Published: 21st April 2010 | Author: Mark Nichol, Yahoo! Cars
The trial, conducted by the Home Office and the Police, was secretive until a House of Commons report unveiled it.
The cameras use similar technology to the average speed check units currently in use on motorways. The difference is that they can track cars in built up urban areas. If they find a car has covered a distance at an average speed higher than the limit, fines can be automatically generated.
Two places currently have cameras on site - one in Southwark, London, and another on the A374 in Cornwall.
The US company that makes the cameras, PIPS Technology, is hoping to secure a contract to install them nationwide. It claims SpeedSpike is cost-effective, and is proven to reduce speeding in busy areas, including outside schools.
However, the cameras have attracted criticism, notably from Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox, who said: "you always have to ask if it is really necessary to watch over people, to spy on them and film them. We will get to a point where it becomes routine and it should never be a matter of routine that the state spies on its citizens."
Superintendant Tim Swarbrick, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership, defended the cameras, saying: "average speed recorders have proved to be very successful in roadworks on the major trunk roads. They have reduced injury and deaths and we would like to replicate this positive effect."
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