Visitors to Rotherham town centre will soon be able to shop more safely thanks to the installation of new traffic enforcement cameras, to deter motorists from driving through pedestrian zones.
This follows the Council’s successful application to the Department for Transport to undertake camera enforcement of moving traffic offences.
In the first phase of implementation, Rotherham Council is set to install Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at five key sites within the borough. These cameras will capture the number plates of vehicles undertaking prohibited manoeuvres, and will ensure enforcement can be taken against offending drivers who are putting themselves and others at risk by not adhering to the rules of the highway.
The cameras will be introduced in phases, with two locations in the Town Centre and one in Catcliffe going live on Wednesday 28 August. High Street and Bridgegate will be enforcing the pedestrian zone through the existing vehicle access restrictions. Sheffield Lane in Catcliffe will have a camera to monitor its ‘no entry’ restriction.
The other two cameras are to monitor the Clifton Lane crossroads, in Clifton, where drivers are restricted from turning left and right. These cameras are expected to go live later this year.
Cllr Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council said: ““One of the Council’s key priorities is to keep people safe, healthy and well and these new traffic cameras will improve road safety by ensuring that more motorists follow long standing traffic rules, helping to keep pedestrian areas and junctions working properly for everyone.”
“When drivers ignore traffic signs they often become a danger to pedestrians and their fellow road users. These cameras will ensure more motorists follow the restrictions and use our roads safely and responsibly.”
Motorists have ignored restrictions at the five sites for a number of years and until now police officers were needed on site to catch motorists breaking the law. Enforcement powers from the Traffic Management Act (2004) now enable Rotherham Council to use cameras to catch motorists breaking the law and enforce moving traffic offences.
Some of the moving traffic offences that can be enforced under these powers include:
- Driving through a 'No Entry' sign
- Performing banned turns
- Stopping in a yellow box junction when the exit is not clear
- Driving in a bus lane
- Making an illegal U-turn,
- Driving the wrong way on a one-way street
- Driving in a pedestrian zone during restricted times
A short grace period will follow the switch on of the cameras, during which a warning letter will be sent to first time offenders. After this period a Penalty Charge Notice will be sent to those who ignore the signs and break the law.
Between November 2022 and January 2023, Rotherham Council consulted the public to get people’s opinions on the installation of the cameras. The majority of people who took part in the consultation favoured the recommended changes.
Rotherham Council works with partners across South Yorkshire to improve road safety and reduce the number and severity of road traffic collisions, through a number of actions. This approach has seen the Council adopt the nationally recognised Vision Zero strategy, which aims to halve the most serious road traffic collisions by 2030.