Cameras catch 1,949 speeding along A1 stretch

The highest number recorded at NIRSP mobile camera sites across Northern Ireland in 2015, the total, for the A1 Sprucefield roundabout to Sheepbridge Road, near Newry, stands at more than three times 2014’s figure of 604.

The same stretch of road is also one of four where individual drivers were detected travelling at 99mph, the highest speed recorded in 2015.

Meanwhile, at Banbridge’s Scarva Road, the partnership’s mobile cameras detected 300 speeders last year, up from 203 in 2014.

In Hilltown, the Rathfriland Road saw 56 detections, up from 43 the previous year, and the Castlewellan Road saw 251, a more significant increase from 78 in 2014. The figures are included in a 2015 statistical report from NIRSP, which currently operates eight safety camera vehicles across 90 permanently signed locations, as well as four fixed safety cameras, six fixed red light running cameras and one average speed enforcement camera system.

Provincewide, the partnership detected 46,500 people (about 127 a day) either speeding or running a red light, an increase of 9.6% on 2014’s total, though the 3,639 deployments of NIRSP vans in 2015 was itself a 12.1%increase on the number of deployments in 2014.

Of those detected speeding last year, 23,970 (51.5%) resulted in the driver attending a speed awareness course; a further 20,870 (44.9%) were referred for a fixed penalty notice while the remaining 1,660 (3.6%) were referred to the Public Prosecution Service.

May was the month with the highest number of detections (4,904), while December had the lowest (2,644).

On the A1 Sprucefield to Sheepbridge Road, July saw the highest number of detections (266), February the lowest (66), while at Scarva Road, Banbridge, the highest number (49) was recorded in April, the lowest (12) again in February.

Where age was known, over one third of those detected provincewide in 2015 were 40 – 54 (34.4%); some 32.2% were aged 25 – 39 and under 25s accounted for 10.4%.