New Zealand police are interested in new speed cameras to be mounted on the road in cat's eyes but say any consideration of buying them is at least two to three years away.
Police national road safety manager Inspector Steve Fitzgerald told NZPA the cat's eye system being produced by Australian
company Tenix Solutions was going to be trialed in Australia.
"The Victorians are apparently moving into a pilot stage."
Mr Fitzgerald said the cat's eyes, called the Road Safety Alert System by their manufacturers, could be used in areas identified as high-risk.
"It's very much a black-spot programme. Schools would probably be a very good example (if they) have got a crash history.
"They would have a number of cat's eyes deployed, in varying colours as well. As you approach the colours change, which is a warning to motorists that a) it's a blackspot and b) there's going to be a camera maybe operating at that site."
Mr Fitzgerald said the cat's eyes would record the approach of a speeding vehicle and photograph it from the back of the same cat's eye.
He said police weren't yet considering buying them. "They have potential but let's just wait and see the results -- nice idea but we'll keep an eye on it."
The Government would need to decide what more it wanted to do to reduce speed on roads before the cat's eyes could be considered, Mr Fitzgerald said.
"Speed management is going to be the big issue right through for the next 10-20 years. So the programme we operate will need to be enhanced in a number of areas so this may fit that bill."
Tenix Solutions is best-known in New Zealand for providing parking infringement services for the Wellington City Council.
Its website says it processes over 4.5 million notices per year in Australia and New Zealand.
The company describes the Road Safety Alert System as a "fair play" enforcement system. "It gives enforcement authorities the opportunity to warn drivers of excessive speed and to slow down voluntarily. Drivers who choose to ignore this warning may be sent an official 'Letter of Warning' or be penalised."
The cat's eyes would be 114mm across and sit 4mm above the road surface, measuring speeds up to 270km/h.
- NZPA
