Police call in mobile cameras to try to slow speeding road users

North Yorkshire Police announced today that officers will be deployed with the controversial monitoring devices in the latest attempt to tackle the blight of rogue bikers and motorists breaking the speed limit.

The county has up until now been the only area in the country which had not adopted the use of either mobile or fixed-site cameras.

But senior officers admitted that the problem of both speeding motorists and bikers has left them with no other option than to introduce the six-month pilot, which begins on Friday.

North Yorkshire Police’s temporary Deputy Chief Constable, Tim Madgwick, is also the chairman of the 95 Alive Road Safety Partnership, which was launched in 2005 to prevent further road fatalities .

He conceded that the use of the cameras has led to major criticism from opponents who claimed that the technology is a thinly-veiled means of raising much-needed revenues from fines.

But Mr Madgwick added: “It is a fact that speed kills, no ifs or buts about it, and we are determined to reduce the casualty toll on our roads.

“The simple advice is – don’t speed, you will not be caught and our roads will be safer.”

Some of the county’s most notorious accident blackspots will now be patrolled by officers in a van equipped with the enforcement system, which can track vehicles from almost two-thirds of a mile away.

The cameras can also detect mobile phone and seatbelt offences, officers warned.

North Yorkshire Police will publish a full list of the sites due to be visited by the mobile cameras on the force’s website and details will also be sent out to the media on a weekly basis.

However, a police spokeswoman admitted that there will be rare occasions when the van is not marked while it is taking part in covert operations.

While the mobile cameras will target anyone speeding on the county’s roads, police confirmed there will be a “particular emphasis” on rogue motorcyclists.

Despite a series of high-profile education and enforcement campaigns, 20 bikers died on the county’s roads during last year.

Police claimed this number is “simply unacceptable”, and research has also revealed that excessive or inappropriate speed has been responsible for 24 per cent of all road deaths in North Yorkshire during the past three years.

Mr Madgwick said: “We are confident that this new development will help us to drive down deaths and serious injuries further.”

Advocates of the cameras have maintained the technology has helped dramatically reduce the number of deaths on the nation’s roads. Research published by the RAC Foundation has revealed there would be 80 more deaths and 720 more serious injuries in the UK every year if the cameras were decommissioned.

Anyone caught speeding will be given a £60 fine and have their driving licence endorsed with three penalty points. First-time offenders who are travelling just over the limit will be offered the chance to attend a £93 speed awareness course to avoid having points put on their licence.

Between 2008 and 2010, there were 36 fatalities on the county’s roads in collisions where speed was a contributory factor. One of the biggest areas of concern is the number of bikers who continue to break the speed limit.

North Yorkshire Police announced in April it was teaming up with seven other forces across the North of England in the first formal agreement of its kind to prevent the number of fatal bike crashes increasing.

The county’s road network – which covers 5,000 miles and criss-crosses countryside including the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors – is a huge draw for bikers from across the country.