Victoria Police’s BlueNet vehicle features technology that makes it even easier for police to find unlicensed and illegal drivers. Police Life spent a shift in the car. EDITORIAL SARA-JANE HOOPER PHOTOGRAPHY SHANE BELL
B
y the time State Highway Patrol’s Sergeant Tony Rayson and Leading Senior Constable Paul Sedgewick drove from Moorabbin to their shift location in the Macedon Ranges, BlueNet had identified three unregistered drivers. BlueNet has four cameras mounted on the outside of the car which scan number plates of vehicles travelling from both directions whether it is in motion or static. This is known as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). The data is automatically sent to a computer inside the vehicle and when it identifies a ‘hit’, an unregistered, unlicensed or suspended driver, a stolen vehicle, stolen number plates or a vehicle that is identified as wanted or with an interlock device, it notifies the police. Sgt Rayson said BlueNet was allowing police to intercept more traffic offenders. “When I started 35 years ago it would take up to 45 minutes on the roadside to confirm someone was unregistered,” he said. “It only takes BlueNet half a second to scan a car as it travels past and in one shift it can check up to 7000 cars. That means that
when we are in BlueNet we know a vehicle is unauthorised before we even pull the car over. “Some people think they can get away with driving unauthorised by driving a nice car or in a way that doesn’t attract attention but BlueNet doesn’t discriminate.” According to Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill BlueNet shows that Victoria Police is exploring new ways to protect drivers. “BlueNet shows our thinking around the new application of different technologies and how we will use them to provide contemporary road policing enforcement and further reduce road trauma,” he said. “We have experienced great success so far with BlueNet and are looking to put four more vehicles into operation by the time our highrisk summer and holiday period begins.” When Police Life jump into the car it only takes a few minutes before BlueNet sounds the all important ring indicating that it has got a hit. The vehicle is unregistered. Sgt Rayson and Ldg Sen Const Sedgewick radio through to their colleagues waiting on motorbikes up ahead who intercept the driver. The driver said he moved house over six months ago and had not registered a change of address.
He was stung with a $722 fine for driving an unregistered car and another $144 for failing to change his address with VicRoads. To some people driving unauthorised might seem like a minor issue but Sgt Rayson knows it is not. “Unauthorised drivers are a risk to other motorists. We know they are involved in fatalities and serious collisions causing injury on the roads,” he said. In fact, a Victorian study conducted by Monash University, found that between 2003 and 2007 almost 11 per cent of fatal crashes and more than seven per cent of serious injury crashes involved an unlicensed driver. Alcohol was present in 55 per cent of unlicensed driver fatalities. Since its introduction to Victorian roads in December last year, BlueNet has scanned 288,994 vehicles across Melbourne, Mildura, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Bass Coast, Geelong, Ballarat, Moorabool, Northern Grampians, Bendigo and the Macedon Ranges.
During that time it has detected 11,694 offences and taken many dangerous drivers off the roads. Sgt Rayson recalls BlueNet's first arrest which came only two hours after it was first deployed. “A man was detected driving in Frankston with stolen plates on an unregistered car,” he said. “He had stolen the plates six months earlier and had been driving around since that time. He had also made up a false registration sticker to match the stolen plates and did not have a licence.” In January, a 19-year-old man was caught in the net, driving what police describe as a ‘very’ unroadworthy car and he tested positive for methamphetamine and cannabis. He was a learner driver and was alone in the vehicle. During the time Police Life was on shift, BlueNet was able to detect one unlicensed driver, one fail to notify change of address, one vehicle defect notice and five unregistered vehicles. Overall, on that day, State Highway Patrol detected 43 offences.
OTHER Bluenet successes • I n Avoca, in Victoria’s west, BlueNet located a man who was wanted by police. The man’s vehicle was detected by BlueNet, showing his licence was suspended. It turned out the man was not only driving while suspended, but was also wanted after being involved in a siege earlier that day. • B lueNet concentrated on the Mornington Peninsula over the Australia Day long weekend. During the three days BlueNet checked 24,000 cars and detected 26 unauthorised drivers, 51 unregistered vehicles and eight interlock breaches. • B lueNet detected a suspended female driver. She blew 0.194 and had been picked up drink driving two weeks earlier.
12.15pm
1pm
1.45pm
Members intercept an unlicensed vehicle.
Members finish their static traffic stop and BlueNet starts scanning while in motion.
BlueNet identifies a suspended driver and Ldg Sen Const Sedgewick intercepts.
www.police.vic.gov.au/policelife
POLICELIFE SPRING 2013
15