Location of speed camera on Grimsby's Peaks Parkway is 'against Department of Transport's guidelines'

A MOTORIST has exposed one of the average speed cameras on Grimsby's Peaks Parkway as going against guidance issued by the government.

Hayden Dawkins, of Humberston, spotted that the final camera on the left-hand side as motorists drive under the Pasture Street bridge and into Grimsby town centre does not have the required 60m of visibility.

Guidance issued by the Department for Transport states that speed cameras should be visible from 60m away in a 40mph zone or less. In fact, the speed camera in question is only visible from around half that distance.

Safer Roads Humber, which operates the average speed cameras, said the government direction was guidance and not a rule.

The cameras, which were switched on in October, have so far caught hundreds of motorists exceeding the 30mph limit, including one man who picked up five tickets in seven days.

So far more than 1,500 members of the public have signed a petition calling on North East Lincolnshire Council to remove the average speed cameras and increase the speed limit to 40mph.

The Grimsby Telegraph's own petition to gauge support for the 30mph to be retained has attracted just over 80 signatures.

As reported, the council has announced a review of the area's average speed cameras, and has delayed installation of a system on the Laceby bypass as a result, although due to a "communications error" they were put up and taken down again last week.

Mr Dawkins said people who have been clocked by the speed camera in question should be given their money and points back.

"A lot of people have been caught and it seems to be one rule for Joe Public and one rule for the authorities and that really annoys me."

"There is no justification for cameras down there at all, the authorities have pointed to accidents but most of them are not speed related.

"The decisions have to be based on the right statistics."

Ruth Gore, marketing officer for Safer Roads Humber, said: "This is guidance that we used, issued by the Department for Transport when the partnership was first set up.

"The gentleman is correct but it is actually guidance, not rules, stating that the 'Equipment, officer or vehicle containing the speed enforcement equipment must be visible from 60m in a 40mph zone or less and at 100m in higher speed limit zones'.

"The guidance also says that safety cameras should be yellow and that they should be clearly signed.

"The partnership has always tried to comply with this guidance at its core safety camera sites but doesn't legally have to – it has nothing to do with the offence of speeding.

"The cameras on Peaks Parkway will be clearly visible for the drivers' view as, after all, they need to see the vehicle to detect its speed."