Intelligent traffic lights to tackle speeding in Swindon

Date: 19/5/2011

New traffic lights are to be installed in Swindon in areas deemed as accident hot spots.

According to reports, the council has made the decision to begin trialling the technology in autumn on Thamesdown Drive and Queens Drive, both of which have a speed limit of 40 miles per hour, but which have also been the site of accidents and motoring offences in recent years.

The town's local authority is working with the Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership in pioneering the project, which is claimed to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Drivers will have no idea of where the sensors are fitted but if their speeding triggers them, the traffic lights ahead will turn red.

The technology will also have the ability to recognise the number plates of emergency service vehicles and not slow the motor down if it is speeding.

Speaking to the BBC, Councillor Peter Greenhalgh, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "We've seen it working elsewhere in Europe and what it does is it destabilises the driver."

However, Stephen Glaister, Director of the RAC Foundation, told the Telegraph that it is unclear whether a few red lights will be enough to slow down persistent offenders.

Posted by Sarah Bailey