VASCAR- The Latest News

Martin Williams of The Glasgow Herald ran this story last week.

They are the speed detectors that police in the UK have been using in some cases for 30 years.

Now their reliability is being questioned after the professional voice of police leadership in Scotland advised forces to stop using the Vascar (Vehicle Average Speed Computer and Recorder), Police Pilot and Provida speed scanners while a "potential issue" is resolved.

Strathclyde Police has banned their use following a warning from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland that there was a particular concern about their use alongside the emergency services' Airwave digital communications system

It is also understood that there is disquiet about the effect of radio waves from mobile phones, pagers, and radio and TV transmitters, CB radios and amateur radios.

It has raised the question of the validity of a horde of speeding convictions.

Speed was said to be a factor in 29% of the 3000 road deaths that occurred on Britain's roads in the same year.

Graham Walker, a Glasgow- based lawyer who specialises in fighting road traffic cases, said: "This development would give us a lot of ammunition. The first thing we would do in fighting these cases is to instruct experts to look at these machines and give evidence on why they cannot be relied upon.

"With every client where I have a case pending, we will now investigate and look at the whole issue of interference and ask for disclosure from the police and the Crown to find out what information they have about reliability."

The Vascar and Police Pilot are in-car speed detection devices. They can either be used to measure time taken over a pre-determined distance or while following a vehicle on the road.

Vascar units were first fitted to police vehicles as early as the mid-1970s and are among the most popular "weapons of choice" for catching speeders.

The Provida is an in-car speed detector linked to a video camera, which is a familiar site on reality police TV programmes such as Police Camera Action.

For all three detection systems, police officers must trigger switches that start and stop the timing devices. Device error, often blamed on the officer using a unit, is often brought up as a defence when motorists challenge charges.

Experts believe that, because of the known inaccuracies attributable to the devices, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) - not the Home Office - approved the units to measure speeds in England and Wales.

Acpo's own Traffic Committee Enforcement Technology National Guidance Manual accepts it is "impossible to obtain complete immunity from radio interference" when using typical speed radars.

"The best protection is the use of the meter in the hands of a trained and certified operator," it says. "Interference effects will only occur when the radar meter is close to the transmitter or the transmitter is very powerful.

"It is not possible to lay down a strict criteria for safe operating distances from transmitters."

It advises that police radio transmitters must not be used at the moment a vehicle's speed is measured.

One speed detector expert said the issue with commonly used devices was that they did not have Electro Magnetic Compatibility certification, meaning it is possible that many devices that produce radio waves, such as mobile phones, pagers, amateur radio and TV and radio transmitters, may interfere with them.
The latest on this story ifs that ACPO issued a further memo the day after their first warning memo to the effect that the VASCAR is fine when used in accordance with guideline. I am still concerned in that the guidelines referred to were written BEFORE the introduction of the Airwave radio communication device.
We have take the exceptional step of writing to the police and the Procurator Fiscal in relation to each VASCAR case we have to ensure that nothing is covered up here.
We will test the equipment where possible and do all we can to get to the truth about the reliability of this device.