Suffolk Roadsafe Partnership rolls out ANPR devices to target speeding motorists

I was very pleased that Suffolk County Council has been able to roll out a mobile number plate recognition system to target speeding motorists.

This issue is one that is of huge concern to councils and communities locally and nationally, and which here in Suffolk the Police and I are determined to target.

This innovative project is part of the Suffolk Roadsafe Partnership between Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Constabulary thanks to a £400,000 grant from the council’s 2020 fund.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) will be rotated around sites where there is a problem with speeding or rat-running on roads with a 20mph or 30mph speed limit.

There are ten of these devices and they work like conventional SIDs by displaying the speeds of drivers to them as they approach, encouraging them to slow down.

However, the difference is that if a driver continues to ignore the speed limit the ANPR camera will take a picture of them and record the date, time, speed, vehicle registration and a photo of the vehicle.

In certain cases, persistent offenders will be reported to Suffolk Constabulary and, while no one will be prosecuted as a direct result of the devices, they may be visited by a police officer who will speak to them about their driving

So, if no prosecution arises, you might ask what is the point of them? Well, in the majority of cases people seeing the SIDs flash that their speed is over the limit will slow down, so the cameras have done their job.

Unfortunately though there are some people who will ignore the limits, and these are the people whose details will be shared with the police.

The information shared with the police will also help them decide on where speed enforcement vans should be deployed going forward.

So, the case for SIDs is that as part of the bigger picture they will make a valuable contribution to tackling speeding and therefore are money well spent and a welcome addition to the county’s roads.

It is no exaggeration to say that speeding is one of the biggest areas of complaint that we as councillors receive, and it is understandable why.

As well as being dangerous to both the person speeding and innocent road-users, be they motorists, cyclist or pedestrian, it is a blight on the community and peoples’ quality of life.

Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Constabulary and the Police & Crime Commissioner have worked together with local people for many years to tackle concerns about speeding.

We have developed an approach which offers both enforcement and education to suit the needs and concerns of local communities, details of which can be found at the Suffolk Roadsafe Partnership website.

If you have concerns about speeding I encourage you to contact your parish or town council or, if there is no such council available to you, to contact your local county councillor.

The £400,000 for the ANPR SIDS project was from the Suffolk 2020 Fund, a £3 million fund set up for investment in emerging policy priorities.

This fund was made possible because of the decision of this council to use part of the Government’s one-year financial settlement to invest in some of the beneficial community projects that ordinarily may not have received as much focus or opportunity, given the other huge, costly frontline services that the county council is responsible for.

The fund was used to deliver a range of initiatives and projects that provide a positive, tangible impact, such as the ANPR cameras.

Work on setting up and enabling this, and other projects, began in early 2021 and it is now that we are starting to see the fruits of those labours, a range of new community projects that will benefit people for years to come.

Projects such as these are a real force in bringing communities together, with outcomes which provide many social and environmental benefits now and in the future.