SAN ANTONIO – Those who have a habit of putting the pedal to the metal may want to rethink the way they drive.
A new system being used by some local law enforcement officers could result in a ticket without the driver even realizing what happened.
Bexar County District 3 Constable Mark Vojvodich says his deputies have begun using Scanning LIDAR, or light detection and ranging, on some of the local roadways as a way to encourage drivers to slow down.
The system, which involves the use of cameras equipped with infrared lights, is capable of scanning five lanes of traffic at a time.
When a driver exceeds a predetermined speed, the camera flashes, capturing images of the driver’s face and license plates.
“These are the people that are driving 60, 80 miles per hour, riding your tail, cutting you off,” Vojvodich said, referring to those drivers as “road bullies.”
He said they are also the drivers who, by and large, are causing most of the crashes on our roads.
Vojvodich pointed to data from the Texas Department of Transportation, showing there were 209 fatal crashes in Bexar County in 2023, more than the number of murders that occurred during that same time.
“So you have a greater chance of being killed in a car crash than a murder,” he said.
Vojvodich had his deputies set up the system alongside San Pedro Avenue near Bitters Road Monday morning.
Within a one-hour period, it had detected 340 speeding drivers.
The goal of using the system, Vojvodich said, is to educate the public.
Right now, violators will be issued warnings, although later, tickets will be sent in the mail, he said.
Often, the bad drivers will be detected and cited without having any interaction with law enforcement officers on the road.
“If you’re not speeding, if you’re not following too closely, you have absolutely nothing to fear from traffic enforcement in general,” Vojvodich said.
For some people, this type of system may bring up memories of red-light cameras, which were outlawed in Texas in 2019.
Those devices were affixed to traffic signals to capture and cite drivers who run red lights.
Michael Smith, an assistant professor of law at St. Mary’s University, says while there are some similarities between the two, there are also big legal differences.
“The law that bans red light cameras specifically applies to traffic signals,” Smith said.
The Scanning LIDAR system uses portable cameras that sit atop a tripod.
Deputy constables can move them to areas where they determine enforcement is needed.
Still, Smith said there is a good chance there could be challenges to this system at some point down the road.
“I really think it’s more of a political issue and that it could face that political backlash,” he said.