Modern speed guns which police will use on the roads from February will be able to pinpoint speeding cars more than a mile away, Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said yesterday."After many years this is finally coming to pass," Cadiz added at yesterday's weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.
He said invitations to tender to supply the devices will be issued soon and the Vehicle Management Corporation of T&T (VMCOTT) is the procurement agency for the Police Service. He said the devices will be the most modern hand-held types and he expected the projected 400 speed guns will be in use by February 2014, depending on delivery.
The Attorney General's division will draft necessary changes for the law and also to the Metrology Act, which pertains to measurements.Cadiz said the speed guns will be used by the Highway Patrol and in various other ways along the highways. Police will have to be trained in their use.Saying the speed guns will be a huge assistance in curbing traffic accidents, Cadiz lamented the carnage on the roads, which he attributed squarely to speeding.
"It's saying something is being done very wrong if your car ends up stuck vertically between the bars of the bridge on a riverside. Six people died last weekend also," he added.In view of the vastness of local highways now, the issue of the speed limit had to be examined at some point, he said, including the 30-50 mph level, and questions had to be answered on whether the speed limit could be enforced via the speed guns.
Cadiz also said a complete "180-degree" reform will be involved in the new Licensing Authority, for which he says he's given himself a personal deadline of September 2014.He said the authority will have categories for juvenile drivers, mature drivers, vehicle DNA, ways of doing business more easily, paying parking tickets by phone and other facilities.
