The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) is distributing 1,000 new RADAR and LIDAR speed-enforcement devices among 162 state and local police agencies. The units are being purchased with $1.6 million in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds.
Dash-mounted RADAR systems may be used while patrol vehicles are moving or stopped, and can measure traffic speeds in the same and opposing directions. Hand-held LIDAR devices help officers spot speeding drivers through several lanes of traffic or obstructions such as trees and bushes.
A listing of police agencies receiving speed-enforcement devices is at https://www.in.gov/cji/files/TSD_Speed_Enforce_Devices.pdf.
Federal grants administered by ICJI’s Traffic Safety Division fund training, equipment and overtime enforcement of Indiana traffic laws to reduce roadway crashes, injuries and deaths. In less than two years, ICJI has distributed:
- 2,600 portable breath tests among 150 police agencies to evaluate alcohol impairment in drivers, and
- Android tablets and an app to the more than 230 police officers highly trained in recognizing drugged drivers.
Speeding statistics in the Indiana Crash Facts publications published by ICJI and Indiana University Public Policy Institute show that:
- Nearly 29,000 people were in speed-related crashes on Indiana roads in 2017, resulting in 207 deaths and 6,428 non-fatal injuries.
- Speed-related violations such as following too closely and unsafe lane movement are also among the top causes of Indiana crashes.
- Young drivers, particularly young men, are more likely to be speeding before a crash.