Mobile CCTV parking enforcement trial underway in South Glos

A small car fitted with a roof-mounted camera for parking enforcement purposes.

A two-week parking enforcement trial to help improve road safety at key locations including schools, bus stops and bus lanes was launched on Monday (17th September) in South Gloucestershire.

The trial involves the use of a car which has been fitted with a camera and automatic number plate recognition technology to capture any parking infringements. Common examples of illegal parking include parking on zigzags outside schools which can put children and other pedestrians at risk; illegal parking in bus lanes, taxi ranks, loading bay areas and on single and double yellow lines.

The vehicle, which has been supplied free of charge to the council, will be driven by our civil enforcement officers who usually carry out these tasks on foot. The trial will be used to assess whether this technology could be introduced in South Gloucestershire to improve safety and help provide a more responsive approach to parking enforcement. Several other local authorities have already introduced this type of scheme.

After the trial period has concluded, we will then consult with residents about the proposals to introduce vehicles for parking enforcement. The results of the trial will be evaluated alongside the consultation responses and councillors will make a decision on the scheme early in 2013.

Cllr Claire Young, Chair of Communities Committee, said:

“We want to improve safety and keep traffic moving by encouraging people to park legally, whether this is outside our schools, at taxi ranks or along our bus lanes. Mobile camera enforcement vehicles would allow us to cover large areas of the district quickly and efficiently and have already been introduced to improve parking enforcement in several other local authorities. We will carefully analyse the results of the trial and consultation before any decision is made early next year.”

As this is a trial, no fixed penalty notices will be issued for any infringements identified but the information will be used to assess the number and types of infringements recorded.

Photo: Parking enforcement in Southwark. A small car fitted with a roof-mounted camera for parking enforcement purposes. [Photo: Stephen Craven; licence: CC BY-SA 2.0]

Source: South Gloucestershire Council

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