• Road Traffic law is about to give the police
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important new powers for dealing with driving offences. From 1 July, they will be able to convict drivers solely on the basis of photographs taken by fixed roadside cameras. The new law, brought in by the Road Traffic Act 1991, covers speeding offences and driving through red traffic lights.
Until now, the corroboration of a police officer who witnessed the offence has normally been needed to secure a conviction for those offences — although the interpretation of "witness" has been stretched in recent years. The new law will have particular significance in Scotland where not one but two police witnesses are currently required.
This latest change in road traffic law follows six years of campaigning by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and its Scottish counterpart. The police are convinced that it will be a crucial aid in their battle to reduce road deaths and serious injuries, says chief inspector Roger Curtis, assistant to the chair of ACPO's traffic committee.
The cameras will be used in places with a bad accident record. In Wiltshire, for example, speed cameras are likely to be placed on a sweeping left-hand bend between junctions 16 and 17 on the westbound M4 between Swindon and Bristol.
A deteriorating surface is making it a dangerous stretch of road: "If it gets any worse, we'd feel duty bound to install cameras," Curtis says.
The presence of cameras will also be well publicised. Curtis insists: "This isn't Big Brother sneaking around and hiding behind a hedge." But he does concede that, although there are ACED guidelines, each force is free to use the cameras as they please. Red light cameras are set to take pictures of vehicles going through a junction just after the lights have changed, then another a second later.
John Guttridge, head of external affairs at the Freight Transport Association, welcomes the new cameras: "I've seen some quite spectacular sequences of red light jumping. Not only do the cameras catch the vehicle going through on red, they get the details of the accident which follows," he says.
Speed cameras work by photographing the rear of vehicles exceeding a pre-set limit, as detected on a conventional radar or other sensor.
In the West Midlands, for example, the police may set the camera at a relatively low speed in order to catch lorry offenders. In this case, says chief inspector John Butler, police would simply ignore all the cars caught by the camera.
The first a driver will know that he has been "clocked" will be when he receives a fixed penalty notice, or summons, through the post (although at night the flash let off by the camera can be quite noticeable). This means that whole batches of drivers can be sent fixed penalty notices without the practical difficulty of having to stop each vehicle on the spot.
In a truck fleet, it will be the transport manager's responsibility to identify the offending driver, according to the registration number, date, place and time of the offence. If the manager fails to do so, his own licence can be endorsed — another aspect of the legal changes.
Butler warns: "It is quite possible that a transport manager could lose his licence, through a series of endorsements, without actually having committed a driving offence himself."
The new law could have serious consequences for unwary drivers, especially those on regular runs such as tipper drivers or those on newspaper deliveries. It will become quite possible for a driver with a clean licence to commit several offences at the same spot before his first fixed penalty arrives. In which case a driver with a clean licence might suddenly end up disqualified.
This has happened in Holland, where a similar law has been in force for years. In Britain, courts may well take a lenient approach, although this is unlikely if a driver is already well on the way to his 12 points — what the boys in blue rather colourfully call a "totter". Drivers will just have to take their chance, Curtis comments.
But Continental prosecutions using cameras have had their lighter side. In Germany, notices of fines were sent through the post accompanied by pictures of the front of the cars, The blow-up pictures were so clear that the occupants of some vehicles were clearly visible. In some instances, offenders were left with some awkward explaining to do to their wives!
British justice has much more of a sense of fair play. The view of the vehicles will be from the rear and incriminating photographs will definitely not be sent through the post. It will be some time before Britain's roads are planted thick with these cameras. Only 12 police forces have red light cameras, and hardly any are in a position to use camera to identify speeding offences. This is partly because there is a technical row between ACP° and the system manufacturers: existing systems are approved by the Home Office, but the ACPO wants modifications to make them more "court-proof'.
But the major stumbling block is, as ever, cost. Speed cameras start at .E24,000 and the police have to budget for associated film, maintenance and administrative costs on top of that. ACP° is lobbying for special Home Office funds. Curtis says that there is little sign that these funds will be made available, although a further two dozen counties are "actively considering the acquisition" of the necessary equipment.
It is already a common practice among some forces to inform drivers sometime after the event that they have been "booked". Wiltshire, for example, heavily polices the 50mph speed limits on motorway contraflows. It is often too dangerous to stop the driver at the time, so they send a summons on later. But from 1 July, they will be able to send out a fixed penalty notice.
In County Durham. the county council used a camera to prosecute hauliers crossing a bridge with a weight restriction (CM 21-27 May). Some 200 drivers have been fined up to £100.
Police have also started securing convictions for serious traffic offences, such as reckless driving, on the basis of evidence from video cameras, The police witness the video either at the time of the offence or on a later playback. The M25, in particular is bristling with cameras and the more obviously stupid drivers are liable to be prosecuted.
Big Brother or not, truck drivers are going to have to get used to many more spies outside as well as inside the cab.
Cl by Jack Semple