Cameras doubled to snare speeders

Partnership denies profits are motive

By David Ewen chief reporter

Published:

NABBED: More officers will be taking the speed readings of drivers across the North-east next week.

SPEED camera bosses are beefing up patrols across the North-east, the Evening Express can reveal today.

In a bid to catch drivers, they plan to double the number of mobile camera vehicles.

And next week they will add another officer to their ranks.

The cameras already rake in around £1 million a year from North-east motorists.

But today the North-east Safety Camera Partnership (Nescamp) insisted the enforcement boost was not about making money.

A spokeswoman said: “All Nescamp targets are casualty or speed reduction based, we have no financial targets to meet in relation to the number of fines paid.

“There is no connection between camera offences and revenue for the partnerships.

“All monies raised through conditional offers goes to the Treasury, in the same way it would for a parking fine, fine for breach of the peace or housebreaking.”

The Evening Express can reveal the North-east has the highest number of mobile camera sites in Scotland at 60.

This compares to 42 in Lothian and Borders, the next highest.

Nescamp spokeswoman Julie Milne said: “The new vehicles will give us increased visibility on Grampian’s large road network.

“We are intelligence led and instead of one vehicle on the A96 for example there may now be two.

“The vehicles are highly branded with a camera warning sign and this in itself can help slow traffic down.

“With these new vehicles we will be able to do that little bit extra as well, such as the road up to Turriff and Fyvie.

“We also welcome information from members of the public and if they feel there is a speeding problem in their area we would want them to contact us and we can carry out speed surveys.”

Some roads experts argue that money would be better spent on other safety measures.

A spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, Hugh Bladon, said: “I think doubling the number of mobile speed cameras is a waste of time. For example a 40mph speed limit may be relevant at 3pm, but at 3am it clearly isn’t.

“We have got to do something about the way people drive, and the way to do that is to get road police back on the roads.”

But Nescamp insisted “rigorous traffic surveys and collision data analysis” ensured cameras were sited “only in areas with a history of collisions attributed to excessive or inappropriate speed”.

The spokeswoman said: “Mobile cameras are used periodically in areas where there have been a number of collisions – serious or fatal – to ensure that drivers take more care and reduce their speed at those locations. “

The partnership – which involves the police and councils – has three mobile cameras which record on to video tape and four newer models which record on to DVD.

The spokeswoman said: “The equipment is used in the same way. All mobile offences must be activated by the operator.”

Nescamp also has 27 fixed camera sites and nine Gatso cameras are moved between.

The spokeswoman said there are no plans to introduce digital cameras, which could snare thousands more vehicles than conventional systems.

The spokeswoman said: “By the end of financial year 2008/9 we plan to have six mobile enforcement vehicles and six mobile enforcement officers.

“At present we have five officers and one more starting next week.

“We have three enforcement vehicles and an additional one waiting in the garage for completion.”

dewen@ajl.co.uk