Changes are being made to the way motorists are warned of speed cameras in West Yorkshire.

Police say drivers should expect to be caught as changes are made to how safety cameras are used in the county.

Drivers and motorcyclists are being warned to ‘expect the unexpected’ as changes are made by the Safety Camera Partnership to the way safety cameras are deployed in the county – with one change being that there won’t necessarily be signs anymore warning that you are approaching a speed camera.

65 people died and over 5,000 people were injured in collisions on the roads of West Yorkshire last year. The majority of these collisions were entirely preventable, with excessive or inappropriate speed being one of the most common factors in fatal and serious injury collisions.

Under these new arrangements, safety cameras will continue to be deployed to evidenced ‘high risk’ sites with a history of fatal or serious injury collisions, but in addition, cameras may also be utilised at community concern sites where there is clear evidence of emerging risk due to excessive speed. This represents a more proactive approach, trying to address issues with excessive speed on a road before a fatality or serious injury occurs.

Safety cameras may also be deployed during periods of roadworks to protect the workforce and other road users, or potentially following the opening of a new road where no speed or collision data exists.

Currently there is signage to indicate when you are approaching a safety camera or enforcement van. Under the new strategy, some sites of concern may be enforced without signage being present with the aim to encourage safe speeds across the network and not simply in the vicinity of established enforcement locations.

(Picture – West Yorkshire Police)