'Kate' the super cop on wheels

The computer voice inside WA Police's new state-of-the-art patrol vehicle could well be the busiest police officer in the State.

Nicknamed "Kate", she is the mouthpiece for the patrol car's four roof-mounted cameras, which automatically scan numberplates.

And she sounds like a broken record. "Unregistered vehicle . . . unlicensed driver . . . multiple violations . . . alert . . . unregistered vehicle."

_The West Australian _took a 30-minute ride in the front seat of the high-tech patrol vehicle, the only one in the State, and the results were staggering.

Of 1025 vehicles, "Kate" identified 74 for possible offences - a ratio which our chaperone, Acting Sgt Greg Robinson, said was about average.

"And you'd be surprised how many times an offence like an unregistered vehicle turns into something much more serious," Sgt Robinson said.

"It's true: bad people do bad things, and more often than not they're on the roads to do them."

"Kate" is the first step in what WA Police hopes will be the future of on-road policing.

She scans every vehicle the patrol car passes and alerts officers to any offences.

And depending on a funding announcement expected in March, another 48 could be on the road.

The car is like a mobile office, with computer and internet connection, police database technology and multiple cameras. It also has fingerprint scanners and facial recognition technology

'Stupid' to dump rego stickers

Article From The West Australian, Friday October 21, 2011.

A retiring magistrate has described the State Government's decision to scrap vehicle registration stickers as “a stupid idea” that has forced hundreds of people into the court system. Magistrate Wayne Tarr said that the $500,000 a year saving achieved by the Barnett Government in abolishing the stickers had not been worth the trouble.

Click HERE to view an extract of the original article.

Rego Reminder. Solving the rego sticker crisis

CarsGuide Sunday Times and Rego Reminder working together to help solve the ever growing vehicle registration sticker crisis..

Pictured are Jay Barron, (CarsGuide sales manager) Archie Lazarides, and John Nelli (Directors, Rego Reminder)

Keep an eye out for an upcoming editorial in the CarsGuide section of the Sunday Times, outlinig the Rego Reminder Story

Click HERE to read the Rego Reminder Story so far.

Call to reinstate car rego stickers

Pauline Fuit... son just avoided being ‘ridiculously penalised’. Picture: Neil Mulligan

A WAIKIKI woman whose son narrowly avoided a criminal charge due to a mix-up with his car’s registration has called for the reinstatement of registration stickers.

Pauline Fuit echoed concerns reported in the Courier earlier this year, after WA Police figures revealed the number of unregistered vehicles had almost doubled after the Department of Transport decided to stop issuing them.

Ms Fuit said her son avoided being “ridiculously penalised on a criminal offence charge”, despite measures now underway to reclassify a car’s lapsed registration as a traffic offence under the transport department’s jurisdiction, and not WA Police.

“He (her son) had to attend Juvenile Justice and the matter appears to be resolved without penalty, and a letter addressed to the court outlining his understanding of the seriousness of the offence was required,” she said.

“The new system is not working and I reiterate, is a fundraising exercise for the government. The Motor Trade Association and 6PR aired the issue and were swamped with calls from drivers who had unwittingly been caught out.”

A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Troy Buswell said the government did not intend to reintroduce registration stickers for light vehicles.

“Registration labels were being used only as an indicator of a vehicle’s licence for law enforcement purposes,” she said.

“WA Police now have the technology to check a vehicle’s licence status immediately, using the number plate details.”

Confusion over rego renewal could set in

Click HERE to view an article that appeared in the Great Southern WA newspaper, The Albany Advertiser on Tuesday 9th August 2011.