The enforcement technology company Jenoptik is celebrating the installation of its 200th permanent average speed enforcement system in the UK.
The technology, which uses highly accurate Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to calculate speeds of vehicles over set distances, was first implemented in the UK in Nottingham in 2000, and the company’s latest landmark scheme has now been delivered in Bedford.
Jenoptik’s solution monitors the number plates of vehicles as they pass fixed points on the road, then calculates the time taken compared with how long it should take if the vehicle was driving at the speed limit. Vehicles taking less time can therefore be shown to be going too fast.
The average speed solutions have been used on more than 750 miles of roads across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland enforcing speeds from as low as 20mph all the way to national speed limits. The latest Bedford scheme, which is the 18th of its type in that borough alone, is on the town’s Embankment and is intended to regulate vehicle speeds to reassure walkers and cyclists in the area that they can travel safely.
“From the UK’s longest scheme totalling 136 miles on the A9 in Scotland to locally targeted schemes like the 200th in Bedford, our average speed cameras deliver accurate and fair enforcement on all types of roads,” explained Geoff Collins, Deputy Managing Director of Jenoptik Traffic Solutions UK. “When installed as part of a casualty reduction scheme, statistics show they are startlingly effective, cutting the number of killed and seriously injured people by an average of 70 per cent. They are also shown to lead to reduced emissions, meaning better air quality and have the support of drivers, with anecdotal evidence suggesting average speed schemes are far more accepted and popular than spot-speed cameras.”
Cllr Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Highways at Bedford Borough Council said, “Bedford Borough Council introduced average speed cameras on residential roads back in 2012 to help tackle speeding, a really common concern for local residents. Since then, we have installed average speed cameras at various locations to make our roads safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, with this latest installation on the Embankment set to improve this popular and picturesque route for all road users.”
“Having taken 17 years for us to reach a hundred schemes, the fact we have delivered another hundred in just five years shows how accepted the technology is,” Collins continued. “Jenoptik is far and away the leading supplier of average speed enforcement solutions in the UK – we are the go-to supplier because we really understand how to deliver them, and in the process deliver safer, smoother, greener and fairer roads.”
(Picture – Jenoptik)
