Mobile Speed Cameras

  • Reference Number: 2431
  • Date released: 07 April 2010

Request

I refer to your recent email regarding our estimate of the time it would take to provide certain information in relation to your FOI request, our reference No. 2381.

You should note that your email does not constitute a request for information in accordance with the FOI Act and is therefore being dealt with only in line with section 16, the provision of advice and assistance.

Response

Your original request asked for the following information:

Period: January 2007 to December 2009:

Location of mobile speed recording units in the Constabulary's area of operation

Date of placement

Speed limit applying to the route

How long was the unit operating?

How many vehicles were recorded as exceeding the set speed limit?

How many drivers exceeded the ACPO guidelines for that limit will be offered a Speed Awareness Course and at what recorded speed does this option cease. (If this is standard at 10% +5 mph then merely confirm that fact).

How many drivers exceeded the ACPO guidelines for that limit and will receive a Court Summons?

How many Road Traffic Accidents have been recorded at the location of the camera placement in the period?

How many of these involved more than one vehicle?

How many of these involved pedestrians?

How many of these involved injury to drivers/riders/pedestrians?

I explained in my response that to determine the location that each unit was used at for each day for the period in question, three years, would require a search of manual records for the period concerned, a task that would take approximately 90 hours.

The records that exist are paper based logs of deployment. Approximately 12 months worth have been entered onto a spreadsheet. It is those records that would need to be examined to answer the first part of your request: 'Location of mobile speed recording units in the Constabulary's area of operation'

From those answers we would then have to use the information to retrieve the answers to the following from the paper based logs.:

Date of placement

How long was the unit operating?

The VF/FPO database holds information in relation to the processing of fixed penalty notices and is jointly operated by the Central Ticket Office and the Magistrates Courts. That system would have to be examined to retrieve the following from the answers supplied previously.

How many vehicles were recorded as exceeding the set speed limit?

How many drivers exceeded the ACPO guidelines for that limit will be offered a Speed Awareness Course and at what recorded speed does this option cease. (If this is standard at 10% +5 mph then merely confirm that fact).

How many drivers exceeded the ACPO guidelines for that limit and will receive a Court Summons?

The VF/FPO database does not lend itself to produce such statistical data and as such this also would require a manual search of records.

In respect of the following questions I have already directed you to where that information is already available.

Speed limit applying to the route

How many Road Traffic Accidents have been recorded at the location of the camera placement in the period?

How many of these involved more than one vehicle?

How many of these involved pedestrians?

How many of these involved injury to drivers/riders/pedestrians?

To summarise

To answer you first question would by itself exceed the appropriate limit. To go further would take an inordinate amount of time. We record data for our purposes and not to create information for other purposes including the FOI Act.

I will also bring to your attention Section 14 of the Act , vexatious request and the Information Commissioners guidance in relation to that section.

The FOI Act should be used responsibly. Requests that in our opinion have no serious purpose or value and which impose a significant burden on the Authority will be refused.

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