SC - Troopers soon to use Lidar

[StlouisX50]

Troopers get zap with new laser devices

June 21, 2006

Thanks to a federal grant, the South Carolina Highway Patrol will soon be able to break some tunnel vision, with speed detection at least.

A $125,000 grant to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety has allowed for the purchase of 73 dual antenna radars and seven laser imaging detection and ranging devices, LIDAR.

The dual antenna radars will allow troopers to track the speed of vehicles, not just in front of them as they do now, but also behind them. The LIDAR devices will enable troopers to track vehicle speeds in very condensed clusters of traffic, department spokesman Sgt. Kelley Hughes said.

"A good example would be I(nterstate) 85 in rush-hour traffic," he said about using the LIDAR devices.

According to Sgt. Hughes, the dual antenna systems will particularly benefit troopers enforcing speeds around median barriers.

Anderson, Greenville and Laurens counties are among the 13 counties of concentration where the new equipment will be used.

[StlouisX50]

Troopers get new equipment to catch speeders
Associated Press

FLORENCE, S.C. - State troopers have received a federal grant that will help them catch speeders even on highways divided by a concrete wall or cable median barriers.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol plans to buy about 80 new devices, including seven special radars with a beam so narrow it can figure out a vehicle's speed from 1,000 feet away.

"The ultimate goal is these radars will attempt to cut down on speeding violations and, in turn, cut down on fatal crashes, because speed is the reason for most fatal crashes," South Carolina Highway Patrol Senior Trooper Sonny Collins said.

The money is coming from a $127,250 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Most of the new radars are dual-antenna, meaning troopers can clock vehicles both in front of them and behind them and can run their radar while moving.

The new devices should end the misconception some drivers have that median cable barriers or concrete walls make it easier to avoid a state trooper. "Now that you can run front and rear radar, that takes that misconception out," Collins said.

The new radars also have a device to thwart radar detectors. An officer can press a "pause button," which shuts off the radar beam as a vehicle approaches. The officer then releases the button when the vehicle is in range and the first beam clocks the speed before the radar detector goes off, Collins said.

More than 442 miles of South Carolina interstate have cable median barriers or concrete walls, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The barriers have cut the number of deaths from crashes where vehicles cross into the other travel lanes. In 2000, the year before the cable barriers were first installed, 27 people died in crossover crashes. In 2005, just four crossover deaths were reported.

Interstate crash deaths dropped from 165 to 129 during the same period, while total interstate crashes increased from 8,160 to 11,024, according to the Highway Patrol.

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The new devices should end the misconception some drivers have that median cable barriers or concrete walls make it easier to avoid a state trooper. "Now that you can run front and rear radar, that takes that misconception out," Collins said.

I really don't know what front and rear radar has to do with median barriers. :?

[StlouisX50]

Your right, they could still use any radar to get a speed. However they still will be separated from traffic because of the barriers