Busy Midlands road becomes one of first to be fitted with ‘smart’ speed camera
New ‘smart’ digital speed cameras have been rolled out on main roads in parts of the Midlands, with hundreds of drivers fined in just a few months. The cameras are fitted with the latest technology which police chiefs hope will help them catch more speeding motorists and make traffic slow down.
They have been switched on along just a few busy roads to begin with and officers will be eager to monitor their results with a view to potentially rolling them out more widely in future. They are more ‘intelligent’ than older yellow box cameras and no longer have to rely on road markings to detect vehicles going too fast.
Digital images will be fired back to enforcement officers who could then hit motorists with fines and penalty points. The closest road to the Black Country and Birmingham[1] where the cameras are running is on the A449 on the southern edge of Stafford, not far from Junction 13 of the M6.
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The busy route is north of Wolverhampton and regularly used by people travelling to and from the Black Country. Motorists are warned the cameras on this part of the route are now live and working.
Some could be caught out as older yellow box cameras haven’t worked for years in many areas. The other three roads where the cameras are operating are in Stoke-on-Trent.
Figures obtained by BlackCountryLive[4] revealed hundreds of drivers have already been fined[5] after passing these cameras in the first few months of this year. Ahead of the rollout, Inspector Mark Joynson, of the force’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “The installation of the new technology will make it easier to check speeds across Staffordshire[6] and we hope they will provide a visual reminder of the work we do every day to keep all road users as safe as possible.”
References
- ^ Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Highway Code parking rule hardly any driver knows exists (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Want the latest headlines and breaking news emailed to your inbox? Sign up here, it’s free. (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ BlackCountryLive (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ already been fined (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Staffordshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)