A NEW mobile safety camera that will track down speeding drivers is due to be deployed next week in “secret” locations across the Island, the States police chief has confirmed.
In a quarterly hearing with the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel this week, Robin Smith said: “I am pleased to say that next week we will be deploying the mobile safety camera to a number of venues that will remain secret.”
He was responding to panel vice-chair Constable Mark Labey, who said: “Probably the most prevalent phone call that we get at the parish hall and emails that I get relate to speeding offences and speeding within our parishes, and we’re still getting the notes of rally engines throughout the night.”
Mr Smith explained: “The [mobile safety camera] equipment arrived at the back end of last year.
“It’s a very sophisticated bit of kit. It is not just a handheld camera that you see officers across the Island using.
“We’ve had a number of officers both here and going over to the UK for training, because it takes a good deal of setting up. That training is now complete.”
He added: “The camera will be being deployed quite extensively over the next month or so, and I will come back with the stats and facts.
“We are going to calibrate it quite high, so we will be looking for people who are excessively speeding because we have other equipment, they can easily accommodate those other things.”
Constable Labey joked: “From the pitch of those rally engines, we all know how fast they’re going so it will be very good to get some action on that.”
Mr Smith quipped: “Let me reassure you: this bit of kit will tell you exactly how fast.”
The new camera forms part of the government’s Collision and Casualty Reduction Plan, published last year, which included a section about using technology to address “high-speed, high-risk drivers”.
It stated: “Tools like safety cameras, which can automate speed enforcement, can help identify inappropriate speeds and driving behaviour as well as habitual high-speed offenders.
“By focusing enforcement on areas with the greatest risk, we can create a strong deterrent effect that encourages responsible driving across the network.”