Two busy seaside resorts on the UK’s south coast have chosen to deploy average speed enforcement systems to improve the safety of both residents and holidaymakers.
The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership has selected Siemens’s SafeZone average speed detection systems to improve safety and speed compliance at two key locations in Brighton and Hastings. The Home Office type-approved (HOTA) equipment will be fully integrated into the back-office penalty charge notice (PCN) processing facility run by the partnership. Three SafeZone Sicore cameras are to be installed along Brighton seafront at Marine Parade West, Marine Parade East and Madeira Drive, and two average speed detection cameras will operate on the A259 Grosvenor Crescent and Marina East in Hastings.
Sicore is a fully integrated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera, designed for traffic management and control applications. With camera, illuminator, processor and modem integrated in a single rugged enclosure, Sicore monitors vehicles in up to two lanes, in both directions simultaneously, reading both front and rear number plates. Using technology originally developed for character recognition in postal sorting machines, the integrated ALPR engine attains maximum read rates at vehicle speeds up to 124mph (200km/h). Special algorithms enable the system to accurately recognize number plates from many different countries without manual review, reducing the need for post-processing efforts. The system works day and night, with the intelligent infrared illuminator providing optimum illumination of the wide detection zone.
SafeZone is an average speed enforcement system based on ALPR technology. By identifying all vehicles as they enter the enforcement zones, SafeZone calculates average speed over a measured distance travelled within it, ensuring high compliance to the speed limits and safer traffic flow. Evidential records are only created for vehicles that exceed the speed limit and are sent remotely to the back-office in-station for processing through a fixed communications network. With Sicore cameras only requiring a minimum of 246ft (75m) between out-stations, SafeZone enables customers to enforce 20mph (32km/h) zones or safety critical areas, such as schools. SafeZone also supports multi-lane and multi-entry and exit points, ensuring effective use of the system for all types of road enforcement.
“The aim of the SafeZone cameras is to reduce the speed vehicles travel along the seafront at Brighton, in order to reduce the risk of a serious collision,” explained Mark Trimmer, operations manager for Sussex Safer Roads Partnership. “It is hoped the cameras will provide a safe environment for local residents, and visitors to one of the county’s most popular visitor destinations.
“The seafront at Hastings is prone to speeding and overtaking at all hours of the day, and the road is still a main thoroughfare to the other side of the county. To contend with the large number of visitors Hastings gets, average speed cameras will be installed to maintain a safe environment along one of the busiest roads.”
