Western Daily Press (Saturday)
National rollout review for super camera
ASUPER camera that caught DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles using his mobile phone behind the wheel could be rolled out across the country as part of a major shake-up of roads policing.
Ministers are worried that the lack of a visible police presence on the roads means that drivers do not worry about being caught any more.
Now the first joint review of roads policing and traffic will look into why the number of casualties has not fallen in nearly a decade and how police can use new technology to catch offenders.
Some campaigners believe the authorities have not been able to cut the number of road deaths further because the number of traffic police officers has fallen dramatically.
But the review is expected to examine if the gap can be filled by long-range cameras being tested in Gloucestershire which can spot drivers using their phones or tailgating from more than half-a-mile away. Last month, Knowles, 56, was banned from driving for six months and fined nearly £1,500 for speeding and using a mobile phone after being caught by the long-range camera on the Brockworth bypass.
The Department for Transport and
Highways England will launch a joint two-year review amid fears too many people are getting away with drink and drug driving, speeding and using their phone at the wheel.
According the Daily Mail, it could also consider merging regional police forces so they have cross border teams and has not ruled out a dedicated national roads policing unit that works like the British Transport Police. West Mercia, Staffordshire, West Midlands and West Mercia formed a Central Motorway Policing Group for the M5 until West Mercia pulled out.
Road Safety Minister Michael Ellis said: “We have strong laws in place to ensure people are kept safe on our roads at all times. But roads policing is a key deterrent in stopping drivers breaking the law and risking their and other people’s lives. This review will not only highlight where police forces are doing good work, it will show what more can be done to improve road safety.”
Both road safety charity Brake and the RAC have warned that the decline in road traffic policing may have contributed to problems on the roads.
The impact of tougher penalties for using phones, introduced in March 2017, has already started to wain and traffic police may be told to take a more proactive approach to tackling motoring offences.
In less than a month after being deployed, the camera recorded more than 1,200 speeding offences on the A417 and A419 and 32 other offences, including tailgating, mobile phone use, vehicle plate offences and not wearing a seatbelt.
AA president Edmund King told the Daily Mail: “The biggest deterrent to someone drink-driving, picking up their phone behind the wheel or driving without insurance is to have a very strong and very visible police presence. Reducing the number of specialist traffic police by a third over a decade has meant that some drivers feel they can act dangerously and get away with it.”