North Yorkshire Chief Constable Calls for Fixed Speed Camera Network

North Yorkshire’s Chief Constable, Tim Forber, has expressed a strong desire to establish a network of fixed and average speed cameras across the county.

The Chief Constable says North Yorkshire is the only place he has worked in his career that currently lacks a significant fixed camera presence. The county presently relies solely on mobile speed camera deployments.

Chief Constable Forber envisions building this new network primarily on main arterial routes,

"It is the only place  that I have worked in my career where we don't have a fairly significant fixed camera network and certainly where I want to see this go is to build a network of fixed and average speed cameras, particularly on our main arterial routes.

That will mean that we can focus more of the mobile deployments, in some of the more rural areas, but particularly the single lane a roads where you've got 60 mile an hour speed limit, they are the hotspots where casualties occur and actually where we can deploy average speed cameras or fixed speed cameras in those areas to permanently bring down those speeds, I think is probably where the future lies."

Comparing North Yorkshire to other regions, Chief Constable Forber noted that the counties lack of fixed position cameras is unusual.

"Most other counties have had fixed speed cameras for probably the last 20 years. And certainly, I know West York now is an extensive network of fixed speed cameras.

And the challenge you have is that that's going to require some significant investment now.

So we've really gotta think about how we can come up with a long-term plan around that.

Where is it right to have fixed speed cameras? Where is it right to have average speed cameras? And we need to target that investment where it will have the most impact to make sure that we reduce the number of people that are getting killed on the roads."

The Chief Constable says the deployment of these cameras would be based on identified "high violation routes" 

"Ultimately where we deploy these cameras will be based on areas that we know are high violation routes, where people continually speed.

They'll be based on areas where we know there have been particular issues with, serious collisions.

These are things that the community wants because particularly if you are living in a village and we have lots of villages that are just off or put through to major arterial roots and, if you are doing 35 through one of those villages it's inherently more dangerous than doing 75 down the A1, the impact that it has when you've got narrow pavements, when you've got pedestrians around, particularly when you've got young children, you might have elderly people stepping off the pavement. It is really dangerous."

Despite the Chief Constable's vision, Deputy Mayor Jo Coles confirmed that no decision on fixed cameras has been taken.

"There's been no decision,  around fixed cameras across the county, but the partnership has been looking at it and trying to make sure we're taking an evidence-based approach to these things and looking at where things can be most impactful and and save people's lives."

The discussion around fixed cameras comes as the county installed its first fixed speed camera on a trail basis earlier this month in Sherburn on the A64. That camera was vandalised on its first day of operation.

Assistant Chief Constable Scott Bissett says investigations into the vandalism are continuing

"Incredibly disappointed is probably the wrong word. It's an offence of criminal damage as simple as that. And the camera was erected to keep local communities safe.

So that remains under investigation. We've got a fair bit of footage from that so we can identify the offender we will."

Chief Constable Forber says that for the time being the force will continue to deploy it's fleet of mobile speed camera vans to the areas where they are most needed.

"The deployment of our cameras is based on casualty rates.

It's based on public requests and concerns about speeding.

And we try and use them as efficiently as possible.

It's always a challenge In North Yorkshire, we in excess of 5,700 miles of road in the county. It's always a challenge to be all, all over the place"