A Comparative Study of Speed Measurement Using Radar Guns and Pneumatic Counter

Speed is a crucial variable in traffic and road safety studies. Therefore, it is necessary to use instruments with high precision to identify speed behavior on highways. This research presents the results of a comparative study that measured speed at a point using a Bushnell radar gun and a Metro Count MC5600 plus pneumatic counter. The study selected a two-lane rural road section in the southern region of Ecuador for the comparative measurements. During field data collection, we verified a good road surface, adequate visibility for the defined distances, and similar weather conditions to choose the study section. The pneumatic counter equipment was placed in the initial part to record speeds. Measurements were taken with the radar gun at 30, 50, 80, 100, and 120 m distance from the pneumatic counter. The correction for the cosine effect was applied as the measurements were taken at a distance of 3.5 m perpendicular to the road axis at each measurement point. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted, revealing that the average speed measured with the radar gun was 48.127 km/h, while the average speed recorded by the Metro Count counter was 43.579 km/h. The selected fitting equation corresponds to the 80-m distance, given its high quality of fit and statistical validity.