STATE-OF-THE-ART camera technology is being used to try and slow down traffic on one of Stroud’s busiest and most dangerous roads.

Part of the A46 between Nailsworth and Stroud at Rodborough will soon be fitted with sophisticated automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

Unlike conventional ‘speed cameras’ the sophisticated ANPR can record a vehicle’s speed, number plate, time, date and photograph it.

This means the software can also record dates which can be used to identify persistent speeders who would be given a warning by letter In the most extreme cases speeding will result in a visit from the police.

A mobile camera will be sited initially outside the Stroud Enterprise Centre on the 30 mph section of the Bath Road – a hotspot for speeders.

Recently cars have been caught travelling 86mph in the busy residential area.

Rodborough is the first place in the county to have the hi-tech traffic cameras installed.

Stroud News and Journal:

Chairman of the Rodborough Road Safety Working Group, Charles Pedrick said: “This is a ground breaking development which we hope can be offered to other parishes too.

“We are extremely grateful to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner who put a lot of time, effort and funding into getting it off the ground. “I have pages and pages of speeding drivers doing anything and everything from over 80 mph down to the legal speed limit of 30mph, all caught on the old less sophisticated system last year.

“The highest speed we have recorded on a non ANPR camera is a staggering 86mph at around 2pm in the afternoon.

“We didn’t have any registration numbers captured on the ‘old’ system, that’s what makes ANPR so ground breaking for local communities.

“Because it actually records a registration number, something can be done without inflicting the full force of the law.

“I hope motorists will see it as less heavy handed than an instant fine and a deterrent to them speeding in future”

Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl, who has made safe and social driving a priority, said: “I probably have more correspondence about speeding, particularly in rural areas, than just about anything else.

“That’s hardly surprising when the harsh facts are that anyone hit by a car doing 30 mph has a 1:5 chance of being killed; at 40 mph it’s about 9:10.

“I know the A46 is an important part of the county’s road network but that doesn’t give motorists the right to flout the law.

“This section of the road is a densely populated area where families must be able to cycle, walk or even drive safely without being hurt or killed by a speeding driver”.

The trial will run until April 2017 and if successful could be rolled out to any of the 86 per cent of the county’s 260 other parishes where speeding is a recurring problem.