Police test three fixed speed camera systems

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is to test three high-tech speed and traffic-light camera systems on behalf of the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

The pilot project, which was unveiled in Belfast on Thursday, April 25, could lead to the eventual use of fixed cameras in Northern Ireland for the first time.

Superintendent Ian Hamill, head of PSNI's Road Policing Development Branch, said that speed is a major killer in the province: "Around one in three of the people who die on our roads, do so in collisions in which speed is a factor. That's even more than drink driving, which stands at around one in four.

"Yet, while the motoring public generally believes that drink driving is unacceptable, speeding doesn't seem to figure as highly in their minds. However, speeding remains a priority for police. It is vital therefore that, in the battle against speeders, police are supported by the best and most up-to-date equipment available."

The PSNI and Essex police are currently involved in testing and evaluating camera systems that may be used to help improve road safety, but the Home Office must approve all cameras that are to be used to provide photographic evidence.

The cameras will be tested at three sites in Northern Ireland. Equipment from Monitron International will be sited at Dee Street on Belfast's Sydenham By-pass. The camera will check three types of driver behaviour: red light contravention only; speed only; and red light and speed combined. Cameras from a second company - Peek Traffic - will check speeding vehicles on the A1 at Banbridge near the Rathfriland junction, and for red light running on Dargan Road at its junction with Duncrue Road in Belfast.

Supt. Hamill said that at the moment the equipment was only testing and evaluated for the Home Office and ACPO.

He said that initial conclusions from trials in England are that the number of people killed or seriously injured in collisions in the trial areas has fallen by up to 20% from the targeted use of speed cameras.

The trial could also herald a move towards investing a proportion of the money from fixed penalty notices into improved road safety measures.

Environment Minister Dermot Nesbitt backed the speed camera trail, which he said could make a significant contribution to reducing road casualties resulting from speed and red light running.

(SP)