French police recently started using road police radars (mounted to sea walls) on the Riviera to measure boat speeds. In the first week 74 boats were measured exceeding the speed limit, resulting in 19 fines and 28 warnings.
74 TOTAL speed violations
– 19 Fines
– 28 Warnings
– 47 TOTAL Fines + Warnings
27 unaccounted speeding violations (74-47)
Radars measuring boat speeds have different/additional considerations that effect accuracy and reliability.
• Radar should be operated from a fixed motionless position (shore).
– Radars in a boat subject to boat motion (speed errors).
– scanning error/hand held modulation potential problems.
• Boats are MUCH SMALLER Radar Targets than land vehicles.
– marine radars will not have the same performance as land operation.
• Multi-path from moving water could effect measured speed accuracy (water/wave speed adds or subtracts from measured boat speed).