Shropshire Star

Record numbers of speeding drivers across region

A record number of motorists have been caught speeding by cameras in the West Mercia Police force area this year, new figures reveal.

Published
Average speed cameras on the M54 in Shropshire

The numbers of those snapped by fixed, mobile or motorway cameras has dramatically risen over the past five years, with more than 90,000 caught in 2014.

Road safety bosses across Shropshire and Mid Wales said today that fixed and mobile speed cameras were behind more fines being issued to drivers and revealed there had been a decline in road collisions since 2009.

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Speeds as high as 137mph were caught on camera along some of the region's most notorious roads.

A total of 370,465 vehicles were caught going too fast in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Worcestershire over the past five years.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that almost two thirds of these were issued to male drivers.

The force region covers Shropshire, Worcestshire and Herefordshire.

Fixed penalty notices were introduced more than 50 years ago initially for police and traffic wardens to deal with minor parking and motoring offences.

For drivers they are widely used to enforce "moving traffic offences" such as speeding and traffic light offences, restricted turn, no entry and box junction contraventions.

They are also used to enforce parking restrictions where parking enforcement has not been decriminalised as well as for parking offences on red routes and zig-zags.

Figures show that a total of 333,786 have been handed out to motorists in the region since 2009, with 209,838 of these given to men and 85,789 to women.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the numbers have drastically increased since 2009, when 61,139 drivers were caught, rising to 81,423 in 2011 and 76,976 in 2013.

Between January and December 15 this year, a total of 91,138 motorists were caught speeding by fixed and mobile cameras in the West Mercia Police region.

Dyfed-Powys Police, meanwhile, recorded that more than 65,000 drivers were caught by mobile cameras over the past three years.

Cameras stationed along the M54 and the A5 in Shropshire during recent roadworks led to more drivers paying fines.

From 2009 to March 2014 a total of 333,786 overall fixed penalty notices were issued in the West Mercia Police region. Almost two thirds of these were handed to men.

The most prolific speeding roads in the force area were revealed as the A46 Sedgeberrow bypass near Evesham, Worcestershire, and the A40 Ganarew in Herefordshire. Police chiefs said the vast increase reflected a change in how officers enforced speeding fines and the move from national governance to local partnerships.

Vicki Bristow, communications manager of Warwickshire and West Mercia Police Safer Roads Partnership, said: "Speeding is a key issue in many communities and impacts on the lives of the local people so it's great that we are able to address this.

"The increase in notices issued reflects a very different environment that we are now in regarding enforcement."

Working with nine partner agencies across West Mercia, the aim of the Safer Roads Partnership is to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

In the Powys region, the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership recorded that 17,246 motorists had been caught and fined by mobile speed cameras between April 2013 and March 2014.

Nationally, the number of speeding fines issued to motorists by the courts has risen to its highest level for four years amid the rollout of a new generation of digital speed cameras.

More than 115,000 motorists in England and Wales were issued with fines of at least £100 by magistrates last year.

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