Lancashire Police safety camera vans heading for West Lancs today

The message from the Lancs Road Police Twitter feed.

Our Safety Camera Enforcement vans will be out on the road today carrying out enforcement in West Lancs, Wyre, Hornby, Ribble Valley and the Burnley area.  Please keep your speed down and drive safely.

Lancashire Police can enforce any speed limit on any road in Lancashire. For a speeding conviction to be valid there must be adequate guidance of the speed limit to motorists using the road in question, i.e. gateway signs, a system of street lighting, an absence of street lighting or repeater signs, and evidence that the legal speed limit has been exceeded.

• Mobile Camera technicians are employees of Lancashire Constabulary. They are not Police Officers but have been designated as Policing Support Officers by the Chief Constable whilst carrying out their role. This means any person attempting to frustrate a mobile technician from performing their duties may be guilty of obstructing a constable and subject to prosecution.
• A mobile technician can enforce vehicles travelling in both directions.
• The technicians can also detect other offences, i.e. drivers not wearing a seat belts or driving not in proper control.
• There is no requirement to provide camera warning signs although the vans have these included on their brightly coloured livery.
• There are a number of ways mobile speed enforcement sites are agreed:Any static/fixed site can be used for mobile enforcement as long as it is safe to park;
  Some sites have been introduced based on existing casualty statistics;
  Some sites were recommended by local councils in response to community concerns about speeding;
  In 2011 Lancashire RoadWatch was introduced with roads displaying the worst casualty data now being enforced at any point along that route in an effort to change driver behaviour across the network rather than on a site specific basis;
  Lancashire RoadWatch also allows for targeted speed enforcement as a result of complaints made by members of the public if deemed an appropriate response once casualty and speed data are considered and the site risk assessed.
  
• Mobile Camera Technicians are not set targets in relation to offences detected; their only target is the number of hours they enforce during a working day.
• Fixed penalties are collected by HM Courts and Tribunals Service on behalf of the Treasury; they are not paid to the Police.
• A full risk assessment is carried out and the technician will check to see if there are any parking restrictions. We don’t park on double yellow lines or cycle lanes and ensure they are not causing an unnecessary obstruction. The van is always manned so if anyone requires access where the van is parked we will move it immediately.
• If the van is parked on private property then we would obtain permission from the landowner before enforcement was carried out.

If you think you may have been detected exceeding the speed limit a Notice of Intended Prosecution will be sent out to the registered or last known keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the alleged speeding offence with a request for details of the driver to be provided.

For further information please visit the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership website: https://lancsroadsafety.co.uk/ and click on the ENFORCEMENT tab.