Bikers, Beware! SPECS3 Speed Cameras Approved

First there was the single Gatso emitting radar beams to measure the speed of the vehicle, then the speed cameras were installed in pairs to catch a vehicle’s average speed, and now a new system makes its way through.

The UK Home Office has recently approved the use of a new average speed camera system, SPECS3. It is capable of catching speeding bikers, as they can be rear-facing and therefore capable of reading motorcycle number plates.

The system allows a network of average speed cameras linked wireless through transmitters to monitor traffic for up to 15 miles on main roads.

The difference between the current SPECS1 system and the new one introduced at the Traffex 2009 event in Birmingham, is that the first can only measure your average speed across a measured stretch of road. It has one entry camera and one exit camera. Being only front-facing cameras, motorcyclists were immune to prosecution as the system simply cannot identify them.

The new cameras measures the average speed of vehicles between camera locations and routinely sends number plate data back to a remote central server so that action can be taken. Moreover, the system can improve traffic flow, road safety and reliability as well as allowing vehicles to merge and diverge more easily, according to the developer Speed Check Services.

The system is planned to be installed in 20mph zones, rural routes, strategic trunk roads and Managed Motorway applications. As announced by the UK Home office, Camden, Southwark and Waltham Forest will be among the eight London Boroughs to begin installing the new system.