Next week, Suffolk’s road safety cameras will be turned back on as a review into their effectiveness gets under way. Until September, when a long-term plan will be developed to keep them running, it is believed funding is in place to operate the cameras.
On Friday, Suffolk Police Authority will meet to discuss the issue and members are expected to be encouraged to formally take responsibility for the cameras from Suffolk County Council.
Earlier this year, more than £1million of funding for the speed cameras – some on key accident black-spots on the A14, A140 and A12 – was pulled by the Council and Suffolk police decided they were too expensive to keep running. But Joanna Spicer, chairman of Suffolk Police Authority, said police and the county council would now hold a review about the effectiveness of existing cameras and the cost of maintaining and updating them.
Mrs Spicer, who confirmed the review would involve speaking to communities who have speed cameras near them, said: “I am very hopeful that we can sort a long-term plan to keep them in operation to keep Suffolk safer. I am absolutely convinced that they are very important. The reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the A140 and A12 is evidence of their value.”
The development comes after it emerged earlier this week that deaths on Suffolk roads were on course to rise by 40% compared to last year. There have been 15 fatalities this year and if the current rate continues, that number would rise to 28.
There were 20 road deaths across the county last year, the lowest for more than a decade. Statistics released by police reveal there were 42 deaths in 2009, 31 in 2008, 39 in 2007 and 47 in 2006.