- £270,000 through motorway speed controls to go back into local safety schemes
- New ‘problem solving hub’ will encourage local bids
- Scheme near Stroud filmed 25,000 speeders in one week
- Making Gloucestershire’s roads safer a priority for police and crime commissioner
The next time you feel frustrated by roadworks on the M5 slowing down your journey, it might be some consolation to know it could be helping to reduce speeding in your part of the county.
Average speed cameras through motorway roadworks are a health and safety requirement. Although they are installed by contractors, only the police can enforce them, and it’s a service for which they charge.
Over the last two years, the speed limit enforcement camera system (SPECS) on the M5 has generated around £250,000 for Gloucestershire Police.
Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martin Surl is putting the money into a ‘Problem Solving Hub’ where it will be used to fund applications from towns, parishes and other groups and organisations who have ideas to make the roads in their neighbourhood safer.
Mr. Surl said:
“Speeding has been the number one topic of correspondence from the public throughout my term in office. The Country Roads’ Campaign has highlighted issues around driving in the countryside – and travelling at excessive speed is one of them”.
The Problem Solving Hub will go ‘live’ on April 1st and the PCC has written to all parish and town councils inviting them to bid.
A good example of how it will work is the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR) recently installed on the A46 near Stroud by Rodborough Parish Council
Click here for full story: https://www.gloucestershire-pcc.gov.uk/latest-news-media-martins-blog/latest-news/rodborough-is-the-first-parish-to-trial-hi-tech-traffic-camera/
Underwrittenby the Commissioner’s Fund with a contribution from the parish council, it captured 25,000 speeding motorists in just one week. The highest speed clocked was 64mph, while 42 people were caught exceeding 50mph. Of the 94,912 vehicles caught on camera, almost a quarter were over the 30 mph speed limit.
Chairman of the Rodborough Road Safety Working Group, Charles Pedrick said,
“This system has already proved to be really efficient in grouping drivers who speed regularly. It means we can send a letter out stating that they have been caught 1, 2, 3 times or more with the date, times and speed.
“We are finding that it has started to ’train’ the speeding drivers that have been cautioned verbally or with a letter to rethink their behaviour, which is a unique and powerful approach to speeding”.
Mr. Surl said,
“Safe and social driving will remain one of my priorities. The SPECS money is a windfall I can use to invest in systems and partnerships that will enable us to tackle issues like speeding and make our roads safer”
