Road cameras on the way

Coldean Lane in Brighton, southbound, is the first of the identified sites to have a camera house installed by the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership.

It should start operating by next week.

Seven further sites have been identified in East Sussex:

l A27 Lewes, eastbound approach to Ashcombe roundabout.

l A27 Selmeston, Common Lane to Lower Tilton Farm.

l A259 South Coast Road, Telscombe Cliffs.

l C41 London Road, Uckfield.

lA259 Eversfield Place, Hastings.

l A22 Eastbourne Road, Halland.

l A2021 Kings Drive, Eastbourne.

Each camera will be bright yellow in colour and be clearly signed beforehand.

The partnership is made up of West and East Sussex county councils, Brighton and Hove City Council, Sussex Police, the Highways Agency and the Magistrates Court.

It was given the go-ahead by the Government to run a programme to introduce more safety cameras using revenue from fixed penalty fines, in October last year.

Cllr Tony Reid, Lead Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at East Sussex County Council, said: 'My aim, through a wide variety of road safety measures, is to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads and safety cameras play a major part in that.

'Government research has shown that if you reduce your speed by just 1mph, you can expect to reduce the risk of being involved in a serious crash by up to five per cent.

Casualties

'That's a huge reduction and a great incentive for something as simple as keeping an eye on the speedometer.

'Eight pilot projects across the country have shown that safety cameras work by demonstrating a decline in both casualties and crashes at camera sites. In fact, the total number of people killed and seriously injured in the pilot areas is down by 18 per cent.

'I also want to ensure people that this scheme does not seek to punish the motorist but rather seeks to encourage more responsible driver behaviour on the roads'

The partnership has also identified 10 sites in West Sussex and it is anticipated all will have camera housing in place by the end of March.

Details of new sites will be published on the partnership's website www.sussexsafetycameras.gov.uk where there are also answers to frequently asked questions, an interactive map of all camera sites, including those at red lights and where mobile cameras could be used, as well as information about the partnership.