West Midlands - M6 cameras to snare speeders
M6 cameras to snare speeders
Apr 12, 2006
Long-suffering Staffordshire drivers face more misery on the motorway as Big Brother-style speed cameras have gone live on the M6.
The controversial cameras have sparked an outcry among critics who have branded the scheme yet another money spinner for highways chiefs.
Eight cameras, four on each side of the carriageway, have been erected between Junction 12 at Gailey and Junction 13 at Stafford.
They are the first of their kind to be installed in Staffordshire and have already been met with anger from many motorists.
Drivers will be slapped with fines of £60 if they are caught flouting the temporary 40mph limit and will have their licences endorsed with three penalty points. But the Highways Agency says the system has been put in place to protect construction staff who are carrying out resurfacing work on the stretch. The temporary speed limit will be in force during the roadworks which are expected to last for 20 weeks.
The system has been piloted in other parts of the country with the installation of 59 cameras on the A34 in Birmingham and 14 on the A452 in Walsall.
It measures the speed of drivers as they travel between a pair of cameras.
When a vehicle passes the first camera its registration plate is recorded and sent to a computer which calculates its average speed when it passes beyond the second device.
