Night-vision drones helping catch dangerous drivers in London

Police in London have launched a ground-breaking new trial that uses drones to catch speeding drivers.

Officers claim the millitary grade drones that have night-vision capability, are able to catch dangerous drivers along some of the capital’s busiest routes.

According to Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police have been using drone technology in London skies from July – the first initiative of its kind in the UK.

The drone that cost a massive £80,000 is being used on major routes where speeding offences are more common, It has a top speed of 30mph and can follow cars for up to 50 minutes..

Police say the drone, which can work at both higher and lower altitudes, is being used to identify only those travelling at dangerously high speeds. The drone footage is then passed to officers on the ground, who will pull over the offending motorists and issue a penalty.

If the scheme proves successful, it could be rolled out along more of the capital’s roads, as well as across other regions of the country.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Detective Superintendent Andy Cox, head of the Met’s roads and traffic policing unit said the drones will deter dangerous driving through “intense enforcement.”
“This is one of many enforcement tactics being used,” he added. “We hope the message of ‘drive lawfully, stay safe and keep a clean licence’ is widely understood.”

He added: “Deterrence is sometimes best achieved through intense enforcement and that’s what this capability enables. The focus will be on dangerous drivers who are racing and those putting their lives and other people at risk.”


Source / Image: Express.co.uk

 

Snow peephole driver stopped by police on A9

A driver on the A9 trunk road at Thurso in Caithness on Tuesday morning was stopped by police after their snow-covered car was spotted with just a small patch of the windscreen cleared.

The driver was given a fixed penalty notice.

A police spokesman said: "Winter has been biting for most of us this week, which means it is more important than ever that your vehicle is suitably prepared for the roads.

"Unfortunately not everyone follows this advice."

Images: Police Scotland

Raise speeding fines to £130 demands top police chief

Controversial proposals from a policing chief could see motorists who are caught speeding facing bigger fines and higher fees for driver awareness courses.

Alison Hernandez (lead on road safety for Police and Crime Commissioners), is lobbying Ministers to hike the cost of both Penalty Charge Notices and National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) sessions by as much as £30. 

 Fines:                       Current £100      Proposed £130

 NDORS course:       Current £90        Proposed £120

Ms Hernandez  told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I believe the law-abiding public feel it is wholly appropriate that those who are caught breaking our laws and making the roads more dangerous for all of us should be helping to pay for road safety activities. It is the “polluter pays” principle.

An additional £20 or £30 per offender could really make a difference to our communities, that money could go back into police forces to support work on road safety.

Last year around two million speeding offences were handed out. Out of those two million offences about half of drivers payed to take an NDORS course run by UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd) to avoid getting points on their licence.

While speeding fines revenue goes to the Treasury, fees for awareness courses – which are offered to those who marginally exceeded a speed limit – are split between the course organiser and the local police force.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘Speeding is unacceptable which is why there are tough penalties and enforcement in place for those who do so. Offences and penalties are kept under constant review to ensure the courts have sufficient powers.’

 To read more on this story please visit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk

Police have a new camera which can spot drivers using mobile phones or speeding nearly a mile away

Police have unveiled their new weapon – a camera that can produce clear images of people inside a car almost a mile away

The massive camera dubbed 'The Long Ranger' has been showcased at the launch of a pilot project called Operation Indemnis.

Police in Gloucester are using the camera to tackle various motoring offences including speeding, tailgating and using a mobile phone while driving. 

Previous Speed guns have been able to detect how fast cars travel but the new camera produces clear video footage and still photographs of the people inside them. 

Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire where the kit is being tested, said he hoped that it would catch people using their mobile phones.

What is the law on using a mobile phone while driving? 

•  It’s illegal to hold a phone or sat nav while driving or riding a motorcycle. Access must be hands free. 
• 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you use a hand-held 
• You’ll also lose your licence if you passed your driving test in the last 2 years.

• The device must not block your view of the road and traffic ahead.
• You can get 3 penalty points 

• You must stay in full control of your vehicle at all times.
• You can get 3 penalty points

 Source: www.gov.uk

Officers will use the long-distance camera and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to check on what vehicles are on the roads and how they are being driven.

If the pilot is successful, it could be applied to any road in the county.

Source, to read more please visit  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Cardboard cop-out? Residents given FAKE policeman to stop speeding

Crafty councillors have unveiled their latest weapon against speeding motorists - 4 cardboard cut-out traffic cops complete with hi-vis jacket and speed gun. Known as "pop up bob figures"

Residents of Eglington Crescent in Edinburgh were concerned that motorists were regularly breaching the 20mph limit on their road and have now been given a pop up bob to use and advised to use it on alternate days.

Officers from The City of Edinburgh Council have praised the cardboard policeman as a useful road safety tool, however some others are not quite so convinced. 

Labour councillor Gordon Munro questioned the effectiveness of what he labelled a 'token gesture'.

'How effective are these going to be once drivers realise that’s all they are? Real police is what will inhibit driving.'

Superintendent Mark Rennie said 'Alongside high-visibility patrols and safety cameras, the ‘pop-up Bob’ prop is used in areas to help deter speeding and is a visual reminder to drivers to make sure that they drive in a responsible manner,'

'The cut out of a police officer holding a speed gun, which is not used in place of genuine officers, can be deployed to areas where speeding has been reported as an issue.

But some residents around the Haymarket part of Edinburgh have taken to social media to slam the cop cutouts.

One resident wrote online: 'I don’t think he’s cut out for the job.'

Another joked: 'This is a perfect late night pissed up thieving for any local student. Brilliant ornament for any student flat.'

More on this story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6134333/Edinburgh-residents-complained-speeding-cars-given-CARDBOARD-traffic-officers-use.html

McLaren seized by police after speeding in Welwyn Garden City

Officers caught a driver in a speeding McLaren on 13th August and the tweeted:

“79 in a 40. Not a good day. Especially when we find out the insurance didn’t renew.

“Vehicle seized. We offered to drive it to the recovery yard but control insist it has to go on a truck.”

A police spokesman confirmed the sports car was a McLaren 720S, and was stopped today (Monday, August 13) at 10.30am.

“It was recorded doing 79mph in a 40 zone,” he added. “Further checks revealed that the vehicle was not currently insured and as a result the vehicle was seized.

“The driver was issued with a Traffic Offence Report by officers, meaning he will be prosecuted for the above offences at a later date.”

It is understood that the motorist will have to prove he has got insurance and pay a recovery fee before being able to get the car back.

Gatso vandalised with grey spray paint. Are fines still valid?

A Gatso camera on Wessex Way in Bournemouth, was recently sprayed grey - making it 'almost invisible' according to one motorist - any prosecution could still take place, according to Dorset Police.

The police said that they were 'aware of the vandalism'. Adding that repairs were carried out within 24 hours of enquiring about the damage.

However, drivers who believe they could escape any speeding prosecution because the camera is not its more prominent yellow colour are wrong.

Source: Bournemouth Echo
 

Why warning fellow drivers about speed cameras could potentially land you with a hefty fine

No one likes getting caught by a speed camera which means usually if you spot a new camera its just instinct to tell others about it if youre having a conversation, perhaps approaching the road that it is located on as a passenger in a car.

However extending a well meant warning other drivers using the same road as you by flashing your headlights could land you in hot water!

The Highway Code states you should only flash to let other drivers know you are there and doing otherwise could potentially prevent police officers from doing their job

Rule 110 states: “Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there.
“Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.”

This means that drivers do choose to flash to warn others about a speed trap implemented by the police, they could be in breach of section 89 of the Police Act 1997 .

Under this law it states that it is an offence to “wilfully obstruct a constable in the execution of his/her duty.”

If the police deem you are obstructing their ability to perform their speed checks on other motorists you could be slapped with a maximum penalty of £1000.

Source msn.com

Half of UK road speed cameras are switched off

According to new data only around half of fixed speed cameras on British roads are switched on.

The figures that were released by 36 police forces in the UK show that of a total 2,838 cameras, just 1,486 - or 52% - are active. (Fixed cameras only not mobile devices)

according to information obtained by the Press Association (PA), some police forces have completely turned off all their cameras. Northamptonshire police deactivated all of theirs in 2011 but left the machines in place as a deterant. (Cleveland, Durham and North Yorkshire said theirs are all also turned off)

A spokeswoman for the National Police Chiefs' Council said the decision to use cameras was "an operational matter", adding that "all forces have individual responsibility for their use of speed cameras".

• Fixed speed cameras in Cleveland, Durham, North Yorkshire and Northamptonshire are all inactive
• Staffordshire Police has 272 fixed cameras across the region, of which 14 are active
• In Scotland, less than 29% of fixed cameras are switched on
• Forces where less than 25% of fixed cameras are active: West Yorkshire, Kent, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire
• Derbyshire force operates 112 cameras, of which 10 are switched on
• Gwent police force has 17 fixed speed cameras of which 8 are active while South Wales has 88, 59% of which are switched on
• Police forces with all fixed speed cameras switched on include: the City of London, the Metropolitan Police/Transport for London, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Northern Ireland

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: "Many of the empty yellow cases are due to cuts in road safety grants and the fact that digital cameras, although more effective, are very expensive."


He added: "It has long been the case that cameras were moved between sites, depending on need. When it comes to the chances of being caught on camera, it is a postcode lottery. All cameras in City of London and Suffolk are working whereas only 5% are active in Staffordshire."

"However, drivers should remember that lack of a yellow fixed camera doesn't mean they are immune from mobile hidden cameras. Best advice is stick to the limits rather than gambling on the yellow boxes."

 Source BBC

Police to net an extra £12 million from speed awareness courses

More than a million drivers each year now opt to attend speeding awareness courses instead of receiving points and a fine

Currently police forces are not supposed to generate and income from the courses but do receive a "flat fee" to cover their costs, because of a £10 per person price rise from last month, they are estimated to receive an extra £12 million a year from speed awareness courses going forwards

With thousands more speed cameras being placed around the country, Police forces have now been accused of deliberately targeting motorists to raise revenue

Hugh Bladon of the Alliance of British Drivers claimed it was clear by the huge numbers taking part, that police forces were generating significant amounts of revenue from the schemes.

He said: "The incentive is clearly there for the police to get people onto these courses because they benefit financially. It does not accord with what our definition of justice is in the UK".

Claire Armstrong of the group Safe Speed, also said it was nonsense to suggest speed awareness courses were about anything but making money.

She said: "These course are using the police as a sales mechanism for the speed camera industry. It is so far from being about road safety that they should be embarrassed.

"Motorists are being bribed into doing these courses that are not improving road safety. It is a huge scam."

Two private companies run the majority of courses, but five police forces; Lancashire, Merseyside, Humberside, Cheshire and Northamptonshire run their own.

Any profits they make, must be put back into road safety, but with forces facing unprecedented financial pressure, any extra revenue will be welcomed by Chief Constables.

For more information around this please read this story in the Telegraph

Drink driver caught speeding at 146mph on M4

Billy James Rich was caught drink driving whilst speeding at nearly 150mph on the M4. 

Mr Rich, from Highworth, was behind the wheel of a black BMW in the early hours of Wednesday when he overtook an unmarked police car at speed on the A350.

After heading on to the motorway, he was clocked doing 146mph (235km/h) by officers before being pulled over near Chippenham.

The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to drink driving and speeding

During a hearing at Swindon Magistrates' Court he was fined £692 and disqualified from driving for 22 months.

PC Andy Lee said: "His actions put himself, other drivers and road users in danger."

Source tispol.org

Learner driver test interrupted by police over instructor's car

West Midlands Police

A learner driver had not made any minor faults in her test and was on course to pass - until the instructor's uninsured car was stopped by police.

The learner and examiner were pulled over during the driving test in east Birmingham, on Saturday.

West Midlands Police then checked the car and found it also had no MoT. They later seized the car.

The force's road policing unit said the student would have passed the test had it not been interrupted, as no mistakes had been recorded.

The driving examiner and student were taken back to the test centre, where the driving instructor was questioned by police.

The Instructor a 46 year old female admitted knowing the car was not insured but denied knowing the car had no MoT, said police.

Police seized the car and took the driving instructor's badge. She was reported to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVLA) and will need to provide valid insurance and MoT documents to police at a later date.

Confused about the new speeding fines?

Are you confused about the new speeding fines? just in case you are here is a simple guide table of how the new system functions in legal system

Police catch driver doing 108mph on the A38

Police caught a driver speeding at 108mph on the busy A38 (limit is 70mph) during a weekend road safety campaign.

Four other drivers were caught topping 100mph and a total of 109 people were caught breaking the law on Devon roads during the campaign they named Operation No Excuse.

The  'fatal five' driving misdemeanours that drivers were caught doing were as follows

• 25 for using a phone at the wheel
• 25 for not wearing a seatbelt
• 53 for speeding
• 4 for careless driving
• 2 arrests for drug driving.

additionally 23 were reported or cautioned for less serious offences including driving without insurance or a licence; not having a valid MOT; and running a red light.

 

One driver was stopped for careless driving in the city centre and given a Section 59 warning, meaning his vehicle will be seized if he commits another similar offence.

A taxi in a "dangerous condition" was removed from the road and had its licence suspended.

New roadside test will identify tired drivers

The health services provider Austin Health and the Institute for Breathing and Sleep joined together to develop a roadside test that will identify tired drivers, and keep them off the road. 

The result of the collaboration was ‘smart glasses’  - they track eye movements and measure the length of blinks. The researchers hope the product will help police ‘dramatically reduce fatigue-related road death’.

As part of the project, researchers studied drowsiness in night-shift workers during driving tests and found a tenfold increase in ‘microsleeps' and double the number of lane crossings. They also found drivers struggled to keep their eyes open and had more trouble staying in the middle of a lane.

The researchers believe the technology could hold the key to changing driver behaviour toward getting behind-the-wheel while tired, in the same way the breathalyser changed attitudes towards drink-driving.

DtT figures show that during 2015, fatigue was recorded by police as a contributory factor in 4% of fatal accidents and 2% of serious injury accidents in the UK.

However, the UK’s Road Safety Observatory suggests that sleep-related collisions are under-reported and in fact are more likely to account for 16% to 20% of all collisions.

 

- See more at Source : http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk

Just give me the points and a fine

A driver caught using his mobile phone asked for penalty points and a fine rather than opt for a "boring" course, police have said.

The unnamed motorist stated on a caution form he had completed a driver improvement course the day before.

He wrote: "Just give me the points and fine - I did the mobile phone course yesterday. It was as boring as hell."

Those who commit motoring offences are sometimes offered courses as an alternative to penalties. No details about where the man was stopped have been released.
.
The force's road policing team shared a photo of the form on Twitter with the comment: "Some will never learn".

A car is as deadly as a loaded gun, especially at 96 miles per hour

The teenager was recorded on the 13th of this month by the PSNI’s Road Policing Unit who later tweeted an image of the speed gun reading, adding: “This speed was recorded on the M2 today by road policing officers. Driver was just 15 years of age.”

This speed was recorded on the M2 today by Road Policing officers. Driver was just 15 yrs of age.#KeepingPeopleSafe pic.twitter.com/jT6mX00NmK

— PSNI Road Policing (@PSNITraffic) May 13, 2015

MLA Trevor Clarke, whose constituency takes in a large part of the M2, said: “There are very serious questions to be asked about how someone of this age came into possession of a car.”

"A car is as deadly as a loaded gun, especially at 96 miles per hour. I want to commend the PSNI for stopping this young man before he injured himself or anyone else."

"Doing that kind of speed on a motorway is an accident waiting to happen. The last thing any of us want to see is another fatality."

It is illegal for a 15-year-old to drive, even as a learner. Normally, the earliest date a provisional licence can become valid is when the holder turns 17. But learner drivers are not permitted on motorways.

£800 gadget that lets speeders spot police cars half a mile away: Device blasted by police as a 'passport to villainy'

A gadget that alerts speeding drivers when emergency vehicles has faced calls by police and motoring organisations to be banned.

The £799.99 Target Blu Eye is a dashboard-mounted device which, astonishingly, is perfectly legal, according to its makers.

It can detect when police cars – even unmarked vehicles – are more than half a mile away by picking up encoded radio signals, and then sends a warning to the motorist.

When a 999 vehicle is within 1,200 yards, it sets off a green light on the display. As it gets nearer, the lights go to amber and finally they go red when it is just yards away. The device can even detect the radio signals from police officers on the beat and force helicopters.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Driver caught speeding at 136mph on the A5 in Conwy

Four people were caught driving at speeds of over 120mph on roads in Wales last year - with one topping 136mph, the Institute of Advanced Motorists has revealed.

Three of the worst speeders were caught on the A5 in north Wales, while the other was on the M4 in south Wales.

It said the 136mph driver broke the 60mph limit in Conwy by 76mph and was one of the worst cases in Britain.

The figures for 2014 were released following a freedom of information request from IAM to the welsh forces. The figures showed Wales' worst speeder was recorded by North Wales Police at 136mph on the A5 Ty Nant to Dinmael road in Conwy.

The A5 also saw two further instances of over 120mph speeding recorded; 122mph on the Ty Nant-Cerrigydrudion stretch in Conwy; and 121mph at Halton, Wrexham.

The final case of 120mph being exceeded was captured by South Wales Police: 125mph on the M4 between Junction 35 Pencoed and Junction 34 Miskin, where a 70mph limit is in force.

The charity is campaigning for an increase in visible policing to deter excessive speeders.

Coventry's Tollbar island catches thousands speeding

Tollbar Island with the junction of London Road
Image: coventrytelegraph.net

Tollbar island is best known for long delays - despite these delays average speed cameras positioned in roadworks caught out nearly 3,500 drivers last year

The cameras operate on a 40mph stretch of A45 between Tollbar and the Festival Island and are designed to protect contractors working on the £106million project.

The Highways Agency say work on the new underpass takes place around the clock.

The roadworks have been described as the worst in the country, with motorists experiencing long delays during the typical working week.

At the time a Highways Agency spokesman said: “We are committed to making sure disruption for the drivers who use the junction every day is kept to an absolute minimum and we plan roadworks very carefully.

“Wherever possible lanes are closed at quieter times and we do our best to keep lanes open while we work, avoiding the need to divert traffic.”

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and three penalty points.

The figures come as fixed speed cameras in the region look set to make a comeback after 304 were controversially switched off a year ago.

Some motorists have posted on internet forums suggesting that the fixed speed camera on the Ryton side of the A45, close to Tollbar, is working again though.