New High-Tech Speed Readers Going Up in Newport

Newport Police are installing a new traffic survey device onto several city streets Friday afternoon in an attempt to get a more accurate reading of where speeding occurs, and when.

Sgt. John Barker said the devices resemble those radar units that flash your speed as you pass, but inside each is computer hardware that will also be able to add the number of vehicles going up and down a street, and break down the average speeds by time of day. The devices will sit in "stealth" mode, meaning they won't appear on, in order to collect a more accurate reading.

"A lot of speeding complaints we get are more perceptual than actual," Barker said. "This way, I can go show somebody the average speed on their street."

Barker said representatives from the manufacturer, All Traffic Solutions, will be training the Community Oriented Police Officers on how the devices work. The sergeant noted that he will be downloading a program onto his computer that will process all of the data collected.

Police will likely leave the devices in one particular location for a week at a time. Locations, Barker said, are essentially being picked based on the number of complaints they've received from residents.

"Right now the only way to address (the problem) is to take a guess and put a police officer out there," he said. "It's not very efficient."

The two devices cost between $9 and $10,000, Barker said, and were paid for using using money from the parking and traffic fund.

Barker noted that the city engineering department is also excited about the new device, as it'll help them get better information about traffic flow and counts.