The first successful bid to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Road Safety Fund has come to fruition this week with speed cameras now installed on the A10 in Broxbourne to combat illegal racing and anti-social driving.
 
Mobile average speed cameras have been deployed by the Hertfordshire’s Strategic Road Safety Partnership following successful application from Hertfordshire Constabulary. The application was the first to get the green light under the £1.3 million Road Safety Fund in which the Commissioner ring-fenced surplus income generated from the Camera, Tickets and Collisions Unit over the past two years for specific reinvestment into road safety activity across Hertfordshire.
 
Broxbourne’s Chief Inspector, Ian Butler said: “The installation of these cameras will be a great help to my officers in tackling anti-social and dangerous driving on this section of the road. I am confident that the cameras will not only help to make the area safer, but will also take some of the pressure off of my officers and allow them to concentrate on other issues in the borough.
 
“This has been a problem for local residents and law abiding road users in recent years, causing distress and, in some cases, a genuine threat to safety. I am grateful to all our partners who have helped to bring about the deployment of these cameras, and in particular the funding provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Road Safety Fund.

“The cameras will be invaluable in helping to make the road safer for the majority of motorists, who drive in a sensible and legal manner, whilst deterring those who are intent on racing and causing distress and danger to others.”
 
Launched in October 2015, the Road Safety Fund invites community groups, community safety partners and other local organisations with support from a County Councillor, to bid for funding to support local road initiatives. The creation of the fund allows members of the public for the first time to see exactly where surplus income generated primarily from speed enforcement in the county is spent.
 
The Strategic Road Safety Partnership, which includes representatives from Hertfordshire County Council, Highways Agency, Fire and Rescue Service and Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Road Policing Unit, approved the A10 average speed camera application at their first meeting in March. The £128,262 bid was one of 52 applications approved during the first round seeking to change drivers’ attitudes and behaviour, support educational initiatives and the needs of those families and individuals who have been affected by a sudden and traumatic fatal road collision.

Successful bids to date include funding to the Roads Victims’ Trust, the installation of Speed Indication devices to educate motorists, feasibility surveys to identify appropriate road safety measures, and workshops with young people on road safety matters.  

Commissioner Lloyd said: “I am delighted to see the first tangible results of the Road Safety Fund come to light. At its core, the fund empowers local communities, groups and organisations with support from their County Councillor to directly address road safety issues in their area. The A10 is now equipped to monitor and enforce against unsafe and anti-social driving.

“My Road Safety Fund is not about a quick fix or generating income - it’s about changing motorists’ behaviour and preventing road injuries and deaths. This result is the first of many approved by the Strategic Road Safety Partnership and will play an important part in the role we all have in making Hertfordshire’s roads safer.”
 
A second round of funding to the Road Safety Fund will open soon, with a date to be announced in the autumn. For the full list of successful applications from the first round, visit: http://www.hertscommissioner.org/road-safety-fund-grant-recepients-march2016.


To find out more about the Road Safety Fund visit: http://www.hertscommissioner.org/road-safety-fund.