The Benefits of Mobile Speed Enforcement
It’s been proven that automated speed enforcement has a positive impact on the community. A 2015 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study found that speed cameras reduced the likelihood of a driver going 10 mph or more over the speed limit by 59 percent. However, automated speed enforcement technology extends beyond stationary cameras at intersections or along roadways. Cities nationwide are using mobile and handheld technologies to detect and deter speeding, increase driver accountability and keep officers safe.
Mobile vs. Handheld Technology
While mobile and handheld speed enforcement systems both achieve the same goal, each solution is designed to meet different community needs.
• Mobile speed enforcement is ideal for cities that want the ability to move the system to different locations where it is needed most. Mobile systems can be deployed for hours, days or even weeks at a time to help modify behavior in a particular area. For example, a mobile speed enforcement system can be placed in a school zone to monitor speeding during school hours and can then be moved to a busy business district to monitor traffic during rush hour. Or if speeding is a problem in a specific residential area, the system can be deployed there until the issue is corrected.
Cities can use historical traffic data or conduct surveys to identify locations where the technology is needed.
Mobile enforcement systems can also be beneficial for roadways and environmental conditions where it’s impractical to station an officer for long periods of time.
• Handheld speed enforcement offers maximum mobility, allowing officers to monitor speeding incidents automatically wherever they are posted, without the need to chase down vehicles. This technology is especially useful in high pedestrian regions, construction zones, school zones and in challenging terrain, where it is difficult to place a fixed system. To capture a vehicle’s information, the officer simply points the handheld in the direction of the vehicle.
Like fixed systems, both mobile and handheld speed enforcement cameras capture high resolution images and video that are submitted to local law enforcement to determine if a violation occurred.
Improving Officer Safety
A key benefit of photo enforcement is that it acts as a force multiplier, allowing law enforcement to focus on other high-priority tasks in the community while still ensuring high-risk roadways are monitored.
In many communities, it isn’t practical to post officers in certain areas, due to environmental conditions like inclement weather or dangerous road conditions. Mobile speed enforcement allows the city to monitor speeding without putting an officer in precarious conditions.
Photo enforcement also eliminates the need for officers to chase down vehicles. Officers could be required to engage in dangerous driving behaviors in order to catch up to the potential violator, and they may need to pull the driver over in areas where there is no shoulder, endangering both the officer and the driver. Both handheld and mobile solutions capture all necessary data of the incident, without the additional stress.
A Valuable Partner
When it comes to speed enforcement, Redflex is a trusted partner for communities, assisting with site selection, system selection, installation, training and customer service. Learn more about our mobile and handheld speed solutions.