Hundreds caught by light camera traps
MORE than 1,500 motorists were caught speeding on one Maghull road in just one month.
The shocking figure was revealed after Merseyside police installed “Speed on Green” safety cameras in various locations around Sefton earlier this year.
The cameras are used to detect both those who drive through red lights and those who exceed the speed limit.
The cameras were installed on January 28 as part of the road safety partnership’s strategy to reduce the number and severity of injury collisions and to reduce the overall speed of vehicles on Merseyside’s roads.
Although more were installed across Sefton, only two – at the junction of Northway (A59)/Hall Lane in Maghull and Crosby Road South/Cambridge Road in Crosby – are operational.
At the Maghull site, 1,588 drivers were caught speeding last month, with 1,320 offered a place on a speed awareness course.
At the Crosby site, 1,546 were caught driving above the 30mph speed limit and, of those, 1,383 were offered places on courses.
At the Crosby site, 539 drivers were caught in the first week, but after five weeks, this number had dropped to 249. A similar trend was seen in Maghull, with a reduction in detections from 445 to 156.
It follows a similar, but slower, impact after the introduction of average speed cameras on the A565 Tarleton Bypass in 2017.
Jayne Eaton from the safer roads unit (SRU) at the road safety partnership said: “These cameras have been introduced to improve safety on our roads by influencing the speed of drivers at junctions and reducing the risk of a crash.
“During the first month at these two sites, they appear to have done just that. While the overall number of detections remains a concern, the vast majority of those drivers were eligible for an educational course and so will have benefited from the insight that these courses provide into the potential consequences of their speeding and the safety benefits of adhering to speed limits”.
Paul Mountford, also from the safer roads unit, added: “Our aim is to create a safe environment for everyone to use our roads. Complying with speed limits, driving with regard to other, more vulnerable road users and to the prevailing traffic conditions is critical if we are to achieve this.
“I am optimistic that those drivers who comply with the speed limits at these locations will continue to do so elsewhere in Merseyside.”