Taking On 'Camera Surfers'
Networks of speed cameras will be used to catch drivers
breaking the 20mph limit in residential areas, it has been reported.
The cameras, which will be placed at the exit and entrance
points to neighbourhoods, are being introduced as an
alternative to road humps, according to The Times.
The idea, currently being tests trialled in Camden,
north London and Belfast, involves calculating the
average speed a car has travelled.
Cameras transmit information to a central control
centre, which then issues penalties.
The system has been designed to catch "camera surfers",
who slow down briefly as they pass conventional speed
cameras and then speed up again, the newspaper said.
The trials have so far proved the technology to be reliable.
Local councils were expected to use the cameras in 20mph
zones to try and reduce the number of crashes caused by
drivers speeding up and slowing down.
In the trial areas, the proportion of drivers complying
with the limit has increased by a third.
Rob Gifford, parliamentary transport safety council director,
said: "Replacing humps with these new cameras will benefit
law-abiding motorists as well as making streets safer and more attractive.
"Drivers will stop rat-running through neighbourhoods
where they know their speed will be monitored."
The cameras were expected to be approved for use by the
Home Office in November.
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