Nearly 5,000 caught speeding
CAMERAS SWITCHED ON A MONTH AGO AT THREE LOCATIONS
NEARLY 5,000 drivers were caught in the first month after new sets of average speed cameras were switched on along county roads.
Highways bosses started speed enforcement at three locations in Walcote, Measham and Sharnford in September and plan to activate a further four cameras elsewhere next month.
Leicestershire County Council has released figures showing 4,764 fines were issued at the original three sites between September 15 and October 15.
The camera on Burton Road in Measham was triggered 3,167 times, Walcote’s 1,513 times and the camera in Sharnford on just 84 occasions.
It is understood the Sharnford camera was activated but has subse- quently been turned off for some periods of time.
Drivers caught speeding by the cameras will be given a £100 fixed penalty fine and three points on their licence so the cameras will have generated a potential £476,400 in their first few weeks – subject to appeals.
County Hall is lobbying the Government to be allowed to keep the first £500,000 to pay for the installation costs of the cameras with all the income thereafter going to the treasury.
The county council has insisted the new cameras are only intended to slow traffic in areas where residents have complained about speeding vehicles, rather than generate cash from motorists.
It estimates more than 600,000 vehicles would have passed the cameras over the month, with fewer than one per cent actually being fined.
Coun Blake Pain, cabinet member for environment and transport said: “We are trialling the average speed enforcement across seven locations to address the concerns of residents and to make the roads as safe as they can be.
“Of the 600,000 vehicles passing camera sites in Sharnford, Walcote and Measham over the past month, 0.78 per cent of the vehicles have been issued with notices. The trial isn’t about catching and fining motorists for speeding – we want people to stick to the speed limits.
“We hope that these cameras, along with those currently being installed in Oadby, Groby, Freeby and Woodhouse Eaves, will stop people from speeding as it endangers the lives of other road users and pedestrians.”
It is anticipated that the cameras in Oadby, Groby, Freeby and Woodhouse Eaves will be installed and switched on next month.