ANPR cameras in Northern Ireland

Kotek Besar

Quick question.. in Britain they have cameras (ANPR cameras?) which check for cars with no insurance, MOT or car tax. If they find you're missing one of the three, they send a message to the local police who may then come and stop you.

Question is, do they have such cameras in Northern Ireland, does anyone know?

Cheers.

Hooch

betafrog wrote: »

Somebody doesn't have one of the 3?

Think he means if someone doesnt have one of the three he listed - tax, mot or insurance

I dont believe they do.

Very few UK forces have this system. Essex has it. All roads leading in have ANPR cameras. They then have several high powered (subaru, evos etc) dotted around the country side who are notified of the detection and they then intercepet the vehicle. They refer to them as "ANPR intercepter teams"

Kotek Besar

Thanks nice guy.

I had a feeling it was just London / South of England that had them.

afatbollix

with the whole IRA thing up north im sure alot of the CCTV cameras have ANPR in them...

they are deffently on the M1 border..

Kotek Besar

afatbollix wrote: »

they are deffently on the M1 border..

What, checking insurance, MOT and car tax? Are you sure?

Seth Brundle

afatbollix wrote: »

with the whole IRA thing up north im sure alot of the CCTV cameras have ANPR in them...

they are deffently on the M1 border..

The M1 you are referring to is in the Republic - North of the border its the A1 (the M1 in the North goes from Belfast to Dungannon). Are you referring to the camera as you cross the actual border itself?

Anyhow, there are Average Distance cameras in place which utilise ANPR technology but I don't know if they check MOT, tax or insurance.

I have seen vans parked along the A1 with the back doors wide open & cameras staring out and "Tax Detection Vehicle" or something written on the side.

The police cars AFAIK also have ANPR technology and can check for tax/insurance/mot. Also I'm not 100% sure but AFAIK NI also uses the SORN.

Kotek Besar

kbannon wrote: »

I have seen vans parked along the A1 with the back doors wide open & cameras staring out and "Tax Detection Vehicle" or something written on the side.

The police cars AFAIK also have ANPR technology and can check for tax/insurance/mot. Also I'm not 100% sure but AFAIK NI also uses the SORN.

Thanks kbannon.

Another question then, would these cameras or even the PSNI themselves, be able check whether a GB (not NI) registered car has tax, insurance or MOT? Or do they have access only to DVLNI records, and not DVLA?

Damien360

nice guy always wrote: »

Think he means if someone doesnt have one of the three he listed - tax, mot or insurance

I dont believe they do.

Very few UK forces have this system. Essex has it. All roads leading in have ANPR cameras. They then have several high powered (subaru, evos etc) dotted around the country side who are notified of the detection and they then intercepet the vehicle. They refer to them as "ANPR intercepter teams"

Are you sure about that. Unmarked blank Golf GTI on M1 after Lisburn on route to Belfast had a camera system in it that could have been ANPR. Grey Focus ST on road from Newry to Hillsborough defintily had one very recently.I am guessing that they look very like the ones on marked cars here. No flat square box on rear but camera in front very similar and a camera mounted in rear window.

kbannon wrote: »

I have seen vans parked along the A1 with the back doors wide open & cameras staring out and "Tax Detection Vehicle" or something written on the side.

Seen that plenty of times in North. Very rare on A1 approach and very typically in North Belfast. Usually a marked estate police car with flashing roof sign saying "tax detection". They seem to leave the car on a slow bend where there is a large throughput of local traffic. Shopping centres typically. Seen it often in Lisburn town centre also.

Seth Brundle

betafrog wrote: »

Does nobody else find it funny that what we consider a motorway is only considered an A road in the UK? Kinda puts the quality of our roads into perspective....

I didn't say that. The M1 stops around Dundalk and continues as dual carriageway as far as the border. On the northern side of the border, the road is a mix of dual carriageway and single carriageway and is not motorway quality (the dual carriageway has several curning points on it).

Seth Brundle

Damien360 wrote: »

Seen that plenty of times in North. Very rare on A1 approach and very typically in North Belfast. Usually a marked estate police car with flashing roof sign saying "tax detection". They seem to leave the car on a slow bend where there is a large throughput of local traffic. Shopping centres typically. Seen it often in Lisburn town centre also.

The ones that I saw (ages ago in fairness) were dark vans and were around Banbridge

Hooch

Sorry I think I miss lead this thread. I thought the O/P was asking about fixed ANPR cameras.

They, to my knowledge have no fixed ANPR cameras, but they do of course have ANPR cars, jeeps and vans.

As posted above the motor taxiation office up there also have ANPR cameras that park up, detect the vehicle and send out aN FCPS.

Damien360

kbannon wrote: »

The ones that I saw (ages ago in fairness) were dark vans and were around Banbridge

That is the speed camera van. Always in Banbridge as you come from Belfast around the left bend under the flyover in the late afternoon. Going Northbound in the morning it sits in the shadow of the flyover. Back doors fully open or side door fully open. If you come across this near Hillsborough beware. Often seen unmarked red estate passat further up the road pulling Irish reg drivers. They seem to work in tandem. Van for NI cars and passat for Irish cars. Unmarked red vectra seems to be based in Hillsborough and can be very pro-active against speeders.

Seth Brundle

The one I saw was defo for tax! It was quite a while ago as I also said!

Bazzy

I've seen the tax van a few times around. All's i've ever seen is the lovely pajero jeeps or skoda octavia's and of course the trusty "Land Rover"

I did see them with the radar gun from a black passat one day coming from belfast but never seen any anpr etc and i've been up there a fair bit recently but i do tend to stick to the back roads out of harms way!

gmoyne

benifa wrote: »

Quick question.. in Britain they have cameras (ANPR cameras?) which check for cars with no insurance, MOT or car tax. If they find you're missing one of the three, they send a message to the local police who may then come and stop you.

Question is, do they have such cameras in Northern Ireland, does anyone know?

Cheers.

They sure do ! They are quite visable as they use small vans with dual cameras fitted in the rear of the vehicle. Sometimes the cameras can be seen fitted on tripods outside the vehicle.
Also the police have unmarked vehicle with ANPR cameras front and rear with speed detection also.

Kotek Besar

Thanks everyone for the replies.

If anyone has the answer to my other question, I'd be much obliged!

benifa wrote: »

Another question then, would these cameras or even the PSNI themselves, be able check whether a GB (not NI) registered car has tax, insurance or MOT? Or do they have access only to DVLNI records, and not DVLA?

DubDani

Yes, they do.

I know it because they recently stopped me in NI with a car that I had only bought the day before from England, and the temporary Insurance didn't show up on their system yet.

Our man in Havana

nice guy always wrote: »

Sorry I think I miss lead this thread. I thought the O/P was asking about fixed ANPR cameras.

They, to my knowledge have no fixed ANPR cameras, but they do of course have ANPR cars, jeeps and vans.

As posted above the motor taxiation office up there also have ANPR cameras that park up, detect the vehicle and send out aN FCPS.

They don't use anything called a FCPS in the UK.

They do have a blunt instrument called a Fixed Penalty Notice for dealing with minor transgressions but they use court for the more serious speeding offences unlike here where one size of punishment fits all.

Cionád

betafrog wrote: »

Does nobody else find it funny that what we consider a motorway is only considered an A road in the UK? Kinda puts the quality of our roads into perspective....

Have you travelled to Belfast from Dublin recently? The M1 is far superior quality to the A1.

Even their M1 isn't nearly as good quality as our M1 - granted theirs was opened over 40 years ago!

Terrontress

Cionád wrote: »

Have you travelled to Belfast from Dublin recently? The M1 is far superior quality to the A1.

Even their M1 isn't nearly as good quality as our M1 - granted theirs was opened over 40 years ago!

What are the differences between the ROI and NI M1s?

I am not entirely familiar with the NI M1 South of Sprucefield but I thought the bit going towards Belfast is very good. It is newly resurfaced and has 4 lanes at some point. I would expect that the fact it is going through a city would have a bearing on the quality but given that the ROI M1 stops at Whitehall and the NI one goes right into the city centre, I would prefer the NI one.

Cionád

Terrontress wrote: »

What are the differences between the ROI and NI M1s?

I am not entirely familiar with the NI M1 South of Sprucefield but I thought the bit going towards Belfast is very good. It is newly resurfaced and has 4 lanes at some point. I would expect that the fact it is going through a city would have a bearing on the quality but given that the ROI M1 stops at Whitehall and the NI one goes right into the city centre, I would prefer the NI one.

The NI M1 goes from Belfast to Dungannon, if your heading south from belfast you turn off it at Sprucefield, and onto the A1. The A1 is a disaster of a road, dangerous crossings, narrow lanes, roadworks etc.

The M1 from Belfast to Lisburn has roadworks every couple of miles at the moment, and you have to drive in the hard shoulder for a lot of it. The surface quality is very poor until you get to the Belfast suburbs before the exit for the outer ring road. From then until the westlink the road is fine.

The ROI M1 continues to the M50 Dublin port tunnel which also takes you into the city centre if you have toll monies...

Carawaystick

Terrontress wrote: »

What are the differences between the ROI and NI M1s?

I am not entirely familiar with the NI M1 South of Sprucefield but I thought the bit going towards Belfast is very good. It is newly resurfaced and has 4 lanes at some point. I would expect that the fact it is going through a city would have a bearing on the quality but given that the ROI M1 stops at Whitehall and the NI one goes right into the city centre, I would prefer the NI one.

The M1 in nornIron has a poorer surface, and there is only about 10cm from the right of the white line to grass in the median.

I see it may have been resurfaced recently, but on the whole it feels much poorer quality driving on it than the M1 from Louth to Dublin. The speed limit is higher on the M1/N1 from Dublin to the Armagh border.

The M1 in Dublin stops at Turapin at the M50 junction.
The M1 in Belfast stops at Broadway/Donegal road junction where it becomes the A12.

There are average speed cameras leaving Newry towards Belfast and Banbridge on the A1, though I doubt you'ld get to beat the speed limit most of the time with the traffic now.

Terrontress

Carawaystick wrote: »

The M1 in nornIron has a poorer surface, and there is only about 10cm from the right of the white line to grass in the median.

I see it may have been resurfaced recently, but on the whole it feels much poorer quality driving on it than the M1 from Louth to Dublin. The speed limit is higher on the M1/N1 from Dublin to the Armagh border.

The M1 in Dublin stops at Turapin at the M50 junction.
The M1 in Belfast stops at Broadway/Donegal road junction where it becomes the A12.

There are average speed cameras leaving Newry towards Belfast and Banbridge on the A1, though I doubt you'ld get to beat the speed limit most of the time with the traffic now.

There is one stretch of M1 from Dublin Airport to Donabate which has the best surface of any motorway I have ever driven on. It's so smooth and even the instant mpg goes away up. Or am I imagining this?

gmoyne

benifa wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies.

If anyone has the answer to my other question, I'd be much obliged!

Do they have access to non UK Traffic well I guess the answer is yes to a point. The good old eFlow has their business vased outside the ROI and has full access to the information carried in the ROI for vehicles. However the company which provides the Ni Office with the ANPR info can give them your # and they inturn can request from the Gardai all the info they require. So yep they can find out quite easily if yu are taxed that is why some people find themselves clamped for non taxed vehicles in N. Ireland....

The only diference between the republic and Northern Ireland is that in the North they seize your vehicle. A real pain...

BigEejit

There are also privacy issues with regard to the ANPR cameras because the Police in the UK are allowed to store the time and location where your car reg was spotted and in this way track people.

Not much of a problem for Irish drivers in the UK or NI but just another eroding of rights over here.

craichoe

gmoyne wrote: »

Do they have access to non UK Traffic well I guess the answer is yes to a point. The good old eFlow has their business vased outside the ROI and has full access to the information carried in the ROI for vehicles. However the company which provides the Ni Office with the ANPR info can give them your # and they inturn can request from the Gardai all the info they require. So yep they can find out quite easily if yu are taxed that is why some people find themselves clamped for non taxed vehicles in N. Ireland....

The only diference between the republic and Northern Ireland is that in the North they seize your vehicle. A real pain...

They can seize your car in the south too.
Have seen it done for 2 months out on the road tax.