New regulation set for speed-monitoring lasers

National Road Safety Authority regulates reliability of laser radar guns that monitor vehicle speeds on country’s roadways.

By SHARON UDASIN
Traffic jam [illustrative] 390 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Traffic jam [illustrative] 390
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The National Road Safety Authority, a division of the Transportation Ministry, has approved a new regulation that establishes the reliability of the laser radar guns that monitor vehicle speeds on the country’s roadways.
Initiated by the authority, the new regulation will serve to discredit the appeals of speeders who question the reliability of the instrument’s measurement in court, the office said. When a vehicle is moving at 100 kilometers per hour, the accuracy of the instrument is within 3 kph, and at above 100 kph, the device margin of error is likewise 3 percent, according to the Road Safety Authority.
The authority will continue to vigorously monitor the radar guns, both in the laboratory and in the field, the office said.
The device operates by sending a laser beam to a passing vehicle, after which the speed is calculated by measuring the difference between the amount of time it takes for the laser to hit the target and the amount of time it takes to return, the authority explained.
While the monitoring services provided by these instruments are crucial, there has been no Israeli standard regulating them in their 20 years of operation, the authority explained. This situation led to a multitude of cases with legal ambiguities, in which complainants were able to hamper the work of traffic courts with appeals regarding device reliability.
“The new standard will facilitate the work of the court and will provide an unambiguous criterion for determining the reliability of speed reports,” a statement from the National Road Safety Authority said.
“In addition, the device will help prevent cases in which defendants of speed offenses receive acquittal due to technical arguments.”