Speed cameras on the way for island's roads?

Tenders are being invited by Environment & Infrastructure and Home Affairs for a consultant to take on the task, with the presidents of both committees saying that one aim is to improve efficiency of policing motoring offences.

The tender guidelines state that the committees are looking for ‘recommendations on whether and, if so, how best to reform the current process and management of road traffic and driver offences in Guernsey to secure potential benefits’.

Improved road safety, a reduction in speeding and road traffic collisions, and deterring or removing drivers who represent the greatest danger, are among the issues the committees want to address. They are also seeking to reduce re-offending and see an improvement in the number of speeding offences detected and collisions reported. Other aspects of the consultation will be to look at reducing court time and the pressure on the police force to process ‘low-level traffic offences’, as well as cost-effectiveness.

In addition to the potential introduction of a points system, the consultant’s report is set to include, among other things, recommendations relating to speed cameras and acoustic cameras – or anything else that could reduce the number of noisy vehicles on local roads – and also systems that ‘facilitate the use of video (dashcam) footage as permissible evidence in law enforcement’.

The work covers the mandates of both E&I and Home Affairs and E&I president Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez said the tender was ‘an initial exploration looking at the different opportunities to reform Guernsey’s approach to managing road traffic and driver offences to improve efficiency and reduce pressure on States’ resources, especially police time’.

The committees expect that implementing such systems would improve detection and enforcement of speeding, and other offences, in a cost-effective way.

‘The Committee for Home Affairs is always seeking ways in which it can create efficiencies in the criminal justice system, and improving our approach to tackling motoring offences is an area we have identified in which we may be able to make some improvements,’ said Home Affairs president Deputy Rob Prow.