Senior police officer suggests fines will more than double this year
TfL is converting more of the road it controls to a 20 mph speed limit
Transport for London (TfL) is targeting one million speeding fines a year in London, according to a senior Metropolitan Police officer in charge of policing the roads.
Chief Superintendent Simon Ovens of the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command, speaking at a meeting of the London Assembly transport committee on Tuesday, said TfL has “a clear position to get to a target of one million prosecutions a year for speeding”.
He said there were more than 360,000 prosecutions for speeding offences in London during 2021 and 263,000 during 2020.
Plans are in place to give 564 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in London the powers of traffic enforcement officers within “a few days”, the meeting was told.
The additional officers will be monitoring speed limits on London’s roads between 6am and 10pm to begin with as part of a renewed campaign of enforcement.
But Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, has said TfL’s goal is “not to get to however many prosecutions, the goal is to not enforce at all”.
Mr Norman said: “We need to do the enforcement, but we also need to talk about the enforcement so that it becomes [the norm]. Ultimately, I don’t want to enforce against anybody. I want people to drive at 20 miles an hour and be safe and protect people.”
He added that TfL and the Met have to “use the messaging” around enforcement to drive a change in behaviour among drivers and discourage speeding.
In March 2020, TfL introduced a 20 miles per hour speed limit on all the roads it manages within the central Congestion Charge zone. Public consultation took place last year to expand the lower speed limit to other roads around London.
Speaking on Tuesday, Chief Superintendent Ovens said a reduction in speed limits is welcome, as speeding is one of the “fatal four” – the four most common reasons for death on the roads which also include using a mobile phone, drink driving and not wearing a seat belt.
He said,“The faster you go, the more likely you are to injure someone and, equally, to injure them more seriously. So, the reduction in speed limits is welcome.”
But he added that a “default position” on speed limits in London would make it clearer for drivers to follow the law and consistently drive at a safe speed.
Joe Talora - Local Democracy Reporter
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
January 13, 2022