Road safety team defends multiple speed camera fines

MORE drivers have come forward to say they have been fined twice by average speed cameras while on the same journey in Plymouth. The Herald reported last week that George Peck of Kingsbridge received two speeding fines along the same stretch of the A379 in the city, as he had not realised that the speed limit had been cut from 40mph to 30mph.

- CARL EVE

Now, other drivers have said they too have been hit twice with penalties on the same journey - both on the A379 and between sections of the new 20mph average speed trap on Old Laira Road.

In response, police said that average camera locations can use two systems in the same stretch of road which are linked together but still deemed separate locations so one journey along the road can see drivers 'caught' twice.

In April 2021, when average speed cameras in Plymstock began 'catching' speeding drivers despite being installed in 2016, a spokesperson for the Peninsula Road Safety Partnership said that "both sections [Elburton Road and Billacombe Road]" had gone online on April 1 and "enforcement has begun."

They said the average speed cameras on the two-mile stretch could be used "tactically", with more focus on some sections than others. They added: "That will be dependent on complaints about speeding vehicles from the public and the council. We are trying to be fair to the public who use the road so they are educated rather than just fined"