ORANGE’S high visibility highway patrol car has been likened to a huntsman spider - stealthy but hideous to look at and extremely effective at catching people unawares.
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The car has been in operation in Orange since April 2013, and Orange highway patrol Sergeant Mark Hevers said it has already made a huge impact around the city.
The car has not increased the number of people caught speeding according to statistics from the state debt recovery office but has acted as a deterrent.
If you have ever had the pleasure of coming across this stealthy monstrosity, you will know it looks like any other sedan from the front but is a fluro cocktail of police signage on the sides.
Sergeant Hevers denied the vehicle was sneaky because if you were doing the right thing then you had no reason to worry that the car is almost unrecognisable from the front.
“All our cars make an impact but this one certainly gets the most comments,” he said.
“They say things like ‘where did you come from?’
“They don’t see it approaching them but they sure see it as soon as it turns around.”
Since Orange starting using the vehicle around 1800 motorists have been fined for speeding.
During the same period the year before the command fined about 2600 drivers for speeding.
Orange highway patrol has four patrol cars in the city and one at Cowra. Sergeant Hevers said eventually all the highway patrol cars in Orange would be replaced with the, ironically named, high visibility version.
People caught speeding in the Orange area contributed about $488,671 worth of fines into the state coffers in 2013.