[Article] Contract for mobile speed cameras signed

munchkin_utd · 20-11-2009 4:04pm #1

The Government has announced the introduction of 45 new mobile speed cameras which it says will be on the roads all over the country by the middle of next year.

The Minister for Justice, the Minister for Transport and the Garda Commissioner signed a €16 million annual contract in Templemore today with the commercial company that will operate the system.

The cameras were first promised 11 years ago and while Dermot Ahern accepted that there was a long delay, he said the cameras would save lives.

The announcement was welcomed by the Road Safety Authority, which said in the last three years, speeding killed 157 people and injured 310.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1120/roads.html

Obviously, the government wouldnt be one jot interested in the extra income to be gained from flooding the country with speed cameras.

And of course, the private company being on commision most likely, will trawl the road network for the best places to get a "high detection rate", waiting to catch people 100m from limit changes, or when a limit sign is hard to see etc.

It'l be interesting to see how this pans out.

Cookie_Monster · 20-11-2009 4:17pm

Bah, the more fixed cameras the better.

Down with mobile ones.

Victor · 20-11-2009 6:08pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Obviously, the government wouldnt be one jot interested in the extra income to be gained from flooding the country with speed cameras.

The experience with similar schemes has been an initial increase in fines, but a return to normal afterwards.

And of course, the private company being on commision most likely,

Wrong. They are being paid by the hour.

will trawl the road network for the best places to get a "high detection rate", waiting to catch people 100m from limit changes, or when a limit sign is hard to see etc.

Wrong. There will go whey the Garda directs them.

irishguy · 20-11-2009 6:18pm

ah crap

SC024 · 20-11-2009 6:20pm

Victor wrote: »

The experience with similar schemes has been an initial increase in fines, but a return to normal afterwards.

Wrong. They are being paid by the hour.

Wrong. There will go whey the Garda directs them.

and Where do the Garda hide as it is?

Victor · 20-11-2009 6:21pm

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1120/breaking54.htm

Contract for speed cameras signed
DAVID LABANYI

The Government has signed a contract with a private firm to provide up to 6,000 hours per month of speed camera enforcement.

Speaking at the Templemore Garda College today, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the cameras should be in place by the middle of 2010.

The Go Safe consortium, which includes Spectra, French firm Egis (the parent company of Transroute, which operates the Dublin Port Tunnel) and Australian multinational Redflex, was identified as the preferred bidder in June 2008.

Mr Ahern said the cameras were being introduced to reduce speeding and not to raise revenue, although he said the estimated €16 million annual running cost of the cameras would be offset by fines imposed on motorists.

The project will remain under the control of the Garda, through a new Garda Office for Safety Camera Management, who will decide the location, frequency and timing of speed checks. These decisions will be also be based on 700 collision prone stretches of road which have been identified by gardaí.

“This is not a revenue generating exercise; instead its purpose is to stop people speeding on our roads in the interest of the safety of us all”, Minister Ahern said.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said educing excessive and inappropriate speed on roads was key safety issue.

Go Safe will provide and maintain the speed cameras, conduct speed checks and process data from motorists caught speeding using their equipment, and existing Garda speed cameras.

The chairman of the Road Safety Authority, Gay Byrne, welcomed the signing of the contract and said “excessive and inappropriate speed is the biggest single killer on Irish roads”.

“The public also need to know that they have nothing to fear from the appointment of a private operator to manage the system of safety cameras.”

Victor · 20-11-2009 6:24pm

http://www.rsa.ie/NEWS/News/RSA_Chairman_Welcomes_Signing_of_Contract_for_Safety_Camera_Project.html

RSA Chairman Welcomes Signing of Contract for Safety Camera Project

Road Safety Authority Chairman Mr. Gay Byrne has, today Friday 20th October, welcomed the signing of the contract appointing a provider to implement a network of safety cameras in Ireland.

The rollout of a system of safety cameras across the roads network, to boost the enforcement activity of the Gardaí, is one the key measures in the current Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2007 to 2012.

Mr Byrne said “I am delighted that Minister for Justice, Mr. Dermot Ahern has approved the signing by An Garda Síochána of the contract to introduce a network of safety cameras across the country. This means that we will see the full roll out of the programme by mid 2010. Excessive and inappropriate speed is the biggest single killer on Irish roads. The decision by the Minister to implement this vital project to tackle speed will save lives and prevent injuries from the date the first camera goes live. I will ensure that the RSA works closely with the Gardaí to assist in every way possible to make sure that speed related deaths are reduced.”

Mr Byrne added, “The public also need to know that they have nothing to fear from the appointment of a private operator to manage the system of safety cameras. I’m assured that they will focus enforcement on collision prone zones which have a history of speed related death and injury. These zones have been identified by the RSA and An Garda Síochána by analysing road crash data. A list of these collision prone zones is available from www.garda.ie.”

Concluding he said “It is also important to understand that the system is not about catching people speeding but stopping them from speeding. To this end I understand that the operator will be paid on the basis of the number of hours spent enforcing speed limits and not on the basis of detections. There is no incentive for the operator to catch speeding motorists, only to save lives, your life, my life.”

Editors Note;
In the period 2005 to 2007 157 lives were lost on the Irish road network as a result of excessive and inappropriate speed. A further 310 people were seriously injured and 1,278 people suffered a minor injury over the same period in speed related collisions. The economic cost of these speed related collisions over the period 2005 to 2007 is estimated at €519 million.

Ends

For further information contact:
RSA Communications Office, Ballina Tel: 096 25008

Praetorian · 20-11-2009 6:40pm

Can only just predict that an unfair percentage of the cameras will be on motorways and dual carriageways where in many cases the speed limits are too low already. The number of bad accidents on these roads is tiny in proportion to the number of car's they hold. I'd be all for smarter speed limits. For example, road from Westport in Mayo to Newport. Ridiculous hair pin bends, speed limiit 80kph, should be 50kph max in parts. Another example, M1 from Port tunnel to airport, 80kph, again ridiculous. It should be 100kph. Also, what's the problem with using uneven number speed limits, like 90 kph or 110 kph?

Victor · 20-11-2009 7:12pm

Praetorian wrote: »

Can only just predict that an unfair percentage of the cameras will be on motorways and dual carriageways where in many cases the speed limits are too low already.

Have a look at the list.

I'd be all for smarter speed limits. For example, road from Westport in Mayo to Newport. Ridiculous hair pin bends, speed limiit 80kph, should be 50kph max in parts.

Then tell the council.

Another example, M1 from Port tunnel to airport, 80kph, again ridiculous. It should be 100kph.

Why? HGVs represent a lot of the traffic and they are limited to 80km/h anyway. A tunnel with no hand shoulder is very different from an open motorway

Also, what's the problem with using uneven number speed limits, like 90 kph or 110 kph?

It would become difficult to remember if there were too many limits available. The limits in use are also dictated by the Road Traffic Acts.

AlekSmart · 21-11-2009 2:23am

The Go Safe consortium, which includes Spectra, French firm Egis (the parent company of Transroute, which operates the Dublin Port Tunnel) and Australian multinational Redflex, was identified as the preferred bidder in June 2008.

Mr Ahern said the cameras were being introduced to reduce speeding and not to raise revenue, although he said the estimated €16 million annual running cost of the cameras would be offset by fines imposed on motorists.

More than enuf material here for an enterprising investigative journalist to get their teeth into....remember it`s probably going to be in the wife`s maiden name or perhaps the Irish language version of it.....

Does anybody else find €16 Million a VERY high figure to run 45 Camera Vans...???
Will that figure be in addition to whatever sum is required to get the Garda Office for Safety Camera Management (GOSCM) up and running...(Mind you it sounds like a fairly attractive posting for an Asst Commish approaching retirement...:) )

Victor · 21-11-2009 8:14am

€974 per machine per day.

Victor · 21-11-2009 9:39am

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1121/1224259237110.html

€65m deal signed for speed check cameras
CONOR LALLY Crime Correspondent

THE REPUBLIC’S long-awaited network of speed cameras will be rolled out next summer after a €65 million five-year contract was signed by the Government and a private sector consortium yesterday.

The development comes almost 11 years after the cameras were first promised, by the Fianna Fáil-led government in 1998.

Under the agreement, signed with the GoSafe consortium, 45 mobile cameras will provide more than 6,000 hours of speed checks per month across the country.

The checks will be performed at about 700 locations identified by the Garda as emergency black spots. The consortium, led by the Spectra company, will be directed by the Garda. The project will be run by gardaí operating in the new Garda Office for Safety Camera Management.

The camera system, which is the first time the Garda has been involved in a public-private partnership, will be in place by next May or June. As part of the contract signed at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, yesterday, GoSafe will also survey accident black spots with a view to making them safer.

The new contract will have no impact on speeding enforcement currently carried out by the Garda. The force uses eight mobile cameras in vans, 400 hand-held speeding devices and more than 100 automatic number plate recognition cameras in Garda cars that can be used for speed checks.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the GoSafe consortium was being paid a “flat fee”. There was no provision for commission or bonuses irrespective of how many motorists were caught speeding. “The cameras are being introduced not to raise revenue but to stop speeding on our roads,” Mr Ahern said.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said while speeding enforcement had been increased in recent years, speed was still the biggest factor in road deaths.

The new cameras would result in increased enforcement, particularly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The hours between midnight and 3am would also see a concentration of resources.

Mr Murphy said just 3 per cent of speed checks provided by the new cameras would be on motorways and dual carriageways. Some 50 per cent would be on national roads with the remainder on non-national roads. The locations of many of the cameras would be posted on the Garda website.

Mr Ahern and Mr Murphy were also in Templemore for the passing out ceremony for 84 Garda reservists. The class included 12 foreign nationals from Australia, Cameroon, India, Pakistan, Poland and Lithuania.

AlekSmart · 21-11-2009 1:15pm

,

GoSafe will also survey accident black spots with a view to making them safer.

???.....Is this not what we all thought the Local Authorities,National Roads Authority,The Road Safety Authority,and gay Byrne personally were already doing ......???

So are we to believe that the Go-Safe consortium has some form of Civil Engineering and Construction remit too ?

Or is it more about removing the "Accident Black-Spot" signage from such places as legal opinion indicates that it leaves Local Authorities open to charges of knowingly facilitating accidents which then occur at these locations......?? :rolleyes:

I.S.T. · 21-11-2009 1:23pm

Victor wrote: »

€974 per machine per day.

That still doesn't add up. What is a machine? A van with a camera in it? How much is the daily wage of the operator? Can't be anymore that €100 per day. Fuel, say €50 a day. Insurance, less than €1,000 per year. €974 per day to operate each mobile camera seems excessive to me. And why does it take three companies, why are at least two of them foreign. Can't an Irish company do this?

They say they will recoup the €16 million cost through fines. So immediately the primary objective here is about reaching a target. Saving lives comes second. They will need to issue 547 speeding fines per day to pay for this.

If they are really serious about saving lives then they should prove it by just give out penalty points and abolish the fine for the offence.

I would also like complete transparancy. Are they going to publish the detection details (locations, number of offences at each location)? I would also like to see a breakdown of the accident rates before and after the operation of the cameras at each location. They need to provide strong evidence that these cameras are making a positive impact on accident rates at the locations where they are deployed. Does anybody know if they plan to publish such figures?

D'Peoples Voice · 21-11-2009 6:08pm

You can't put a price on the life of a loved one, especially at christmas!

Cookie_Monster · 21-11-2009 6:43pm

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

You can't put a price on the life of a loved one, especially at christmas!

why are people more valuable at christmas?

Nuttzz · 21-11-2009 8:49pm

Cameras dont prevent bad driving at the time, they might the next time but that could be too late for some people, the only thing for it is for the gardai to patrol the dangerous routes and act as an active deterrent, this is only window dressing.

bauderline · 22-11-2009 9:47am

Victor wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1121/1224259237110.html

... Yeah .... I don't believe them to be honest. We will see how much time they spend lurking on motorways, i'll be dipped if it is not a lot more than 3 per cent.

What a waste of money, why not deploy an extra 47 traffic corps cars to patrol dangerous stretches of road and deter bad driving.

bauderline · 22-11-2009 9:54am

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

That still doesn't add up. What is a machine? A van with a camera in it? How much is the daily wage of the operator? Can't be anymore that €100 per day. Fuel, say €50 a day. Insurance, less than €1,000 per year. €974 per day to operate each mobile camera seems excessive to me. And why does it take three companies, why are at least two of them foreign. Can't an Irish company do this?

They say they will recoup the €16 million cost through fines. So immediately the primary objective here is about reaching a target. Saving lives comes second. They will need to issue 547 speeding fines per day to pay for this.

If they are really serious about saving lives then they should prove it by just give out penalty points and abolish the fine for the offence.

I would also like complete transparancy. Are they going to publish the detection details (locations, number of offences at each location)? I would also like to see a breakdown of the accident rates before and after the operation of the cameras at each location. They need to provide strong evidence that these cameras are making a positive impact on accident rates at the locations where they are deployed. Does anybody know if they plan to publish such figures?

Tansparancy... we will in me hole get transparancy from this bunch of idiots... It's something I would dearly love to see though, it would go a long way to allowing open assessment of the performance of the initiative and for the minister to be held accountable.

D'Peoples Voice · 22-11-2009 1:23pm

bauderline wrote: »

What a waste of money, why not deploy an extra 47 traffic corps cars to patrol dangerous stretches of road and deter bad driving.

A lot of Garda units are seriously stretched as things are at the minute, and with the pressure on the Gov to CUT public expenditure, the last thing we want is members of the Garda spending hours sitting at the side of the road watching cars when a machine can do it!
Look if people obey the speed limits set down by the democratically local governments around the country, no-one has anything to fear from this measure. If people have an issue with speed limits in their area, take it up with their local government, its quite straight forward.

I.S.T. · 22-11-2009 9:53pm

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

the last thing we want is members of the Garda spending hours sitting at the side of the road watching cars when a machine can do it!

Can these amazing machines do all of the other duties of a real human Garda, e.g. catch people overtaking on bends, making illegal turns, drunk drivers or other dangerous driving offenses that cause crashes?

KevR · 22-11-2009 10:26pm

full roll out of the programme by mid 2010

Wonderful timing! Mid-way through the same year that the interurban motorways + M18 will be completed. I can see the press releases in early 2011 now - heaps of praise and full credit to the speed cameras for reducing deaths and no mention of the role the new motorways played.

I am getting worried that we could be heading for a lot of actual Garda patrols being replaced by just speed camera vans. Although, the government, Gardai and RSA will deny this until the cows come home. We'll see I suppose!

I support speed cameras when they are, for example, outside schools or on genuinely dangerous stretches of road - people should be penalised and deterred from speeding at these locations. But I don't think they do a lot of good on Motorways or Dual Carriageways - wasting resources which could be put to better use elsewhere, revenue collecting exercise, harshly punishing people in some cases.

Victor · 22-11-2009 10:41pm

Oh, not all of them will be vehicles - some may be pieces of street furniture or even wheelie-bins.

Bards · 23-11-2009 12:12am

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

ALook if people obey the speed limits set down by the democratically local governments around the country, no-one has anything to fear from this measure. If people have an issue with speed limits in their area, take it up with their local government, its quite straight forward.

and when we do complain about low inapropiate speed limits - 60km/h on Waterford Outer Ring Road (Dual carriageway seperated by concrete median) we are told they do not have the power to increase the limit as the Gardai won't allow them to - What a load of Boll*x just so they can generate revenue by shooting fish in a barrel

I.S.T. · 23-11-2009 1:14am

Victor wrote: »

Oh, not all of them will be vehicles - some may be pieces of street furniture or even wheelie-bins.

Are u serious? Where did you get this information? Thx

KevR · 23-11-2009 1:19am

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Are u serious? Where did you get this information? Thx

I honestly have no idea whether they will use street furniture and wheelie bins for cameras but I remember reading on here recently that they do use items such as these in Germany to hide speed cameras. I think it was a Germany based forum member who said it.

celticbest · 25-11-2009 9:25am

I thought the Gardaí were not meant to be issuing speeding tickets and penalty points yesterday??, but alas I saw the Garda mobile speed camera unit parked up on the Naas road along the stretch between the Long Mile Road and M50.

I'd say this caught a few people out !!

Victor · 25-11-2009 12:08pm

celticbest wrote: »

I thought the Gardaí were not meant to be issuing speeding tickets and penalty points yesterday??,

Says who? the GRA.

but alas I saw the Garda mobile speed camera unit parked up on the Naas road along the stretch between the Long Mile Road and M50.

Good.

Davy · 25-11-2009 6:39pm

celticbest wrote: »

I thought the Gardaí were not meant to be issuing speeding tickets and penalty points yesterday??, but alas I saw the Garda mobile speed camera unit parked up on the Naas road along the stretch between the Long Mile Road and M50.

I'd say this caught a few people out !!

Was their twice yesterday. I saw it at the spot just above the long mile road as it is alot of mornings, but in the afternoon it was between the luas park and ride at newlands cross going outbound.

BrianD · 25-11-2009 6:53pm

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Can these amazing machines do all of the other duties of a real human Garda, e.g. catch people overtaking on bends, making illegal turns, drunk drivers or other dangerous driving offenses that cause crashes?

It's funny how this malarky always comes up. When we talk about the blood alcohol level being lowered, people ask why isn't speed being adressed. yada yada. It is so typically Irish. We never hold ourseleves accountable for our actions and we will fight tooth and nail anything that might catch us in the act. Even when we are caught fair and square we spend thousands in the legal system trying extricate ourselves. When will we accept responsibility for our behaviour?

Road safety strategy is multipronged. You don't just go after a single single you tackle multiple issues. Drink driving is being tackled and now speeding is now being addressed. In both of these examples, technology can assist in enforcing the law. This frees up personnel to deal with other offences (like detailed in the post) that require eyes on the ground (or the road in the case).

That still doesn't add up. What is a machine? A van with a camera in it? How much is the daily wage of the operator? Can't be anymore that €100 per day. Fuel, say €50 a day. Insurance, less than €1,000 per year. €974 per day to operate each mobile camera seems excessive to me. And why does it take three companies, why are at least two of them foreign. Can't an Irish company do this?

Isn't Spectra involved? I wouldn't see 974 being excessive to operate and maintain this type of equipment.

They say they will recoup the €16 million cost through fines. So immediately the primary objective here is about reaching a target. Saving lives comes second. They will need to issue 547 speeding fines per day to pay for this.

The company is paid a flat fee for the service no matter how many people are nabbed. Of course people want to know how it's funded but this does not mean that the financial issues are ahead of safety issues as you presume.

If they are really serious about saving lives then they should prove it by just give out penalty points and abolish the fine for the offence.

The fine hurts more than the points. Believe me I discovered this the other day. 2 points I could live with, the 80 euro made me sit up take notice and change my behaviour.

I would also like complete transparancy. Are they going to publish the detection details (locations, number of offences at each location)? I would also like to see a breakdown of the accident rates before and after the operation of the cameras at each location. They need to provide strong evidence that these cameras are making a positive impact on accident rates at the locations where they are deployed. Does anybody know if they plan to publish such figures?

They have stated that they will publish locations on the Garda web site (they are right now). What you are asking is ridiculous and is a red herring to avoid the real issue of speeding. There are obviously areas that merit cameras but there also needs to be random enforcement.

All of the above is academic if you pay attention to the speed limit and don't exceed it.

celticbest · 26-11-2009 9:38am

Victor wrote: »

Says who? the GRA.
Good.

EH??? RTE News! & Live Drive!!

[Article] Contract for mobile speed cameras signed

Comments