“The sellers are being very naive if they believe that they will be used to reduce accidents.
'A criminal will carry out a drug deal, see a light on their dashboard and then ditch their illegal stash, only to pick it up when the police aren't around – or a motorist will be speeding on the motorway, an alert will pop up and they'll slow down.”
Steve Evans, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “We have grave concerns about any product that may be used to compromise police officers' or public safety.”
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “The only person who will have one of these fitted to their cars is the type of person who is trying to dodge the law.”
The device has a series of flashing lights to warn a driver a police car, of even helicopter is nearby, which range from green to amber to red depending on how close it is.
It can even pick up on radio signals from an officer on the beat.
The concerns echo similar worries around devices that can detect the location of speed traffic cameras.
They have also faced calls to be banned but they remain lawful.
Naeem Khokhar, managing director of CBS Automotive, said: “There have been times when I've stopped at traffic lights and the Blu Eye starts going off but I can't see any other vehicles.
“I have then driven off and seen a police car behind a bush.”
But he denied the device would aid criminal activity, adding: “If anything, these devices are a criminal prevention tool.
“ If you are planning to carry out a crime where there are emergency vehicles and the device is going off then you wouldn't dare go through with it.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We continually monitor new technologies to assess their impact on the ability of the police and law enforcement agencies to protect the public.”
We would all likely agree that we want our roads to be safer. The evidence suggests that speeding drivers often place themselves and others at risk. In other instances knowing that emergency vehicles are in the area may also help slow traffic, enabling emergency services to get to incident scens more quickly.
If there are devices that can help reduce the effects of speeding drivers and make our streets safer then aren't these devices a good thing?