Busy first day for police's new automatic licence plate scanner

It was a busy first day for the automatic licence plate scanner Greater Sudbury Police began using Wednesday.

According to a news release, the force's Traffic Management Unit caught five suspended drivers using the new technology, which uses front, rear and side cameras to scan plates on passing and parked cars at a rate of 3,500 an hour.

Also caught in the scans was a prohibited driver that had been convicted of a Criminal Code driving offence, and 55 drivers with expired licence plate stickers.

Five people were charged with driving while using their cellphones, two were caught without insurance, seven with no licenses, 14 people received speeding tickets, two unsafe vehicles were taken off the road, plus 23 other traffic-related charges were laid Wednesday.

“The goal of our local (licence plate scanner) program is to enhance road safety through the early detection and apprehension of offending motorists who choose to drive while their privileges to do so have been revoked,” a release from the police said Thursday.

“Based on the above results, we recognize that this tool is already proving valuable to our officers as they work towards enforcing road safety by enforcing laws and holding offenders accountable. It is every driver’s responsibility to operate their vehicle legally, or risk significant fines if apprehended.”

The technology will allow officers to spend less time searching for offending drivers and “concentrate on proactively conducting enforcement for every type of driving offence,” the release said.