Police use 'night-vision' cameras to catch speeding motorists
A week-long crackdown on speeding motorists across Cleveland and County Durham starts today.
Police officers in our region are deploying new night-vision safety cameras to catch drivers who're going too fast.
It's part of a week-long crackdown by officers from the joint Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, which starts today.
Officers will be carrying out both high-profile and covert speed checks in various locations across the two forces.
Their new cameras, which have full infra-red capability, can be used in low light levels to spot registration plates in the dark.
Four vans will be fitted with the news cameras, the money for which was raised with funds from speed awareness courses.
And they were deployed recently during an operation on the A66 at Teesside Retail Park, where they detected 106 speeding motorists in just 90 minutes. One offending driver was clocked at 79mph in the 50mph limit. Acting Insp Phil Grieve, from the CDSOU said; “This new, night time capability means the staff from the Safety Camera Unit can now operate at any time of day or night, and detect speeding motorists at times the older equipment could not. “Speeding remains one of the four main factors in serious or fatal collisions and the limits are put in place quite simply to protect pedestrians and all road-users.” Around two-thirds of road traffic collisions take place on roads with a speed limit of 30mph or less, which are often residential areas where children live. Acting Insp Grieve added: “We want people to drive in a way that they would expect others to drive. Those travelling above the speed limit will face the consequences.”
Speeding currently carries a minimum penalty of ÂŁ100 fine and three penalty points.