Drivers more likely to be caught for speeding under new system

Paul Whitehouse

DRIVERS who abuse speed limits on urban roads in South Yorkshire are more likely to be caught in future following an expansion in enforcement action by the authorities.

Until recently, most of the speed checks conducted in the county were done through the safety camera partnership using fixed or mobile roadside cameras and traffic police, who use either static equipment or vehicle-mounted technology to monitor drivers’ speed over a fixed distance.

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But some of the county’s safer neighbourhood teams, the localised units of police and civilian community support officers, are now being issued with their own speed cameras.

They are available to be used in areas where speeding traffic is a genuine concern, but which would be regarded as too low a priority to be given significant attention by the main enforcement officers.

The issue of speeding in urban areas has been raised at some of the Police and Community Together meetings which are now held across the county.

As a result, police policy has been changed and that allows safer neighbourhood teams to buy speed cameras from budgets provided by local authorities.

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South Yorkshire’s roads policing department provides the training to ensure they are used correctly.

Head of road policing, Chief Insp Andy Male, said: “It is speeding at a level where we would not normally do enforcement work because we prioritise where there are most collisions.

“Some SNTs have bought their own speed detection equipment with local authority money and I have provided the training.

“They do it with and without Road Policing Group staff,” he said.

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Those involved have the full range of enforcement options available where offenders are caught, including issuing fixed penalty notices, offering the option of taking part in a speed awareness course instead of getting penalty points or simply providing advice about the danger of speeding.

One of the SNTs involved in the work is in Penistone, where officers have a hand held speed device.

During one check in Mortimer Road, Cubley, they monitored 113 vehicles and found six were travelling above the speed limit.

All six drivers opted to take part in a speed awareness course, which are regarded as an effective way of altering driver behaviour.

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In a similar check on Millhouse Green involving 147 vehicles, three were found to be travelling slightly over the limit, resulting in warning letters being sent.

Similar operations will be carried out locally whenever the need arises.

Colleagues in Worsbrough, Barnsley, have been using a speed information system to inform motorists of their vehicle speed.

The device uses a screen which displays either a smiling or a frowning face, depending on the speed of passing vehicles.

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Officers have used that in areas including roads in Billingley and Wombwell which police believe some motorists use as a short cut, with vehicles driving too fast through residential areas.

Traffic speed in residential areas has become an increasing concern in Sheffield, with the Green Party recently calling on the council to consider introducing a blanket 20 mph speed limit across the city’s suburban side roads.

The party has argued that the change would promote road safety but would also provide environmental improvements, because there would be a reduction in fumes as a result of vehicles accelerating and braking less between junctions.