http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewa ... ?id=313677
Rule shake-up means speed camera vans can roam freely
Published on 19/12/2005
By Mark Preskett
SPEED camera vans in Cumbria are now allowed to roam freely around the county as part of a Government shake-up of safety camera legislation.
Under the plans, the camera vans will no longer be confined to the 50 accident hot spots in Cumbria where they lie in wait to clock speeding motorists.
But a spokesman for Cumbria Safety Cameras, which runs the four camera vans and four fixed cameras, reassured motorists that the distinctive yellow vans would not be appearing at the end of their road any time soon.
Kevin Tea, communications manager for Cumbria Safety Cameras, said: “The changes will give us a lot more flexibility in how we operate.
“Before these changes we had to be based at these accident hotspots 85 per cent of the time, and it would take up to two years to add an area to our list.
“Now, in theory, we can go anywhere we want but we will only target an area outside of our 50 hotspots if there’s a real reason.”
In 2003, cameras clocked 32,000 speeding motorists in Cumbria, netting £1.92 million in fines.
With the costs of running Cumbria Safety Cameras for a year standing at £1.6 million, this gave the Government a profit of around £300,000.
Mr Tea insists that the aim of the speed cameras is to improve road safety, not generate cash for the Government.
He said: “The simple fact is that the speed cameras reduce the number of accidents on our roads. We are under no pressure to generate money.”
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Excuse me? What are these rules and when do they come into force?