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04
Mar
Deputy mayor backs fixed speed cameras in North Yorkshire
The deputy mayor for policing in North Yorkshire has backed a move to introduce fixed speed cameras in the county.
North Yorkshire currently has no fixed speed cameras. However police use mobile units to catch speeding motorists.
But Jo Coles, the Labour deputy mayor, said it was “completely unacceptable” that thousands of people had been killed on the region’s roads in the last five years.
The move comes after York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership said a recent study showed combining fixed cameras with mobile cameras would help to reduce casualties.
Ms Coles said she was determined to do something about the reliance on mobile units to catch speeding motorists.
She said:
Over 2,000 people have been killed or seriously injured on the roads of York and North Yorkshire over the last five years. This is completely unacceptable.
We are one of the only regions in England and Wales with no static speed cameras, instead relying on 11 mobile camera vans to fulfil this role. By comparison, West Yorkshire has over 450 fixed and mobile cameras. David Skaith, the mayor, and I are determined to work with the responsible agencies, including the two local authorities and North Yorkshire Police, to do something about it.
Ms Coles added that £165,000 has been made available to York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership to fund prevention activities, including the delivery of road safety education programmes and engagement with vulnerable road users and local communities.
Chief constable Tim Forber.
Tim Forber, chief constable at North Yorkshire Police, has previously shown his support for the move and said the county needed “a different approach relating to speed cameras”.
Last year, Newcastle University was commissioned to undertake a study into whether the introduction of fixed speed cameras would “be effective in reducing collisions in York and North Yorkshire”.
In a statement, York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership said the review found that there was “strong evidence” for the introduction of cameras.
It said:
At present, York and North Yorkshire are among the few areas in England without static cameras.
Recent independent academic reviews, commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, show strong evidence that combining static cameras with existing mobile safety camera operations would help reduce casualties and better respond to speeding concerns raised by our communities.
However, no timescale has been given on when fixed speed cameras will be introduced in the county, neither have details about where they would be located.
In July last year, North Yorkshire saw its first ever fixed speed camera introduced on the A64 Sherburn High Street as part of a trial.
However, it was vandalised just hours after it was installed.
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