Handheld devices help Gardai catch drivers with no insurance, NCT or licence

This mobile device being used by Motorcycle Gardai reads the number plates of vehicles.

The real-time technology is part of a pilot project in Limerick - and is being deployed during National Slow Down Day.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is currently only available within patrol cars for monitoring motoring offences.

Alerts are issued from the device to the Garda if the vehicle has no Insurance, Tax, NCT, or the driver has no valid Driving Licence.

Criminal records, if any, of the driver can also be accessed.

The technology is faster and offers more information than stopping every single car to check the window discs.

This Motorcycle Gardai attached to Limerick Roads Policing was able to check 600 cars  in one hour utilising the ANPR equipped Motorbike.

Four vehicles were stopped following alerts.

Gardai said: "This all forms part of our ACTIVE Mobility Project and we utilise the latest technology to detect road traffic offences and stop criminals using the road."

The pilot project forms part of the Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021, and was launched in the Limerick division in November 2017.

Over 40 mobile devices have been distributed across sections to Roads Policing as well as Community Policing and Crime Units.