Superintendent of police Prateek Mohanty tests the speed laser gun on Ring Road in Sambalpur on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Jan. 16: The city police will now monitor the speed of vehicles with the help of a laser gun and penalise people found driving at a speed above the permissible limit.

The speed laser gun was tested on the Ring Road in presence of Sambalpur superintendent of police Prateek Mohanty today. The speed laser gun is a portable device that can be carried anywhere.

“The instrument read the speed of the vehicle from a distance of 250 meters. If anybody is found driving vehicles at a speed above the permissible limit, police will slap a fine on him,” said Mohanty.

“We have received one instrument now and expect to get two more in the coming days,” said Mohanty adding that the supplier company has trained the police officials to handle the instrument.

The maximum speed limit of a vehicle on the highway is 60km per hour. Similarly, in the city, the maximum speed limit is 30km per hour. If anybody is found rash driving, the police will slap a fine of Rs 300 to Rs 500 on him. In extreme cases, police will also register case against the errant driver.

The police also slapped fine on some of the vehicles, which were found surpassing the speed limit on the Ring Road today.

“Once the gun sets its eye on the road, it captures the image of the approaching vehicle. It also captures the speed at which the vehicle is crossing. In case of violation, it will alert the traffic personnel,” said a police officer.

The city residents have appreciated the introduction of the laser gun. “It is a good initiative by the city police. The over-speeding vehicles have become a menace on the city roads. Majority of the road accidents take place due to rash driving,” said a local resident Biswa Pattnaik. “The introduction of this machine will help the police in controlling the over-speeding vehicles,” he said.