Despite ample warning of its installment, a lidar-based machine vision system on the Mitchell Freeway in Western Australia has caught 20,000 speeders in its first five days of operation. State Traffic Operations Inspector Mark Ridley and Senior Constable John Pintabona with the fixed speed camera. (Photo: Western Australia Police) The camera system — called PoliScanspeed — is the first fixed speed camera on the freeway. Made by Vitronic GmbH of Wiesbaden, Germany, the system features a rear-facing infrared camera that covers all three lanes of the road at once. The device does not emit a visible white-light flash during operation, and it is capable of catching speeding motorcyclists as well as cars and larger vehicles because images are captured as vehicles pass the camera site. The lidar-based camera system identifies speeding vehicles even where traditional radar and lidar “traps” fail. [© 2011 Vitronic Dr.-Ing. Stein Bildverarbeitungssysteme GmbH] “The camera is situated in a cabinet on the freeway near the Karrinyup Road exit, and the site was chosen as a result of local crash statistics,” said State Traffic Operations Inspector Mark Ridley. “When you get 20,000 people in five days exceeding the speed limit on the Mitchell Freeway, these people are just absolute plain idiots,” said Police Minister Rob Johnson to the Australian website “Perth Now.” Several of the PoliScan systems have been deployed on roads in the Perth area over the past few years. The PoliScanspeed system operates with state-of-the-art lidar technology that makes in-road loops and sensors outdated. The system is reliable even in road work areas, around bends, or when vehicles tailgate or change lanes. For more information, visit: www.vitronic.de