Case: Police Highway Patrol Charged Our Client With Excessive Speed Despite His Radar Having Detected A Different Vehicle.
Client drove his car on a highway and indicated into a left lane while police were pursuing another vehicle causing them to lose the pursuit. They intercepted our client and gave him an infringement for speeding between 25 and 35 kph carrying a mandatory 6 months loss of licence. Our client denied speeding and took the matter to court.
Charges/ Ch1 (speeding between 25- 35kph)
Result/ Ch1: withdrawn
Our client’s charge was withdrawn following review of the police in-car dash cam footage and body worn camera footage showed the police had detected the speed of the other vehicle it was pursuing and they said about our client “he’ll do he was speeding too”. This material is not readily available for parties unless requested from the police. This material should always be reviewed especially for speeding offences due to the inaccuracy of the police in car radar detector (Stalker Dual DSR – Direction Sensing Moving Police Radar). Whilst stationary or travelling, the transmitted signal from the DSR can strike a moving target and transmit the signal back to the antenna. The traffic radar then measures the frequency shift to obtain the target speed. The unique Direction Sensing ability of the DSR allows the radar to automatically determine the correct speed of all same lane targets and opposite lane targets. However, the DSR does not provide police with any corroborating evidence as to which vehicle was locked on and unfortunately in certain situations, even police members can become confused in heavy traffic conditions. This technology is difficult to incorporate a built in camera due to the fact that such radars generally detect cars hundreds of metres away. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to request access to the police in-car dash cam footage and body worn camera footage to ensure that no stone is left unturned.