UK CRACKING DOWN ON HIGHWAY KILLERS


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article4909662.ece

October 9, 2008
Drivers will have no escape from new speed cameras
specs speed camera

Clusters of speed cameras that will monitor drivers’ average speed on all
routes across a wide area are to be deployed on hundreds of roads next
year.

It will be impossible to evade detection because the digital cameras will
cover every entry and exit point and, unlike the earlier speed cameras,
will never run out of film.

Drivers who slow down briefly or who make a detour from the main route
will still be caught because up to 50 of the cameras will work together
in a network. They can be positioned more than 15 miles apart and will
automatically read numberplates and transmit data instantly to a penalty
processing centre.

Existing average-speed cameras cover a maximum of six miles, work in
pairs and have to be connected by a cable, so their installation is
costly and time-consuming. Drivers can also escape detection by turning
off the route between the cameras.

Police trials of the new cameras have concluded successfully in London
and a second set of trials will finish this week in Northern Ireland. The
Home Office is expected to approve the technology by the end of January
and the first fines are likely to be issued by next summer.

Jim Fitzpatrick, the Road Safety Minister, said yesterday that the new
cameras would bring significant safety benefits as well as reduce
congestion by making traffic flow more smoothly.

On the M1 the number of casualties halved after average-speed cameras
were introduced on a contraflow between junctions 6a and 10.

Compliance tends to be very high: a pair of cameras on the M4 between
junctions 10 and 12 issues only one penalty for every 10,000 drivers.

The Association of British Drivers, which campaigns against speed
cameras, said that Specs3 could cause drivers to lose concentration.
Brian Gregory, a founder member, said: “People put the car in cruise
control and the mind in neutral. It’s so boring driving through these
sections at a constant slow speed that people are going to drop off.”

(snip)

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I'm all for this  but i still think a better way to stop these murderers
is to make the penalties for speeding much higher.
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necromancer (10.10.2008 06:29)