Laser Atlanta Speed Guns Document Excessive Speeds on Major Highways
and
Is Concerned Over Test Discovery
ATLANTA, Ga., August 22, 2003 – On a day when more than 50 cars were
involved in two Interstate pileups, Laser Atlanta documented widespread disregard
for speed limits on the same highways. Laser Atlanta, a leading laser optics
technology developer and provider of measuring systems for professionals,
today expressed grave concerns over the hazardous road conditions caused
by speeding motorists. Witnessed on August 11, 2003, Laser Atlanta CEO James
Kelly joined an independent traffic expert and reviewed vehicle speeds on
four major city Interstate freeways. The results uncovered 86% to 100% of
the vehicles clocked exceeded the speed limit in the test areas.
At nine locations, a SpeedLaser® laser gun was used to sample the vehicle
speed of 1,352 motorists. The SpeedLaser® unit was set to measured the rate
of travel for the roadway overall instead of the method police use which
is to determine the speed of a specific motorist exceeding the speed limit.
The results were surprising. Ninety-four percent of the vehicles clocked
exceeded the speed limit by 10 miles an hour or more, Forty percent drove
20 miles or more over the speed limit and 20 vehicles raced at speeds between
85 and 93 miles per hour.
Coincidentally, the same day may have demonstrated the worst results from
speeding. News sources reported three major accidents and two were multi-car
incidents. The day’s toll took one life, left six wounded and involved
over 50 vehicles. The major highways were shut down for most of the afternoon
to clear the wreckage.
“I was shocked with our findings and upset by that fateful day,” states
Kelly, “especially because one of our tests showed me that police can
make a difference. At a test location where there were police, speeds were
significantly lower.”
The test Mr. Kelly referred to was on a highway where two police vehicles
had been seen in the area. That location showed the lowest percentage of
people speeding at any rate and no one reached 85 miles per hour.
Kelly continued, “The advantages that the SpeedLaser® gives traffic
police are that they can be certain which car is speeding on a busy highway
and it is really difficult for detectors or jammers to interfere. Plus there
is national funding available, so law enforcement could choose to make this
a priority and help control this dangerous situation.”
The SpeedLaser® is one of the professional laser measurement systems designed
and manufactured by Laser Atlanta. The complete results of the test are available
upon request.
About Laser Atlanta
Laser Atlanta is celebrating their 15th year as a premier designer and manufacturer
of laser measurement systems for professionals. Several generations of
laser sensor developments have supplied solutions for mapping, facilities
management, surveying, blast profiling, traffic monitoring and accident
investigation. The wide variety of distance measurement and speed applications
for lasers generates demand for custom development. Laser Atlanta engineers
specialty solutions for aerospace, automotive and transportation industries.
Over 5,000 units have been sold. Laser Atlanta is located in metro Atlanta,
Georgia, USA.
SpeedLaser® and Laser Atlanta are registered trademarks of Laser Atlanta
LLC.
