New kit will shed light on drivers who break rules
TRAFFIC light rule-breakers could be setting themselves up for an expensive reminder of the rules of the road after plans were unveiled to bring specialist infra-red cameras to the county to catch risk-taking motorists.
The kit is designed to detect drivers who either jump the lights when they are on red or exceed the speed limit across a junction when they are showing green.
The cameras are initially set to be installed at two light-controlled locations on the A59 County Road in Ormskirk – the notorious “Five Ways” junction with Southport Road and, just a few hundred yards away, the point at which the main route meets Hayfield Road. However, if the concept proves effective, it could be rolled out elsewhere within the Lancashire County Council area.
A meeting of the authority’s cabinet heard that the technology has already been deployed in Blackburn with Darwen, and is regularly capturing as many as 70 offences a day just in this one corner of the county.
The equipment does not require underground cabling work in order to be installed and so can be put in place without digging up the road. As well as minimising disruption to traffic, maintenance and fault-finding is also made easier as a result.
The straightforward installation means that cameras could even be rotated around different junctions as and when problem hotspots emerge.
Conservative cabinet member for highways and transport Charlie Edwards said that if the Ormskirk trial is successful, he would like to see the deterrent extended to other “suitable locations” in Lancashire.
Motorists will be hit in the pocket with fixed penalty notices for failing to stop at red lights or speeding through on green, but the hope amongst highways bosses is that the cameras will help combat driving styles that could be altogether more costly than any fine.
Citing the “devastating” toll of deaths and serious injuries amongst children, in particular, on Lancashire’s roads, County Cllr Edwards said that it was something that “we really must do everything we possibly can do to address”.
The latest data shows that there are 33.8 fatalities or serious injuries per 100,000 youngsters in the county, compared to an England average of 18.
The Labour opposition group welcomed the deployment of the new cameras, with deputy leader Lorraine Beavers raising the possibility of them being installed by default on all new traffic lights in the county – and funding the retrofitting of existing lights via the fines that the infra-red kit will generate.
Labour group leader Azhar Ali said he hoped that “habits will change” when drivers learn that their traffic light technique is coming under scrutiny. He also said