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How the Traffic Police use six types of cameras to detect errant motorists
From the speed laser cameras used to track speeding vehicles from afar to the radar speed cameras installed in all expressway patrol cars, here’s how the Traffic Police’s enforcement cameras work.
A Traffic Police officer uses a police speed laser camera to track and identify speeding vehicles on an expressway from an overhead bridge on Feb 22, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
SINGAPORE: Ever wondered how the Traffic Police (TP) identify motorists who are speeding on the roads?
They do so using six types of enforcement cameras – both static and mobile – which are deployed across the country.
These traffic enforcement cameras are aimed at deterring potential errant motorists from flouting traffic rules and ensuring that those who are driving or riding are doing so within speed limits and not running red lights.
They also act as the Traffic Police’s “eyes” and help them to take errant motorists to task, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a media release on Friday (Feb 23).
The enforcement cameras can be found at more than 320 locations, which are published on the SPF website.
The cameras are painted in bright orange and white strips to make them more visible to motorists, said the police. Warning signs with speed limits are also placed before traffic camera enforcement zones.
“By being transparent about the locations of these enforcement cameras and implementing measures to alert motorists of such enforcement zones, TP aims to warn and deter motorists from committing traffic offences, ensuring safer roads for all,” said SPF.
The police’s latest annual traffic situation report released earlier this week noted a decrease in violations detected by traffic enforcement cameras in 2023.
Meanwhile, the number of speeding violations detected by other police enforcement operations increased by 22 per cent from 52,016 cases to 63,468.
“This suggests that motorists choose to speed at locations where they think there is no enforcement presence,” said SPF.
“This disregard of traffic rules when there are no enforcement cameras is a concern. Every violation or accident is one too many as it could potentially lead to a loss of life.”
To combat this, the Traffic Police will “dynamically” activate and deploy the speed enforcement function in red-light cameras, prioritising locations that are accident-prone and violation-prone to improve driver behaviour, the police added.
Red-light cameras, which are deployed at selected road junctions, are used to detect vehicles that commit red-light running offences. As of last December, a total of 252 red-light cameras were deployed across the country, said the police.
A red-light camera deployed along Jurong West Street 61 on Feb 22, 2024. It is used to detect vehicles that commit red-light running offences. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
WHAT ARE THE CAMERA TYPES AND HOW DO THEY WORK?
On Thursday, members of the media got a first-hand look at how two of the six types of enforcement cameras function – the police speed laser camera and the police radar speed camera.
Police speed laser cameras are used for ad hoc anti-speeding operations. According to SPF’s website, these cameras – which are physically manned by the Traffic Police – can be deployed at 57 locations across Singapore.
Standing on an overhead bridge, a Traffic Police officer was seen manoeuvring a police speed laser camera to track and identify speeding vehicles from afar through recorded photos and videos.
The cameras are equipped with infrared detection capabilities, which allows them to be used in the dark.
A Traffic Police officer uses a police speed laser camera to track and identify speeding vehicles on an expressway from an overhead bridge on Feb 22, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
Police radar speed cameras, on the other hand, are installed on the dashboards of all the Traffic Police’s expressway patrol cars.
The cameras allow officers to record videos of speeding vehicles while patrolling.
Joining officers on one such patrol, this reporter saw that a police radar speed camera was able to pick up the speed of vehicles in front of their patrol car while it was travelling on a stretch of road with a speed limit of 70kmh.
The speeds of vehicles that were within the limit were indicated in green while those nearing or exceeding it were highlighted in yellow and red respectively.
A police radar speed camera is seen in a Traffic Police expressway patrol car on Feb 22, 2024. The number on the bottom left corner of the screen indicates the speed of the vehicle being tracked by the camera. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
Other speed cameras that the Traffic Police use include average speed cameras, fixed speed cameras and mobile speed camera.
The average speed cameras allow for speed enforcement over what is known as an average speed enforcement zone.
These cameras detect the speed of a vehicle as it enters and leaves the zone and compute the corresponding average speed.
The average speed will determine if a vehicle has committed a speeding offence, said the police. These cameras have been in operation along Tanah Merah Coast Road since December 2018.
Meanwhile, fixed speed cameras can identify speeding vehicles from afar. Mobile speed cameras transmit images of speed violations wirelessly back to the Traffic Police for processing.
The mobile speed cameras are flexible in deployment and can be redeployed to another speeding-prone location at “short notice”, the police said.
Average speed cameras deployed at Tanah Merah Coast Road. (File photo: Singapore Police Force)
“(Enforcement) cameras play a vital role in TP’s enforcement strategy, reducing the number of violations at accident-prone areas where motorists are aware of their presence,” said SPF.
“TP will not hesitate to take stern enforcement actions against those who persist in their egregious road behaviours.”
Article Credits: CNA
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