UPDATE
As a follow-up to this article in the last newsletter (October), I received an interesting email from member Simon Newby.
He commented that these cameras have enhanced capabilities such as seat belt and mobile phone use detection, these however are not being used at the moment in the Greater Manchester area.
The ANPR is not currently being used to find road tax and insurance offences.
The usual approach would be to utilise the ANPR capability, however as it's an automatic system it is designed to only flag information to the appropriate department for action.
He also outlined the relationship with Jenoptik who designed the new equipment. With the upgrade, Greater Manchester creates a network of modern spot speed cameras and makes use of the latest technology to enforce speed infringements.
Jenoptik, a leading manufacturer of smart mobility solutions, has signed a contract with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to upgrade 90 spot speed cameras and a five-year maintenance agreement. By using the latest technology, TfGM aims to create a sophisticated network of modern safety cameras to encourage better driver behaviour.
More details can be found at;
https://lcrig.org.uk/news/jenoptik-upgrades-greater-manchesters-spot-speed-cameras
Ed; Thank you Simon for your interesting contribution.
END UPDATE
If you read the September newsletter you will remember the article reporting on the new breed of speed cameras which were very successfully trialled in several locations in Devon and Cornwall (shown on the right below).
Looks like they are already here in Bolton, replacing the old style boxes, and seen below on Wigan Road (and Crompton Way to my knowledge), though you may be aware of others.
Just a reminder that the new cameras are able to catch speeding drivers on both sides of the road, rather than the old system which could only capture motorists in the left-hand lane.
They do so by having a single camera facing each direction to capture vehicles in two lanes when travelling in opposite directions, though the Wigan Road version on the left seems to have both cameras facing in the same direction, presumably still covering both lanes. The new ultra-speed cameras do not require painted lines on the road, as many of the older legacy cameras do.
They also have infrared, low light technology, meaning there will no longer be a flash at speeding drivers. These new speeding detectors do not look like the typical yellow box cameras that drivers are used to seeing up and down UK roads.
Ed; There are also cameras under trial which will detect drivers who brake harshly to avoid being caught by speed cameras. Technology will also be able to determine if a motorist then speeds up seconds after passing detectors.
The system will use laser technology in a mobile radar device located just in front of fixed speed cameras. A second device is also fitted around a kilometre from a fixed camera to detect motorists who put their foot down moments later