In an move to counteract road accidents during the upcoming Easter and Anzac holidays, the Victorian Police Department has announced new technology will be trialled to detect whether people are driving responsibly.
The technology, to be trialled from today, consists of a long-lens portable camera. It has the ability to detect whether drivers are using their mobile phones or driving without a seatbelt on from a distance of up to 700 metres away.
This is the very first Ranger camera that has been used in Australia and is part of a 13-day police enforcement campaign.
Dr Toh Yen Pang, a Senior Lecturer at RMIT University who specialises in research relating to road safety, couldn’t comment on the specifics of the Ranger camera as he was unfamiliar with the technology. However he believes drivers would “change their behaviour patterns” while driving due to the camera’s efficient monitoring systems.
Dr Pang states the Ranger camera will ensure that “drivers are more cautious” while on the roads and from previous studies. “When drivers are more aware of being monitored they will be more responsible,” he said.
Assistant Commissioner of the road policing department in Victoria, Robert Hill, agrees.
“We’ll be doing what we can to ensure that people behave responsibly,” he said.
Through being able to detect drivers behaving irresponsibly from a long distance, Mr Hill says the Ranger camera is “one of the most significant road policing operations conducted in this state over the Easter period”.
While the Ranger camera will be trialled to test its capability in monitoring road irresponsibility, Acting Senior Sergeant Anita Brens writes on the Victorian Police News website that “throughout April, May and June, police will saturate the state (Victoria) with a number of large-scale operations”.
By Shaye Milford