Motorists are now being kept safe on more than 100km of roads across Nottinghamshire thanks to the latest installation of average speed camera technology in the county.
The Jenoptik SPECS solution installed in the Nottingham City suburb of Lenton is the 14th such scheme in the city, and the 31st across the whole of the county.
Nottingham City was the first authority in the UK to install and operate SPECS cameras in 1999, as part of a technology pilot that proved collisions could be controlled along a length of road, not just at a ‘hot spot’.
Average speed cameras monitor the number plates of vehicles as they pass fixed points on the network, then calculate the travel 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 proven to be going too fast.
In the scheme on Derby Road, infra-red illuminators have been co-located on the camera column, reducing street clutter and also negating the need for dazzling bright lights to be used in this residential area.
“Nottingham City Council operated the UK’s very first SPECS system over twenty years ago, and of the 32 average speed routes in the county of Nottinghamshire, half of them are in the City of Nottingham,” commented Scott Talbot-Hartshorn, Service Manager of the city’s Road Safety and Highway Development Management. “Based on this experience, I’m confident that this new installation on the A6200 Derby Rd, Lenton will continue the history of improving flows and safety along the route”.
Jenoptik UK Deputy Managing Director Geoff Collins added, “The Road Safety team in Nottingham has always been a pioneer in delivering technological solutions to support safer driving, so now we’ve added up the total carriageway length in the county supported by our SPECS average speed solutions, it’s topped the ton in terms of kilometres monitored. Because they are seen to be fair and have a noticeable effect on driver behaviour, these schemes are overwhelmingly popular with people – in the City Council’s consultation into putting in average speed cameras, four-fifths of responses supported the scheme. We are proud to be part of a suite of effective measures used to keep drivers and pedestrians safe.”
The SPECS solution has been successfully operated on any roads from 20mph residential streets to motorways. There are more than 200 schemes in operation across the UK, covering well over 1,000km of highway.
(Picture credit – Jenoptik)
