London council uses CCTV to capture moving traffic offences

The London borough of Redbridge announced today that it is using the first unattended CCTV enforcement system to capture moving traffic offences.

Drivers making banned turns or illegally using yellow-box junctions are liable to be caught out by remote cameras in the pioneering initiative by the east London borough council.

RAC head of external affairs Pete Williams said: “It is very worrying to hear mention of a phrase like ‘will deliver a higher return on investment’ in association with a new type of moving traffic offence enforcement camera as it automatically makes you think the council is investing to make money rather than to change driver behaviour.

“Common sense needs to be applied with a new system like this to avoid creating a situation similar to Clapham’s ‘money box junction’ where a camera has been positioned in a place where there are clearly issues with the design and layout of the road which leads to motorists repeatedly being caught out.

“If drivers are blatantly ignoring signage then something needs to be done, but fairness should be key in the use of cameras like these. It is encouraging, however, to hear that footage will be reviewed before penalty charge notices are issued as this will hopefully prevent some accidental driver errors being unfairly penalised.”