Monday, November 27, 2006

This year the state of Illinois (state police) purchased and started operating 3 photo radars. Also see FAQ for safety radar (photo radar) operation. One radar operates in the Chicago area, one covers the state north of Chicago, and one covers the rest of the state (south of Chicago). Standard operating procedure has an officer inside the van observing potential violations on a video/computer monitor and/or through the front or rear windshield.

Photographs of the driver and vehicle license plate are recorded when a violation is measured. Recorded photographs and data (speed, time, date, place, license plate, etc.) are uploaded to a Washington based firm to verify accuracy. I wonder if they check the photo radar photograph against the registered vehicle owner's driver license photograph? The firm then returns the speeding tickets to the police -- the officer that observed the violation must then sign an affidavit. Finally the registered vehicle owner gets a speeding ticket in the mail.

For a photo radar van to accurately measures AND record a speeding violator the cameras (front and rear) MUST be adjusted for each setup (radar location to road, traffic lane(s) measured, and speed violation range). Also for an accurate speed measurement the radar must be exactly parallel to the road (traffic direction). Even when the radar is exactly parallel to the road and the front and rear cameras are properly aligned, multiple vehicles can pose a problem in identifying the vehicle measured.

CopRadar