Skip to main content

Butte County gets high tech ''speed trailer''

Inattentive motorists in California’s Butte County will soon be reminded that they are going too fast now that the Sheriff's department has taken delivery of its first self-contained radar speed sign, purchased with a grant from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. The signs have been proved to be effective in reminding people that they are speeding when they are not paying attention to their rate of travel. Butte County Deputy Brunner explained that the idea of the speed board is to remind drivers
July 2, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Inattentive motorists in California’s Butte County will soon be reminded that they are going too fast now that the Sheriff's department has taken delivery of its first self-contained radar speed sign, purchased with a grant from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

The signs have been proved to be effective in reminding people that they are speeding when they are not paying attention to their rate of travel. Butte County Deputy Brunner explained that the idea of the speed board is to remind drivers of the speed limit. The sign flashes the speed, and if the vehicle is driving too fast, the sign flashes, ‘Slow Down’. He said the sign was attached to a speed trailer that can easily be moved to different locations.

"The trailer will be moved to areas where we have speed issues," Brunner went on, "This is just a friendly reminder and a warning to inattentive motorists, at least at this point. This is not your everyday street sign.”

The innovative speed trailer also comes equipped with an on board computer that keeps track of the average speed of the vehicles and the number of cars it scans. This information gives the officers the information they need to establish traffic patterns, in order to identify the best time of day to be in the vicinity to enforce the speed limit.

Related Content

  • Expert calls for high-tech traffic control
    November 29, 2012
    A leading Chinese transportation expert has called for China to develop smart traffic technologies that are more customer-oriented, while boosting greener, safer and more efficient modern transportation in the country. "China's ITS applications should shift their focus to provide more solutions for public transportation in the next decade, and the industry should get a new stimulus by responding to the needs of the market," said Wang Xiaojing, chief engineer at the Research Institute of Highway under the Mi
  • Putting the brakes on smart motorways
    February 28, 2022
    The UK government has announced that development of its all-lane running highways is going to be put on hold for another few years to assess safety data. Adam Hill finds out why
  • WIM industry ponders certification challenge
    April 29, 2019
    It’s hard to pin down the world of Weigh in Motion. Adam Hill asks five of the sector’s leading players about current developments – and whether problems with certification will ever be solved
  • GIS mapping of road-related assets can pay dividends
    June 6, 2014
    Map-based computerised road asset management can pay dividends as Colin Sowman discovers.