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Transcript of BBC Radio Belfast interview
Steve Nolan, Chief inspector Brian Key and Paul Smith.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007, 09:00, at 28minutes, 48 seconds into the programme.
Dixie, thank for making the recording.
S: is for Steve Nolan, B: is for Inspector Brian Key, P: is for Paul Smith
S: Now on this week’s programme we heard about tough new penalties for drivers who flout mobile phone and seatbelt laws, now we are being hit even harder, the police are introducing new cameras to snare drivers running red lights, the scheme is starting in Belfast, it will be rolled out all over the country, lets get the low-down on it from the PSNI Chief Inspector Brian Key, Brian …. Good morning
B: Good morning Steven; . . . . . S: What’s gonna happen;
B: Well first of all Steven, can I say that the cameras are not about snaring drivers, they're about improving road safety. Um this is about cutting down on the number of crashes and the number of people being, um, seriously injured and killed at, um, red lights as a result of irresponsible drivers, driving through red lights and, um, crashing into other people.
So this is about improving road safety and, um, cutting down crashes due to red-light running.
S: Get on !. What do the cameras do.
B: Um, basically the, err um, cameras will, err, detect people who, um, drive through the, err, lights on red. Um Steven as you know with the, um, traffic light sequence the, um, after the green signal there’s an amber signal, and, err, contrary to some popular opinion, err, that amber signal is a signal to drivers to slow down and prepare to stop, and then when the red light appears, um, um, motorists should stop, but, err, unfortunately some irresponsible and dangerous motorists don’t stop, they drive on, err, they put themselves and others at danger, and the intention of these cameras is, um, to prevent that dangerous activity and for those who engage in it, to detect them.
S: Yes, so if your running through a light and you go through an amber light, these cameras are gonna catch us, are they?
B: No, that’s not the case Steven, and the, um, cameras will only detect people who drive through the light when they are on red;
S: Instantly on red !! B: Um, well
S: I'm just thinking, I’m trying to think of scenarios of when I’ve been driving around, along the road, and I don’t know, there’s a busy junction, or whatever, and you need to get through it, and you just clip the red light, I’d get done, would I.
B: Well, can I say Steven, um, um, that the amber, the amber light, as I’ve said, is the signal for motorists to slow down and stop, its not, its not a signal for people to put their foot down and, and try’n get through the lights, on the basis they might get through before the red light and they, um, might not. Um are message is that if there’s an amber signal then, um, um, slow down, prepare to stop and, um, if it’s a red signal then, um, um, they should stop.
S: And how much are we gonna get done for !!
B: Well, um, um, the penalty for breaching a red light is a, um, £60 fixed penalty and, um, three penalty points.
S: These fines are coming from everywhere, were surrounded by these fines now, aren’t we !!!.
B: Well I don’t think, err, it’s a case, Steven, that we’re surrounded by, um, fines, err, fines, err, um, these provisions are being introduced to improve road safety, um, its about cutting down on the carnage on our roads, and, and really the, um, message put out by the department of the environment this week, and err, um, responded to by the environment minister yesterday, is really about improving road safety, its about encouraging motorists to change their driving behaviour in advance of these provisions coming in, um … S: How …. B: certainly the police service don’t want to detect people for breaching red lights, for, um, not wearing their seat belts, for illegal use of mobile phones. We would much rather the people just did not do those activities and, um, um, improve their own road safety and the safety of others.
S: How many of these cameras are going up ? B: Um, initially there will be five, Steven.
S: Where ? B: The, um, five will, um, be around the Belfast area.
S: Do you know where !! B: um, the…. Sorry… S: Do you know where !!!
B: Yes, yes, I do, yare, um, err, the five will be at, um, um, firstly Peter’s hill/Carrig hill, err secondly at Castle street/Mill field, thirdly at, err, Middle-path street, um, approaching the M3 on-slip, err, fourthly at Nelson street/York link, and err, um, the fifth one will be York street and Great George’s street.
And again I would, um, reiterate that we have chosen those locations on the bases of, um, um, collision and casualty history due to red-light running. These cameras are not about revenue generation, they’re not about detecting people, they’re about, um, cutting crashes, they're about saving lives and preventing serious injuries.
S: If they're not about detecting people and revenue generation, then why don’t you put a cop car on the five locations.
B: Well obviously, um, um, police resources are finite and, and, Steven, um, um, a police vehicle cannot sit at every, um, single traffic light right across Belfast and across Northern Ireland, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
S: Yes but …. B: um, we have, we’ve identified locations where there is, um, um, a history of collisions and serious injuries due to red light running …. S: Ok, tell …. B: and effective means of dealing with those is to put a fixed site camera there, but of course our message is not to jump the red lights and, um, of course nobody will be caught.
S: Tell me this, chief inspector, um, I'm just trying to think through the practical possibilities of this, do you know when you sometimes have a lot of traffic on the road and you actually get caught over the white line at the traffic light and there is a car in front of you and your then end up breaching that white line, your stuck, literally, between the traffic light over the white line, would you get done then.
B: No, this is, this is only about people who, whom, cross a white line when the light is on red …..
S: and continue driving…, do, do you know what I mean ?. Do, do you know what I mean !!, err BRIAN !!
B: Yes, yes, …. S: If your sitting across the white line.
B: As I’ve said Steven, the um, the cameras are only about, um, um, catching people who cross that white line, err, um, um, whenever the light is on red.
S: Do we know how many deaths and injuries have been caused by people running a red light,
B: Um, um, yes we do, as I said, we have identified these locations on the basis of, err, um, of history of crashes and collisions during the red-light running. ….
S: Do we know how many …..
B: we’re not simply going out and, um, and, and putting cameras at any red light, um, because obviously there is, there are dozens of sets of red lights, right across Belfast, and um, its not a case that we have just picked these, um out of the air. We have done a lot of work, we have done a lot of analysis and we, err, um, and we have identified the err, locations where there is a history of red-light running causing, um, um, collisions, and, and crashes …. S: Can you tell ….. B: Now in terms of the exact number of collisions and crashes I don’t have that immediately in front of me at the moment, so I, I, can’t answer that question, Steven.
S: Could you get it for us. B: Sorry …. S: Could you get it for us. B: I certainly can, yes.
S: That’ll be great then !!! Paul Smith is from the organisation, Safe Speed. Good morning to you Paul.
P: Good morning (in his best voice) S: This won’t work !!!
P: No, I don’t think so, but the first thing I really must cover, the AMBER signal, that shows before the red signal, it doesn’t mean, as the police the police officer told us, prepare to stop, what it does mean is STOP if is safe to do so. And that is a critical difference. We want people who see an amber traffic light to stop if it is safe to do so, but if you are too close to the light and you can’t stop, or you’re close to the light and there is someone close behind, then you MUST drive through the amber, that's the proper, safe… thing to do. So I just needed to clear that up.
S: Why is it not going to work Paul. P: Well the problem is, the really big red light accidents come from two sources. They come from; in the first place, people who haven’t seen the traffic light.
NOW the camera has NO magical property to help people see the traffic light, so anybody who fails to see the light, driven through it in the middle of the red phase, had a horrendous accident, with full speed traffic going in the opposite direction, that accident is not gonna be fixed.
Then you’ve got a lot of accidents which are caused by stolen cars driving through red traffic lights, perhaps they're being pursued by the police, um I don’t think there're gonna stop for a camera either.
So those are the two really big causes of red light accidents.
People who didn’t see the lights and people who are in, you know, stolen cars, they don’t care, they are driving through a red light deliberately.
S: Brian Key !!, You’ll obviously you'll disagree with this.
B: Well the first point I wanted to make Steven is that um, um, I do have the, err, Highway code, err, the Northern Ireland edition, open in front of me and um, um, what that Highway code says in relation to an amber light is that amber means stop at the stop line, and I think I should re-emphasise that amber means stop at the stop line, then it does go on to say that you may go on only if the amber appears after you have crossed the stop line, or are so close to it, um that it might, um, cause an accident if you pull up, so the, err um, the point is made that, err, amber does, um, um, does mean stop, or prepare to stop.
S: Well, well, well, lets just clear the air and dispute what you where telling me this morning Paul Smith…
P: Well if we are a tenth of a second from the green light when the amber light appears then clearly we are not going to be able to stop. AMBER MEANS STOP IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. It doesn’t mean prepare to stop, it means stop if it is safe to do so, and I think he is reading the wrong page of the Highway Code there.
B: Sorry Steven, can I come back on that point, because …
S: I very much doubt a Cop, a senior Cop is, is reading the wrong page of the Highway Code, HOW DARE YOU PAUL SMITH.
P: Ha, Ha , Ha, can’t help that, don’t blame me.
B: Um, Steven, perhaps, um, um, I could assist in clarifying this point in that, um, um, I am reading from um page 70 of the um, Highway Code for, err, Northern Ireland. Um there may be differences in the, um, um, in the Great Britain Highway Code, which, um, Mr Smith will be most familiar with.
S: Yeap. He maybe need to read our rules here a wee bit more. Here’s Ken in Belfast. Good morning Ken.
Ken: ……………….
Last edited by Dr L on Thu Jun 07, 2007 21:29, edited 1 time in total.
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and that was just 1 paragraph
Cameras at Great Georges St. and York St. area? That area, coupled with the Dunbar Link is at times, a major bottleneck. People do get caught in the middle of the road there when there's slow moving traffic and don't forget the inconvenience caused by the closure of Corporation Street. Well, it seems the accident rate will increase, but that doesn't matter as long as the scamera pratnerships can crowbar more money out of we motorists.