruct the view of a number plate.
"We are also seeking to ban the carriage of radar detectors. These identify where cameras are by sending out a radar beam that detects the signal emitted by the camera equipment. There are two problems with these -
- They can set off non-camera equipment such as automatic doors and may interfere with satellite TV
- More importantly, the police have genuine concerns about the use of detectors. In addition to camera deployment within the safety camera cost recovery scheme the police also undertake covert activity and speed limit enforcement as part of their normal traffic duties. The fact that these devices can detect both covert camera activity and non-camera/cost recovery laser/radar guns could seriously effect their ability to enforce speed limits as part of their normal traffic duties."
Vendors of the devices have pledged to take the move to the European Court of Human Rights. Some safety campaigners have welcomed the move, apparently.