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Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, 12 September 2005
by Richard Balls
More than one in 10 motorists handed £60 fines after being snapped by speed cameras in Norfolk last year failed to pay up on time.
And of the 40,252 offences recorded on the fixed and mobile speed cameras at sites around the county, just 31,006 were actually followed up by Norfolk Casualty Reduction Partnership (NCRP).
Figures obtained by the EDP show that between April 1 last year and March 31 this year, the partnership wrote to 26,837 speeding motorists offering them a conditional £60 fine or a day in court.
Of these, 89pc (23,958) were paid on time, putting £1,437,480 into public coffers. But the remaining 11pc - representing a possible £172,740 in fine payments - failed to do so.
But the NCRP stressed this did not mean that all of those who had not paid on time had got away with their offence.
Some would have chosen to fight their fine in court, where they would have risked getting a penalty of up to £1000.
Others who had already received nine points on their licence would subsequently have been ineligible for the conditional offer of a £60 fine.
Offenders who do not meet the initial 28-day deadline are given a second chance to avoid court, but are then served with a prosecution notice.
Three civilian inquiry officers are employed by the partnership to chase down non-payers and although some slip through the net, NCRP claims most are brought to book.
The 89pc fine-recovery rate is higher than the previous year and has pleased the partnership that operates Norfolk's yellow-box and mobile speed cameras.
It compares favourably with Lancashire, where half a million tickets have been issued to speeding motorists in the past four years, but only 40pc of offenders have paid up.
Bryan Edwards, spokesman for the NCRP, said: "Obviously, while the number of motorists in Norfolk paying their fines is higher than the national average, what we want to see is nobody having to pay a fixed penalty - by sticking to the speed limit.
"We are not complacent about the 60pc reduction in killed or serious injury collisions, but it does prove the cameras are having an effect in the county.
"If you don't pay your fine, you go to court and you could get more than three penalty points on your licence. Also, the fine could be up to £1000 and you will have to pay court costs."
He added: "We are very lenient and don't prosecute people for being just over the speed limit because that is not what the cameras are about. It is about casualty reduction."
In total, 40,252 offences were detected by Norfolk's speed cameras in the year to March, but just 31,006 were processed. The 9000-plus who avoided prosecution will have included the emergency services, stolen, cloned and foreign vehicles, and drivers who could not be identified.
Other drivers will have exceeded the minimum speed limit at which a £60 fine can be offered or have opted to fight their case to court.
The speeds at which drivers are prosecuted are: 50mph in a 30mph zone; 66mph in a 40mph zone; 76mph in a 50mph zone; 86mph in a 60mph zone, and 96mph in a 70mph zone.
The number of fatal or serious injury collisions in Norfolk where speed cameras operate fell by 60pc in the same period - 20pc higher than the government target for 2010.
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