Northumbria Police praises RSS speed
camera strategy report
Northumbria Police has praised a document produced by Road Safety Support which recommends that forces make changes to current speed camera enforcement strategies in order to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the UK’s roads.
The 'Raising the Game - Enforcement Strategy' document, that was publicly released last week, urges forces to introduce wide-area, more flexible approach to enforcement in order to increase the perception of speed camera detection.
Mobile speed camera vans, which are highly visible and can be utilised over a wider area, should be used to support traditional roads policing efforts, the report states. This approach will jolt motorists into driving more carefully on all roads – not just those where they expect to see a camera.
In August, Northumbria Police became the latest force to launch a more flexible approach to enforcement, Operation Modero, which is based on elements of the ‘Raising the Game’ report. Since then, the force has been overwhelmed by support for the operation.
Sgt Paul McIntosh, Manager of the Northumbria Police Road Safety and Camera Enforcement Unit, said: “We certainly would not be where we are without the Raising the Game report or without the incredible help from Road Safety Support.
“Operation Modero has received overwhelming support from all of our local authority partners in Northumbria, which includes all of the emergency services, and we have received hundreds of messages of support from the public.”
He added: “We realised we had to make changes to really make a difference to our casualty figures. We knew that we couldn’t keep following the same enforcement strategy that we’d been using for years.
“This new wide-area approach has already caught the attention of the media and the public alike, and with their support we will hopefully start to reduce the unacceptable number of people that are killed and seriously injured in collisions on our roads.”
‘Raising the Game’ was written by Road Safety Support’s enforcement experts, who have worked in speed camera operation in the UK since the 1990s. It explains how many UK police forces are still using a similar criteria that was developed back in 1992 when speed cameras were first introduced in the UK.
