Regional Road cameras catch 2,250 speeding drivers

About 2,250 motorists have been caught speeding by the cameras located at the Regional Road bridge since they became operational on December 9 and each of the offenders has been slapped with a Lm30 fine.

The cameras are being used to enforce a 45km/h speed limit imposed after inspections carried out by foreign engineering companies revealed dangerous oscillations on the bridge.

The Regional Road bridge was built in 1971 and was designed to last 35 years. The bridge will either be repaired, giving it another 10 years of life, or rebuilt. St Julians mayor Peter Bonello said the speed limit had another important element which people tended to overlook: saving lives.

The speed cameras belong to the Guard and Warden House. They were very sophisticated and practically foolproof, taking photographs of cars from behind with the number plates clearly legible, the mayor said.

Sprays advertised on the internet claiming to conceal number plates from speed cameras did not work, he added.

"We are not booking people for driving at 46 km per hour and there is a margin of tolerance but a good 20 per cent of those booked were driving at a speed of between 80 and 100 km an hour," he said.

When the cameras were introduced, the number of motorists booked for speeding averaged 70 a day, with a peak of 180 on December 23. But in the New Year, motorists appear to have become better drivers, perhaps to avoid the fine - the number of those booked has now dropped to 10-15 a day.