qclifford asked this question on 5/18/2000:

What are the statutory requirements for the lines painted on the highway to expedite the working of this type of timing system? "Vascar or Accutrack." The manufacturers of such systems must have recommendations such as the width of lines. Perhaps someone who responsible for the painting of such lines might know the rules and their location.

Prolixity gave this response on 5/18/2000:

For the group, VASCAR is basically nothing more than a fancy stopwatch and time-speed-distance computer. It depends on the operator pressing buttons as the target vehicle passes landmarks (paint stripes or some officers use SHADOWS from bridges!).

The USDOT has written a paper on the accuracy of VASCAR, available at http://www.bts.gov/ntl/data/706.pdf This document takes a while to download, I have all of the copies here, so if you want I can email it to you (over 9Mb).

The answer to your question is that it depends on what State you are interested in gathering information. In the USDOT study, bridge shadows were the number one reference, followed by white lines, signs, pavement changes, tar marks, and finally telephone poles. There was not requirement in most states for officers to use anything specific. The recommendations are from reference to reference for the VASCAR system rather than the width of lines. In fact, any landmark can be used.

Check out http://www.radarfalle.de/technik/vascar.html (The VASCAR technical information page) and http://www.3dresearch.com/travel/appeal/i.html if you're in Pennsylvania. (Court case on VASCAR)

Cheers,

Brian

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