§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many speeding detections were made by(a) hand held and (b) permanent cameras between March 2003 and February 2004, broken down by (A) parliamentary constituency and (B) council area; and how many convictions resulted in each case. [160320]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyThe Chief Constable has advised me that speed cameras are not located as a result of parliamentary constituency or council area. They are used to enforce speed restrictions in all areas of the Province where there is a history of road traffic collisions resulting in fatalities and serious injuries or where there is evidence of speeding.
The number of speeding detections made in 2003 are:
Hand held devices=23,840Permanent(fixed)camera=5,772The detections broken down by police districts are:
588W
DCU Hand held devices Fixed cameras Antrim 869 — Newtownards 937 — East Belfast 831 1,656 North Belfast 547 445
DCU Hand held devices Fixed cameras South Belfast 954 — West Belfast 127 162 Carrickfergus 542 — Castlereagh 1,865 3,509 Larne 298 — Lisburn 748 — Newtownabbey 652 — North Down 1,126 — Armagh 497 — Ballymena 1,898 — Ballymoney 661 — Banbridge 2,182 — Coleraine 719 — Cookstown 324 — Craigavon 1,419 — Down 769 — Dungannon 459 — Fermanagh 873 — Foyle 1,090 — Limavady 564 — Magherafelt 762 — Moyle 10 — Newry and Mourne 1,200 — Omagh 614 — Strabane 303 —
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the location of each permanent speed camera in Northern Ireland was between March 2003 and February 2004; how many detections were made by each camera; how many convictions were made as a result; and how much money was generated through speeding fines from each camera. [160321]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyThe Chief Constable has advised me that the information is not available in the format requested however, the locations of the four fixed speed cameras and the number of detections in 2003 are:
Number Saintfield Road, Belfast 3,509 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast 1,656 Antrim Road, Belfast 445 Springfield Road 162 It is not possible to say how many convictions resulted as the disposal of detections is accomplished in different ways.
From July 2003 to January 2004 a total of £461,753 has been collected.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many speed cameras were operated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland between March 2003 and February 2004, broken down by(a)parliamentary constituency and (b)council area. [160323]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyThe Chief Constable has advised me that speed cameras are not located by parliamentary constituency or council area but are located to enforce speed restrictions in all areas of the Province where there is a history of road traffic collisions resulting in fatalities and serious injuries or where there is evidence of speeding.
589WThe number of fixed speed cameras in operation by the Police Service is as follows:
Fixed cameras location Police DCU Saintfield Road, Belfast Castlereagh area Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast East Belfast area Antrim Road, Belfast North Belfast area Springfield Road, Belfast West Belfast area In addition there are eight mobile speed cameras, which operate across all of Northern Ireland.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fixed speed cameras are in operation in Northern Ireland; how many new cameras are planned; how many drivers were caught speeding in each of the last five years; what revenue was raised as a result; where that revenue went; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which these cameras have contributed to a reduction in occurrence of road accidents caused by speeding. [156100]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyFour fixed site safety cameras came into operation in Northern Ireland on 1 July 2003 and installation of a further six to 10 fixed cameras is planned in the next six months. A total of 461,753 has been collected and so far all receipts have been passed to the UK Consolidated Fund.
Over the last five years 138,044 motorists have been detected by all forms of speed detection equipment for excess speed as follows:
Number 1999 24,696 2000 25,222 2001 28,659 2002 29,855 2003 29,612 It is too early to evaluate the effect of the safety camera scheme in terms of the Government's road casualty reduction targets but indications are that there has been a considerable reduction in speeds at a fixed camera location.