Safe Speed Forums

Mobile camera van is new weapon against speeding on Yorkshire's roads
By Jennifer Bell » Crime reporter - 9:10am Thursday 30th June 2011

SPEEDING motorists face getting caught by North Yorkshire’s first speed camera van, which is now patrolling the county’s roads.
The van, which was unveiled at Elvington airfield yesterday, will enforce speed limits on hazardous roads and encourage motorcyclists to ride more carefully.
Backed by North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council, the Highways Agency, and North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, a four-man team will operate the van 15 hours a day, seven days a week, until Christmas.

Traffic Constable Andy Forth said the marked van, which has five cameras providing 360-degree coverage, would be deployed on more than 100 identified speeding hotspots in York and North Yorkshire.
Police will focus on locations which have a history of collisions where motorists have been killed or seriously injured, with a particular emphasis on motorcyclists.

If the pilot proves successful, North Yorkshire Police, last of the 43 forces in England and Wales to use the system, will look towards investing in a permanent speed camera van.

PC Forth said the cameras could detect the speed of approaching traffic from up to 1,000 metres away and the camera software would prevent people lying about who was behind the wheel.

He said: “You get drivers who have nine points on their licence whose partner will say they were driving to prevent somebody gaining further points. But it is pretty hard to trick the police when we have got an image on DVD of the person who is behind the wheel.
“Those people could then be charged with trying to pervert the course of justice.”

The system will record other traffic violations, including not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone. Last year, 20 bikers were killed on the county’s roads and speeding accounted for 24 per cent of all road deaths in North Yorkshire in the past three years. During the same period 1,128 were injured – including 299 people seriously injured – in collisions where speed was a factor.

Tim Madgwick, North Yorkshire Police’s temporary deputy chief constable, said: “Safety cameras are a first for North Yorkshire Police, being the only area in the country not to have fixed or mobile cameras.
“We are confident that this new development will help us to drive down deaths and serious injuries further.”

The Press - Comment - Right to keep an eye on speed
A CERTAIN kind of motorist likes to grumble that speed cameras amount to little more than another tax on motorists, and a handy source of revenue for the police. Officers would be better off chasing real criminals than persecuting ordinary citizens, goes the argument.

The reality is that speeding kills. Far from it being a waste of their time, the police have a duty to ensure motorists abide by the laws of the road, and drive safely.
We have never been really convinced by fixed speed cameras – and we still aren’t. One of the problems with fixed cameras is that motorists quickly get to know where they are. So they amend their behaviour as they pass the camera – then go their merry, speeding way afterwards.

That doesn’t happen with mobile cameras, however. Would-be speedsters can never be sure where they are.
So we welcome the fact that police in North Yorkshire are now trialling a mobile camera van.
They say it will enable them to target more than 100 identified speeding hotspots – and are confident the van will help drive down deaths and serious injuries on our roads.
If it can do that, we should all be grateful.

“Those people could then be charged with trying to pervert the course of justice.”

So, if it is self financing it will come from the fines generated from this system. (As all camarea operations are).

This equipment will cost an arm and a leg to operate on lease so they are going to be rolling in the money in the near future to cover the costs.

The system will record other traffic violations, including not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone. Last year, 20 bikers were killed on the county’s roads...

The qualifications to be a Chief Constable now are a bit different from the past.

- a social work qualification is required (instead of "qualification by experience" with villains)
- you need to be a member of either the Labour or Liberal parties (instead of the Freemasons)
- you need to have very Socialist views (note this is different from the point directly above)
- you need to be a politician (instead of a policeman)

Deviousness is only a desirable characteristic.

....and mobile courses.

Hi Ollie ice surprise to see you here after so long

Is your PM facility working?

Different County Pships employ different bodies to run the courses. Some are expanding into new courses too ... there has been some consideration given to Motorbike courses, dangerous driving courses and mobile courses.
So there is ample scope for funds to filter back to those companies ...
The arrangement these organisations (IAM / AA Drivetech etc) have with the Pships is unclear, and obtaining this cost/relationship in detail is tough. See this recent response of an FOI made to Dorset Police over costs from Courses :
http://www.dpa.police.uk/pdf/PA230611_2 ... h_2011.pdf
See section 7.6 7.7 ...