VIC:New technology to catch unlicensed drivers

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2010
VIC:New technology to catch unlicensed drivers

MELBOURNE, Dec 17 AAP - Victoria Police will take to the roads this Christmas with
a new, hi-tech weapon designed to nab unlicensed drivers.

The new Automatic Number Plate Recognition Technology (ANPRT) will be fully rolled
out as part of its major statewide Christmas road blitz, Operation AEGIS.

Ten of the units will be deployed across the state, scanning number plates at a rapid
rate and identifying unauthorised drivers.

Since Victoria Police began trialling ANPRT in December 2007, more than one million
number plates have been read and more than 13,000 unauthorised drivers detected.

Each system will include a custom-fitted unmarked van, trained operator and ANPRT camera
linked to a number plate information database.

The database alerts operators when an unauthorised driver is detected and the operator
notifies police vehicles working in tandem with the system.

The ANPRT systems will be placed in strategic areas identified through road trauma data.

The new technology is part of a wide-ranging police operation on Victoria's roads this
Christmas with police pledging to breath-test one million drivers over the holiday period.

Victoria's top traffic cop, Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay said while the rest of the
state was winding down over Christmas, police were gearing up for one of their busiest
periods.

"Over the next 24 days police will be across roads in every corner of the state. We
will be breath-testing one million drivers for the Christmas period," he said.

"Twenty four hours a day, every single day for the next 24 days, police will be working."

One hoon has already felt the full impact with police impounding his car for 48 hours
after he was caught doing 121 kmp/h in a 70kmp/h zone on Point Cook Rd in Melbourne's
southwest at 7.35am on Friday.

The 32-year-old driver's excuse that he was running late for work carried little weight
with the police who impounded his car and suspended his licence for 12 months.

He also copped a $597 fine, a loss of eight demerit points and will have to pay another
$408 to get his car out of the pound.

AAP jxt/mh/it

KEYWORD: AEGIS WRAP

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