More speed camera vans for West Midlands in police battle to stop people being killed
A battle to stop people from being killed on West Midlands roads has been boosted with the introduction of extra speed camera vans.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has invested £130,000 to purchase three new speed camera vans – and approved additional funding for a fourth worth £58,000 to double the number of speed enforcement vehicles to eight in total.
They will be deployed by West Midlands Police to locations data shows are crash hotspots.
The force said dozens of people are killed on the region’s roads every year with a further 1,000 seriously injured.
This forms part of work to half the number of people hurt on West Midlands roads by 2030 and ultimately achieve ‘Vision Zero’ and have no one killed or injured on roads by 2041.
Superintendent Gareth Mason, who heads up the force’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “This signifies a massive investment by the commissioner and the chief in West Midlands Police.
“Obviously, we have fixed camera structures, but the mobile vans allow us to deploy all around the force in an unpredictable way and in the areas of greatest harm.
“On the streets of West Midlands every year, about 50 people are killed and around 1,000 people are seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions and the biggest contributor to that is people speeding.
“Everything we can do to gain greater compliance amongst the travelling public to make sure they adhere to speed limits will massively impact the safety on the roads.”
He added: “The vans are out every day and are obviously getting more camera operators as well so it will signify a massive increase in the level of enforcement we are able to deliver.
“They will move around, we have a planner so we understand where staff need to deploy to and they’ll deploy all across the West Midlands Police area.
“One of the biggest core police responsibilities is to save life and that’s really what it’s about.
“We’re trying to prevent knocking on the doors of 50 families and say their loved ones have been killed.
“With all this extra enforcement, hopefully we’re going to see greater compliance of speed on the roads.
“That’ll reduce impacts and the consequences of impacts so we hope to see far fewer casualties on the roads.”
Mr Foster said: “Reducing the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on our roads is a top priority for me as a police and crime commissioner. It’s also a top priority of West Midlands Police.
“This is going to significantly enhance the ability of the police to prevent and tackle excess speed and in particular to deal with that careless, dangerous and reckless driving that can put people’s lives at risk on our roads.
“In the West Midlands, we are working collectively and collaboratively and that includes the police, myself, Transport for West Midlands, local authorities and our Mayor Richard Parker all working together on road safety.
“In 2023, we launched the refreshed road safety strategy and in November we launched the road safety action plan.”
He added: “Within that plan is a commitment to reducing by 50 per cent the number of people killed and seriously injured by 2030, ultimately eliminating the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2041.
“The advantage of mobile speed camera vans is they can be deployed to particular key hotspot areas.
“Those areas will be those where people have been killed or seriously injured. It will be based on data analysis
“They will be deployed to those areas where they will make the biggest impact. It’s important to understand this is only part of the strategy that’s taking place to keep our roads safe.
“We’ve also significantly invested in significant uplift in the road policing team, including road crime team and the road harm prevention team and we’re also working finalising on a joint working agreement across the West Midlands to improve the way we use average speed enforcement cameras as well.”