Speed cameras – those sneaky little bastards that lie in wait for you to slip up when driving.
You shouldn’t be speeding anyway, but they’re still irritating, especially the really sensitive ones that can spot when you’re only one or two kilometres over the speed limit.
Still, they have their use, and since Cape Town introduced its first average-speed-over-distance (ASOD) camera system in 2012, the number of speeding motorists has decreased considerably.
Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, told MyBroadband that the systems are effective to reduce transgressions.
“Based on the statistics for the four stretches of road where the system is installed, we are of the view that it has reduced the number of motorists who speed,” Smith said.
Between July 2016 and June 2017, 110,442 speeding transgressions were recorded across the four installations.
By comparison, 67,653 transgressions were recorded for the corresponding period in 2017/18.
Here’s a basic look at how it works:
The city currently has ASOD systems installed on the following roads:
- The M5
- The N2 between Mowbray and District Six
- The M3 between the University of Cape Town and District Six
- The N2 between Sir Lowry’s Pass and Steenbras Dam
The City of Cape Town has no plans for further ASOD installations in the foreseeable future. The city is now working with the Cape Town Traffic Service, together with the city’s service provider, to identify roads where the most serious and frequent crashes occur.
Once those areas have been identified, they plan to install plinths with camera housings. Cameras will then be rotated between these locations.
Now that you know where the cameras are, you should also brush up on some road safety rules that you might be getting wrong.
The roads are also about to get incredibly busy and increasingly dangerous over the holiday season, so when in doubt, take an Uber.
[source:mybroadband]
