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30
Jun
The first ever fixed speed camera has been installed in North Yorkshire.
As part of a three-month trial, the camera will be located on the A64 Sherburn High Street and be in use from today (July 1).
Historically, North Yorkshire Police has used mobile cameras to enforce speed limits as well as other motoring offences across the county.
However, the force says it is trialling its first speed camera to help slow down motorists and reduces the number of serious and fatal collisions in Sherburn.
Superintendent Mick Roffe, North Yorkshire Police’s head of specialist operations, said:
Speeding is often a key factor in collisions, and we continue to look at the effectiveness of new methods to enforce speed limits on North Yorkshire’s roads.
The fact that we are promoting the exact location of this camera shows that this isn’t about a quick way to generate money, it’s about enforcing the 30mph limit on a route which has historically seen several serious and fatal collisions.
We will be monitoring the data closely and looking at what impact the camera has on reducing speed as well as the number of serious and fatal collisions on the A64 in Sherburn. The outcome of this trial will help shape our plans for speed enforcement in the county over the coming years.
The move comes as Tim Forber, chief constable of the force, said in May this year that it was time to consider introducing average speed cameras and fixed speed cameras to the road network.
Tim Forber, chief constable of North Yorkshire Police.
Mr Forber said North Yorkshire was the only county he had worked in as a police officer where no fixed cameras were in place.
He added that introducing the technology would help to reduce deaths on North Yorkshire’s road network.
Mr Forber said:
This is the only county I have worked in in nearly 30 years as a police officer where we don’t have a fixed speed camera network.
Given the fact that we have such an extensive and expensive strategic road network, I think it is absolutely time to consider that. From my part, that’s the opinion I give through the road safety partnership up to the highways authority.
I think that speed camera vans we use to good effect, particularly in some of our rural villages. But I do think on our strategic road network we need to employ technology like average speed cameras and fixed speed cameras to make sure there is a permanence reduction in speed in some of these areas.
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