Gardai warn of anti-speed detection devices

Devices designed to automatically open garage doors - but which also frustrate Garda radar guns - are to go on sale at the RDS motor fair in Dublin at the weekend, The Irish Times has learned.

The sale of the automatic garage door-openers comes after gardaí seized 50 anti-speed detection devices in four separate raids in Dublin city in recent days.

Gardaí said any device designed to help motorists evade detection by gardaí were illegal under the Road Traffic (Speed Meter Detector ) Regulations, 1991. They said anyone "foolish enough" to pay between €350 and €700 to have one fitted to their vehicle would face prosecution and fines of up to €1,250, as well as a possible six-month prison term.

Supt Michael O'Sullivan, of the Garda Traffic unit based in Dublin Castle, said the units were seized from legitimate retail motor factors, and investigations were continuing.

No one has yet been charged in connection with the seizure, but files may be sent to the DPP.

The devices which automatically open garage doors or garden gates as the vehicle approaches - are being sold by a Northern Ireland-based firm Walgroup.

Walgroup is represented in Ireland by Mr Wayne Lyons, in Co Armagh, who previously sold anti-speed detection equipment to customers from the Republic. Such equipment is not illegal in Britain or the North.

Referring to the equipment he was planning to sell at the Motorshow in the RDS, Mr Lyons said it was a target laser-track product "for the purpose it was designed for - as a fully-fledged laser remote control designed for opening automatic garage doors, gates and turning your automatic lights on as you arrive home" .

Mr Lyons said some newspapers had tested the product, and "they determined, not me, that it defended against speed guns".

Mr Lyons argued: "The automotive industry has also discovered the advantages of laser technology. Nissan has already introduced an 'adaptive cruise control system' in their Primera which automatically determines the distance to the car in front of it and which adjusts the vehicle's speed accordingly if required. This operates on the same principles.

"We don't promote our product as a laser jammer, we emphasise that it is used to open automatic garage doors. Whatever purpose people use it for is up to themselves."

A spokeswoman for the RDS referred questions to Pioneer Networks Ltd, the exhibition organisers.

Spokesman Mr Nick Orton said he was aware of the products which Mr Lyons was selling which, he said, were legally sold in the UK "on the premise that you are more aware of the speed you are doing. There are two ways of looking at it.

"You could say they were doing exactly the same job as the police in slowing traffic down. However, if it was illegal here and the Garda were not happy then I would not be happy too."

Are devices that frustrate gardaí speed detection radar legal?

Use of scanners: the legalities
No, emphatically no, said Insp Eddie Murphy, of the Garda Metropolitan Traffic Division, whose message to motorists is not to use them under any circumstances.

Penalties for motorists include fines of up to €1,250 and/or six months in prison, as well as confiscation of the equipment.

Penalties for retailers are the same. Confiscation of the entire stock of devices which retail at up to €700 is an additional deterrent.

Yes, automatic laser controlled systems are legal,

says Walgroup, which is represented in Ireland by Mr Wayne Lyons.

In a statement Mr Lyons claimed similar systems were increasingly being installed in cars by manufacturers to sense the distance of cars in front and assist cruise control.

They are also increasingly being fitted as legal forms of switching on garden lights, and opening gates or garage doors, which he insisted was not illegal. Comparing the system to a knife, Mr Lyons said it would not be illegal to buy one to peel potatoes, while buying one to attack somebody would be illegal.

The laser systems are not illegal in the UK and Northern Ireland.