Speed Gun That Works a Mile Away

Daily Mail, Thursday July 21, 2005
By Ray Massey, Transport Editor

Motorists are being caught by a long-range speed gun that can detect offenders almost a mile away.

The British –built device is believed to have the longest range in the world and is being issued to police forces across the country.

Dubbed the Rolls Royce of speed traps, the Unipar SL700 is also claimed to be one of the smallest speed guns to be developed.

The hand-held device, which weighs only 2.2lb, can catch speeding motorists at a range of up to 5000ft – only 280ft short of a mile.

It received Home Office Approval in April and 60 have been delivered to a dozen police forces, including Kent, and Dyfed Powys in Wales, with Suffolk alone ordering 20.

The speed guns have also been trialled by Thames Valley Police and Greater Manchester and another 30 police forces have expressed an interest in using the technology.

The device works by releasing a rapid stream of laser beams which bounce off vehicles as they drive towards or away from the camera.

In a fraction of a second it measures the time elapsing between the beams as the vehicle moves over a set distance.

From this it then works out the vehicle's speed which can be seen through a viewfinder.

The gun also has a large side-mounted graphics display so that an observer can also see the speed, direction, range and time. Powered by two rechargeable batteries, each device can store the details of 4000 speeding cars.

Those caught are shown their car details and speed on the digital display. They are then fined £60 and three penalty points are added to their driving llicence.

The technology has been designed and made by Tunbridge Wells-based Unipar, which employs only ten staff but hopes to sell 500 speed guns a year.

Unipar's technical manager Jonathan Dunthorne said: This is the Rolls-Royce of speed detection devices. It is British designed and British made and robustly so.

“We believe it to be the smallest hand-held speed gun in the world – and certainly one of the longest ranges.”

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “Laser technology has been in the force for more than ten years, but this is the latest technology.”

In February, the Home Office launched an investigation into the use of a rival American long-range speed camera after it emerged that its readings were unreliable.

The decision came after a driver, accused of doing 132mph, was cleared when a court heard that his car could not be driven that fast.

Three years ago laser cameras that can catch speeding drivers more than half a mile away went into action for the first time.