Northumbria Police deploy speed cameras on hundreds more streets after increase in road deaths

Northumbria Police have launched Operation Modero on Tuesday, August 11, as part of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative (NSRI).

It will enable residents with speeding concerns in their neighbourhood to contact the force to request cameras.

The roads will still need to meet some criteria although the police say the operation will lead to “a huge increase in the areas where the vans will be deployed”.

Sergeant Paul McIntosh, of Northumbria Police, said: “We often have residents contacting us about speeding in their community but often the road in question does not meet the criteria for the deployment of the van.

“The criteria were introduced to ensure the van could be deployed in areas where we could evidence that speeding was leading to an increase in collisions.

“But many residents complained that authorities were waiting for a serious or fatal collision to take place before we carried out enforcement on their street.

“This was never the case and where concerns were reported we would instead look to utilise neighbourhood officers and community speedwatch to affect driving behaviour.

“However, we have been reviewing our mobile van deployments and believe Operation Modero could address those concerned about speeding in their community.”

Road fatalities across Northumbria rose last year to the highest levels since 2009 with 39 people killed compared to 42 a decade earlier.

Examples of new roads where the camera vans will park have still to be released.

The NSRI initiative is a partnership between the police and the six local authorities in the area with Sunderland City Council vowing to work proactively with the force to identify “appropriate locations”.

Cllr Michael Mordey, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council and cabinet member for environment and transport, added: “This operation will allow more flexibility for Northumbria Police to enforce locations where community concerns have been raised about speeding motorists, particularly as road traffic is returning to levels prior to covid-19 lockdown."

Speeding concerns in your neighbourhood can be reported online on the Tell Us Something pages of the force’s www.northumbria.police.uk website.

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