Hundreds of motorists surprised by Cornwall’s only red light camera

Almost 600 drivers were caught by the county’s only red light camera, new figures show.

Cornwall is set to get another red light camera (RLC) following the operation of the existing one in Truro, it has emerged. There are currently only three rooms of this type in the vicinity of Devon.

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that over the past few years a number of people have been caught running red lights, but this was only because RLCs had picked them up and not because they had been spotted by a police officer sharp-eyed and conveniently placed. .

A recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request answered by the force shows there are three RLCs in Plymouth, Devon, one in Truro, and now, a new one will be built in Cornwall, home to around 570,000 people.

According to the police’s road safety team, Truro’s red light camera has picked up 575 red light runners since it went live in April 2022. The site also has a speed camera which has caught more than 3,000 drivers in just one month – June 2022.

Meanwhile, another RLC in Plymouth has seen 149 offenses since October 2020. The camera is one of the city’s busiest speed cameras, activating a total of 18,838 between 2016 and 2018. The nearby Mannamead Road red light camera, which does not was broadcast until February 2020, only caught 36 drivers ignoring the signals.

In response to several questions from Cornwall Live about the cameras, Vision Zero South West (VZSW), working in collaboration with local authorities in the two counties and National Highways, confirmed it had started investment to upgrade some of the static speed and aged red. bright rooms in Devon and Cornwall.

A VZSW spokesman said the organization recognized camera systems were not always popular but were “sometimes necessary to improve road speed and red light compliance”.

The spokesman said the new Cornwall camera “will be up and running imminently” in St Austell. It urges drivers to obey speed limits and obey traffic lights, which will contribute to road safety.

Former Police Superintendent Adrian Leisk, now head of road safety for the VZSW, previously explained: “We know speed cameras work to reduce speed and that speed is a contributing factor in many collisions.

“Traveling too fast not only gives drivers less time to react, but also increases the likelihood of injury in the event of a collision. Cameras like this not only allow us to track those who run red lights or drive at dangerous speeds, but importantly, it allows us to send the vast majority to driver training. This is offered as an alternative to prosecution because we know it changes behavior and reduces the risk of an offender being involved in a collision later on.”