Safe Speed Forums

Mobile speed cameras to be introduced round-the-clock in Bristol
By ian onions political editor
MOBILE speed cameras will soon be introduced round-the-clock in the Bristol area.

The new move comes into force from April 1, when the police take responsibility for speed cameras from Safecam, which is being disbanded.
The fixed point yellow "gatso" cameras are expected to be phased out because they are considered too expensive to run. But this will be up to individual councils which run them to decide.
In Bristol, the 10 fixed cameras are digital. The council is currently in talks with the police about their future use.
North Somerset Council has not used its fixed cameras for three years, and instead spends its road safety grant for road improvements, vehicle-activated signs and mobile cameras.

In South Gloucestershire, the council is ditching the old-style "gatso" cameras but will continue with the updated versions that take digital recordings instead of using film.
The colour of the mobile speed camera vans is likely to change but it is not clear at this stage what the colour will be.
The lettering on the side of the vans will also change, again to be decided.
The police's view is that drivers believe mobile speed cameras only operate during the day, which makes it easier to get away with driving faster at night.
The changes were spelt out by South Gloucestershire Cabinet Councillor Brian Allinson at a meeting of the council's transport select committee.

He told the Evening Post: "I wouldn't want anyone to think we are going soft on speeders in South Gloucestershire.
"Speed cameras play an important part in promoting road safety."
Mr Allinson (Con, Stoke Gifford), himself a retired police superintendent, was briefed by police chiefs at Avon and Somerset's headquarters in Portishead.
He said there would also be changes to the speed awareness courses which drivers are invited to attend if they are caught speeding in a 30mph limit by only a few miles per hour.
If drivers decide to attend a course, they still have to pay a fine but they do not have penalty points added to their licence.

These courses will be extended to speeders who break the 40mph, 50mph, 60mph and 70mph limits.
Currently, if you are caught in another part of the country, then you have to travel there to attend a course.
But the police are setting up a national scheme so that speeders can attend a course in the area where they live.

Safecam – formerly known as the Safe Camera Partnership – was set up four years ago when it took over the cameras from the Safety Camera Partnership for Avon and Somerset.
The partnership was set up 2002 and was directly responsible to the Department for Transport and money from speeding fines could only be spent on the installation and operation of cameras.
There are currently 37 fixed point cameras in the Bristol area – ten of them in the city itself.
Safecam also collects and analyses speed and collision data to identify roads where camera enforcement would reduce casualties.
Two road safety partnerships have been formed in Avon and Somerset.

The West of England Road Safety Partnership covers Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, while the Somerset Road Safety Partnership is responsible for the Somerset County Council area.
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police confirmed that Safecam was being disbanded.
She said: "It will be a matter for the local authorities whether they want to keep running the static cameras. The police will support them if they decide to do this.
"We are reviewing our current operating practices with regards to the mobile cameras and hope to extend their use.
"It is our preferred intention that we join the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) which will enable people to take part in a course anywhere in the UK. It may be that a tender is put out for a service provider to run this on behalf of the force."