Behaviour change alone is not enough – it takes a long time to engender change; enforcement should not be considered a last resort, it should be considered at the outset alongside a range of options.
That is one of the messages in a keynote presentation by Road Safety Support, titled ‘enabling wide-area enforcement through technology’ and delivered at the Festival on Monday 8 November.
In the presentation, Emma Kelly, development, PR & advocacy manager at RSS, gives a brief overview of the wide area enforcement strategy that is being used by a number of police forces and road safety partnerships.
Emma explains that collisions have moved away from cluster sites traditionally enforced by fixed site cameras, and are more disparate and occurring across a whole route or whole area, and as such ‘we therefore need to move to a more proactive approach (to enforcement)’.
She goes on to argue that ‘people need to believe they can be caught anytime, anyplace, anywhere through ‘unpredictable visibility’ – in other words, the exact location and time of speed enforcement should not be known to drivers.
Steve Callaghan, RSS technical manager then goes on to talk about ‘making the best use of assets’ (cameras).
He suggests that cameras should be deployed in ‘unannounced, discrete and apparently random locations’, in order to maximise effectiveness because drivers cannot readily predict enforcement, and as a consequence ‘manipulation’ of enforcement by drivers becomes less likely.
He advocates a strategy that says it is important that all speed limits are observed at all times, and that all limits will be enforced. All roads and locations will be monitored by enforcement equipment and there will be no forewarning of enforcement activity. In other words, assets are used in a random fashion at more locations so it becomes much less predictable. This strategy uses the same number of assets, but in a ‘cleverer way’.
Steve then goes on to talk about the emergence of dash cams – how footage can be forensically analysed, and why it is worth taking the time to do this.
He also demonstrates how ‘even if we cannot see a speedometer, it is still possible to work out the speed of a moving vehicle’. This allows police forces to prosecute those who ‘flout the law, sending a clear deterrence message’.
Horse rider and equine incidents on UK roads
Today’s second presentation is by the British Horse Society which received a grant from the DfT to improve the reporting of horse rider and equine incidents on UK roads.
The presentation covers a recently published report, the key findings from which are to be used to influence rider safety and drivers’ behaviour in order to increase the safety of horse riders on the roads.
Weeks 2, 3 and 4
Click here to view the full programme for Festival week 2.
The programmes for weeks 3 and 4 can also be found on the link above – by clicking on the links on the right-hand side. Weeks 3 and 4 sessions are subject to final confirmation in terms of dates and timings.
- Click here to receive daily alerts throughout the Festival.
The 2021 Festival is being organised by Road Safety GB and sponsored by Jenoptik. For more information contact either Nick Rawlings or Edward Seaman by email or on 01379 650112.
Comment on this story