Radar 'drone' units used for three years

Newly revealed drone radar units – used to confound radar detectors in cars – were invented in Christchurch and have been used "on the quiet" for three years.

The ACC and police said yesterday that 70 drone units were in use around New Zealand.

The devices sent out signals to make the estimated 10 per cent of drivers with radar detectors believe a speed-detecting police car was in the area and to make them slow down.

Central Christchurch area commander Inspector Derek Erasmus, the former Canterbury road policing manager, said the drones were developed in Christchurch by an inter-agency traffic safety group in 2007.

The units are funded by the ACC and installed by councils in consultation with police and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Erasmus said the drones affected the "top end" of speedsters who showed their propensity for speed by having radar detectors. Christchurch City Council city environment general manager Jane Parfitt said releasing the number and location of the devices "would defeat the aim, which is to reduce speeding".

ACC injury-prevention unit project manager Phil Wright said testing had shown the drones reduced average speeds by between 1 and 2 per cent, despite acting on only 10 per cent of drivers.

A six-month Canterbury experiment in 2007 was successful and other councils asked to have the same technology, so the ACC formulated a national policy, he said.

Old radars were bought from police. A timer was included so drivers did not always detect them in the same places. Wright said the devices were not a secret, but no announcement was made to lengthen their efficacy.

A driver in Manukau twigged to their existence after he detected a radar several times in the same place but did not see a police car.

Wright said the man recently posted a photograph of the device on the internet.

The ACC had been contacted by organisations wanting to have similar technology, including North Canterbury bus company Hawarden Garage and Transport.

Operations manager Michelle Clemence said the company wanted to fit devices to their school buses, which in rural areas were often passed by cars doing 120kmh.

Wright said drivers who thought they had found a drone should not take it for granted. He had been contacted by a police superintendent yesterday who said he was going to station a police officer on some sites to catch drivers who assumed there were no officers around.

- © Fairfax NZ News