Speed cameras automated, not unmanned
The department says it can not attach a figure to the estimated costs of the project as the pricing is determined by the processing and completion of documentation that varies from month to month.
NELSPRUIT – The Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison have responded to clear up the details surrounding their implementation of automated speed cameras that are being used on provincial roads.
According to Mr Joseph Mabuza, spokesman for the department, the cameras are automated, but not unmanned. “Traffic officers would set up the equipment so that it becomes fully automated. The equipment will at all times be under the constant supervision of a traffic officer as required by the Technical Committee of Standards and Procedures in traffic fraternity (TCSP) guidelines,” he said.
Mabuza confirmed that the department is implementing the project while receiving equipment and technical support from Medaco Capital Consortium for the next three years. He said it would be difficult to provide the estimated costs of the project as the pricing is determined by the processing and completion of documentation that varies from month to month.
For the use of number plate recognition software fitted to patrolling vehicles, permission need not be obtained, as in the case of the automated speed cameras. “It is a tracing method similar to the one used by the police to identify vehicles by verifying those vehicles against a database,” Mabuza said.
The technology forms part of the department’s operation slow down, aimed at encouraging motorists to adhere to normal speed limits through road safety campaigns, visibility and law enforcement in an attempt by the department to reduce fatalities on the road.
Mabuza said the department is constantly busy with projects to stop dangerous overtaking.
