Spain's national traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), has installed 130 new speed radars that drivers cannot detect, motoring expert Alfonso García, known as "Motorman," said on the Spanish radio segment "Poniendo las Calles," hosted by Carlos Moreno, "El Pulpo."
García said the DGT had stepped up speed monitoring on Spanish roads by rolling out a new generation of mobile speed cameras known as Veloláser. Spain currently has 3,621 radars nationwide, and the DGT plans to expand its fleet of the new devices in the near future. The DGT is the government body in charge of managing traffic and road safety across Spain, while the Guardia Civil, the country's national police force, enforces traffic law on the roads through its specialised traffic unit.
The invisible technology behind Veloláser
García described the physical features of the new devices, saying they were portable and small, weighed less than two kilograms, and needed no cables because they were wireless and ran on 4G technology. Their compact size lets Guardia Civil officers carry them in a backpack and set them up on hidden tripods, road barriers, guardrails or unmarked cars.
Unlike traditional radars, which emit radio waves, the Veloláser units use LiDAR laser technology, sending out beams of light in the infrared spectrum. LiDAR, short for Light Detection and Ranging, measures distance and speed using laser pulses and is also used in fields such as mapping and autonomous vehicles. Because these radars rely on light rather than radio signals, García said, they completely disable radar detectors and jamming devices, leaving drivers with no advance warning.
How the laser radars work
García said the DGT's new LiDAR-equipped radars could pinpoint a vehicle exceeding the speed limit at a distance of around 200 metres with total precision, and that they would now also be infallible at catching speeding motorcycles.
He added that the devices emit no flash, can issue fines by day or night, and can register speeding anywhere from 30 to 250 kilometres per hour in both directions of traffic. The units can measure speed in two lanes at once, while the DGT separately runs a "double radar" system capable of fining drivers who brake sharply as they approach certain monitored points.
Strategic placement and remote control
García said the cinemometers could be used on any type of road, including urban streets, with particular attention paid to what are known as "accident concentration sections," stretches of road with a history of frequent crashes. Their WiFi and 4G connectivity lets Guardia Civil patrols operate the devices remotely from several hundred metres away without drawing attention.
The devices' built-in optical camera can also identify the type of vehicle and precisely calculate the safety distance between cars, both in daylight and in darkness. García said this function matters for road safety, noting that various studies have shown radars to be effective in cutting serious road accidents.
No requirement for advance signage
Because the Veloláser units are legally classed as mobile devices, Spanish traffic regulations do not require the DGT to mark their exact position on the road. That means drivers must take maximum care and respect the speed limits set on every stretch of the network, since they have no way of knowing in advance where one of the devices might be placed.
