Specs cameras to monitor speed in 20mph streets
Wirelessly linked average speed cameras will come into service in the New Year to help police new 20mph residential zones.
The Home Office has approved the new Specs3 cameras and the first units will be installed in residential areas next month. Unlike the current generation of Specs cameras, the new cameras can measure average speeds over a wide area. The current system can only measure from point to point and can therefore only be used on a stretch of road with no entry and exit points.
The plan is to place cameras - London congestion charge-style - on the entrances and exits to residential areas.
The plan's advocates say that the new system will help to 'calm' traffic in a way that conventional traffic calming measures such as speed humps and width restrictions fail to do.
Critics say that stopping at junctions, traffic lights or roundabouts will mean that motorists will still be able to exceed 20mph for short periods without pushing their average speed above 20mph.
Currently there are more than 2,000 20mph zones across the UK, but Portsmouth was the first to introduce a universal limit of 20mph for residential areas last year. Now, Islington and seven other London boroughs as well as York and Norwich have plans to do the same.
The new-gen Specs won't be everywhere, though. So far only Camden, Southwark and Waltham Forest have signed up, although Portsmouth and Norwich are considering the Specs3 system.
That could all change should the Tories win the next election. As we reported back in October, the Tories have pledged to axe many speed cameras schemes, including average speed camera plans.
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