Speed crackdown as cameras appear
Mill Street in focus
Work has started on installing average speed cameras on a busy Rutherglen street.
A recent survey showed that nearly 70 per cent of cars that use Mill Street are above the 30mph speed limit, despite the presence of a safety camera van there.
Nine accidents resulting in injury have taken place there over the past several years, prompting the Scottish Safety Camera Programme to invest in a different approach.
The street will only be the third urban site in Scotland to have average speed cameras installed, and the system will see drivers having their speed tracked for a mile.
West Safety Camera Unit manager, Alan Thomson, said: “When we carry out speed enforcement we like to see a reduction in injury collisions, speed, and offences.
“Although there has been an improvement in injury collisions, in part due to the mobile camera at Mill Street, further reductions are desirable.
“We know that the number of people being injured is still too high and our surveys show that so is the number of speeders on this road.
“As a result, we’re adopting a more robust approach to road safety improvement and speed enforcement, and I believe that average speed cameras will bring about the improved driver behaviour we want to see on Mill Street.”
Chair of South Lanarkshire Council Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, Councillor John Anderson, said: “I hope that the installation of average speed cameras on Mill Street reduces the number of accidents we are unfortunately seeing in this area.
“Excessive speed is a contributory factor in so many accidents and I fully expect the average speed cameras will act as a deterrent.
“I would like to thank our partners in the police for progressing their installation.”
The work will be carried out for 15 days, followed by a period of testing before the camera will go live.