Safe Speed Forums

Speed cameras pull in £235,000
3:31pm Friday 13th January 2012 in News

Pembrokeshire drivers have racked up 8,100 speeding tickets and paid out more than £235,000 in fines in the last six years, with one mobile camera site alone pulling in more than £50,000.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Western Telegraph has obtained details of all the tickets issued from each of the county’s 32 designated speed camera sites.
It shows that between 2006 and September 30th, 2011, 8,100 fixed penalty notices were issued by speed cameras in Pembrokeshire.

Had all 8,100 tickets been paid at the standard £60 fine, it would equate to £486,000 in fines and 24,300 penalty points. But the figures show that just 3,959 notices have been paid, worth £237,540.
Reasons for fines not being paid include ongoing cases, drivers successfully appealing or opting for a speed awareness course rather than a fine and points.
The information shows that more than £50,000 has been collected from Pembrokeshire’s top speed trap – Marsh Road in Tenby.

Drivers using Marsh Road should pay special attention to their speed, with 1,960 motorists being slapped a fixed penalty notice for exceeding the 30mph limit, although just 961 drivers have paid the fines, a total of £57,660.
Another south Pembrokeshire speed camera site comes in second on the list of fines issued.
The mobile van on the B4314 road into Narberth has issued 1,230 tickets, with 556 being paid (£33,360).
Despite issuing fewer fines than at Narberth, the A487 at Newgale has pulled in more money due to a higher proportion of drivers paying up. The Newgale site has sent out 1,172 tickets, with 585 being paid – a total of £35,100.
Other notable sites include the A478 Narberth Road, Pentlepoir (703 tickets issued, 420 paid, £25,200), A4075 Carew Village (572 tickets issued, 368 paid, £22,080), A4075 Holyland Road in Pembroke (482 tickets issued, 211 paid, £12,660) and the A487 Newport (397 tickets issued, 299 paid, £17,940).
Surprisingly, the four camera sites in Milford Haven – Cromwell Road, Marble Hall Road, Steynton Road and St Lawrence Hill – issued just seven tickets between them and the two sites in Johnston, on the busy main A4076 between Haverfordwest and Milford Haven, had not issued a single ticket during the period requested.

GoSafe, the Wales Casualty Reduction Partnership which includes local authorities and the four Welsh police forces, said safety cameras are there to save lives and make roads safer, not to make money.
“Neither the police nor any other partners in the Casualty Reduction Partnership make any profit from speed and red light fines. All fine revenue is passed to the Treasury. The Casualty Reduction Partnership is funded by a grant from the Welsh Government. This means there is no incentive for casualty reduction partnerships to place cameras anywhere other than where they are needed to improve road safety.
“All the funding we receive is invested into making the roads safer through education, engineering and by targeting enforcement where it is needed most to reduce speeds, educating motorists about the dangers of speeding and going through red lights, and running road safety initiatives.”
GoSafe added that cameras are not hidden, all mobile units are clearly marked and the locations of camera sites is published on the website gosafe.org.