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CNN Saturday Morning News
"Operation Hardhat"
Aired August 30, 2003 - 08:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: If you are hitting the roads this Labor Day weekend, you know what to expect out there -- lots of traffic and plenty of cops looking for your speeding. But if you're driving in Alabama, the cop that you don't see is the one that's liable to catch you.
CNN's Eric Phillips has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He looks like the average construction workers perhaps doing a survey.
CPL. DARRYL HALL, ALABAMA STATE POLICE: I've got a Ford Expedition, green in color, 74 miles an hour.
PHILLIPS: But in reality, this is Corporal Darryl Hall with the Alabama State Police. He's tracking motorists along this stretch of I-20 near Birmingham -- known as Death Valley because of the many traffic fatalities -- with a lidar or light detecting and ranging device. He caught speeders in this construction zone and then radios waiting squad cars, all part of a program called "Operation Hardhat."
HALL: It gives me the ability to get a car that's in a crowd, that's speeding, the one in the car I normally don't get.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Authorities say lidar is even more effective than radar for target identification because it uses a laser. In other words, they say lidar doesn't lie.
(voice-over): The trooper's clothing and the detection device are meant to blend in with construction crews. In just a couple of hours, we saw more than a dozen stops. But critics say speed traps like this one miss the mark.
JIM BAXTER, NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION: Motorists are being exploited primarily for revenue purpose rather than for traffic safety reasons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not an approach to write more citations. It's an approach to save lives.
PHILLIPS: And local officials say more than 40 people have died on this highway in the past two years, so they welcome anything that might help.
Near Birmingham, Alabama, Eric Phillips, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 30, 2003 - 08:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: If you are hitting the roads this Labor Day weekend, you know what to expect out there -- lots of traffic and plenty of cops looking for your speeding. But if you're driving in Alabama, the cop that you don't see is the one that's liable to catch you.
CNN's Eric Phillips has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He looks like the average construction workers perhaps doing a survey.
CPL. DARRYL HALL, ALABAMA STATE POLICE: I've got a Ford Expedition, green in color, 74 miles an hour.
PHILLIPS: But in reality, this is Corporal Darryl Hall with the Alabama State Police. He's tracking motorists along this stretch of I-20 near Birmingham -- known as Death Valley because of the many traffic fatalities -- with a lidar or light detecting and ranging device. He caught speeders in this construction zone and then radios waiting squad cars, all part of a program called "Operation Hardhat."
HALL: It gives me the ability to get a car that's in a crowd, that's speeding, the one in the car I normally don't get.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Authorities say lidar is even more effective than radar for target identification because it uses a laser. In other words, they say lidar doesn't lie.
(voice-over): The trooper's clothing and the detection device are meant to blend in with construction crews. In just a couple of hours, we saw more than a dozen stops. But critics say speed traps like this one miss the mark.
JIM BAXTER, NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION: Motorists are being exploited primarily for revenue purpose rather than for traffic safety reasons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not an approach to write more citations. It's an approach to save lives.
PHILLIPS: And local officials say more than 40 people have died on this highway in the past two years, so they welcome anything that might help.
Near Birmingham, Alabama, Eric Phillips, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
