Rather than concentrating...
Rather than concentrating on how a vehicle protects its occupants in the event of a shunt, it gauges the amount of damage that one model will do to another in a car-to-car collision.
The controversial move...
The controversial move is the brainchild of Mark Cornwall, marketing director of Car Parts Direct of Derby. He admitted the shock offer is a brazen publicity bid, and hopes it will help him sell hundreds of thousands of detectors. Cornwall told us: "There"s no catch to the offer. It just shows how much confidence we have in the product."
Drivers who pay í‚á£199 for the Quintezz XT-7000Plus can register one person and a car for the one-time-only í‚á£60 cashback deal, although the offender will still get the penalty points on their licence. "It"s not illegal, but it will upset the authorities," added Cornwall.
"I think that can only be good because it will start a public debate about speed traps and fines." Safety experts reacted angrily to the promotion, branding the deal as reckless. "It implies that motorists can speed and escape the financial penalty," said Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA.) "This is only likely to encourage speeding, which is dangerous, illegal and irresponsible."
But Cornwall believes drivers use detectors to stay within the law, not evade it. "They do exactly what speed cameras are supposed to do - advise motorists of blackspots, so they should slow down," he said.
His advertisements for the gadget are also likely to cause trouble. They show a speed gun-waving policeman with the horns and tail of a devil. "I expect it will upset a few people in authority," said Cornwall. "I"m going to place it in the Police Gazette!"