Disguised Speed Camera Nabs Violators

A driver speeding through a school zone in Scottsdale, Arizona can be greeted by a dazzling flash from an innocuous roadside box. Days later a ticket arrives in the mail. Tally up another victim of the Portable School Tower.

These nondescript boxes are automated-ticketing units containing a K-band radar, microprocessor, digital camera and powerful strobe flash. The assembly is light enough for a crewman to move it among locations near area schools.

The Portable School Tower is a product of American Traffic Solutions (ATS), one of the firms dominating the U.S. photo enforcement market and also headquartered in this metro Phoenix city. The company often tests new technology on local streets before rolling it out nationwide.

Fortunately, this is the same radar used in ATS photo radar vans and it can be detected—but only by a hypersensitive radar detector. Most don't alert until it's too late. Learn more...