Customer Update on Road Safety Act 2006 - Change of Legislation

This is currently a common question with recent press coverage on the Road Safety Act 2006, having recently passed through parliament. Some media groups have incorrectly and rather prematurely reported changes in the legality of Laser Detection and this is further compounded by misleading marketing by some interested parties.

The reality is that the bill was passed in November 2006 becoming the Road Safety Act 2006. This act highlighted a number of changes to road laws, one of the best publicised being the use of mobile phones while driving. The confusion centres on the dates that each part of the Act coming into place. Some elements such as using mobile phones while driving go live in February 2007, whilst other sections including that looking at speed measurement detection products, are yet to have dates defined. We are advised that after consultation, those devices which are declared illegal will be outlawed late in 2007 at the earliest.

The primary focus of the act was to ban the use of Laser Jammers which prevent the police obtaining a speed on a given vehicle. This  is totally different to the laser detection feature integrated into some Road Angel products.

It is also likely that Radar detectors which are active detection systems, again very different to the Road Angel, will be banned. The government believe that a radar detector can differentiate between some camera units being live or not and therefore would allow a user to speed past a camera in the knowledge that prosecution is not possible. They deem that as this works against the implementation of safety cameras as a deterrent, they should be banned. 

It is possible that passive laser detection, which some Road Angel products utilise, may also fall under this ban. On the New Road Angel and Road Angel Plus, the laser alert is built in, but can be disabled in many cases on the unit by the owner using the menus. If the customer wants a more permanent fix, a firmware upgrade can be sent via e-mail to remove that functionality, again making the unit 100% legal in either instance. For Road Angels with external Laser Detection, these can simply be removed to make the unit comply with the new laws as they come into force.

The Road Safety act stated clearly that GPS based safety alert systems such as the Road Angel have considerable safety advantages and will not be banned as part of this Act. The effect of being made aware of Speed Cameras and Accident Blackspots in advance, serves to support the intended use of Safety Camera's in reducing speed in inappropriate areas and raising driver awareness.

I hope this clarifies the position, but rest assured the Road Angel will be fully legal to use in the UK, regardless of the changes proposed.