The SAICB Signs MoU with Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) to curb cross border vehicle crime

Cross border vehicle crime is a serious problem affecting both the public and privatised sectors. As one of our key focus areas for 2015, the SAICB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) in an effort to reduce cross border vehicle crime, fraud and corruption between South Africa and Lesotho.

The agreement is set to help us leverage existing shared data to detect patterns related to borderline crossings, identify and communicate the modus operandi of syndicates and assist with the successful location of stolen vehicles in possession of the LMPS.

Objectives of the MoU:

• To enhance the sharing of information between the SAICB and other fraud and crime prevention bodies
• To identify and effectively implement joint preventative and combating approaches aimed at reducing opportunities for vehicle related fraud, crime and corruption
• To establish and implement appropriate governance structures and mechanisms
• To improve communications with respect to crime information to all stakeholders

While we cannot divulge some of the particulars outlined in the MoU at this time, we are in the process of identifying key operations that will form part of this initiative.

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The SAICB Signs MoU with Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) to curb cross border vehicle crime

Can cameras curb close calls?

Quiz time: exactly where and when was the UK’s initial speed camera installed?

Answer: on the westbound A316 at Twickenham, west London, in 1992.

They had been initially introduced to encourage drivers to slow down in accident hot spots, but they’re now being utilised to catch out all kinds of errant motorists, from red lights-runners to bus lane bandits.

And it appears like the speed camera could be about to add an additional string to its bow. The Highways Agency has just awarded a £79,000 contract to test a system that can detect drivers who travel as well close to the vehicle in front, much more generally recognized as ‘tailgaters’.

Don’t drive so close to me

Tailgating is a critical problem on UK roads, highlighted by a 2010 report from the Transport Investigation Laboratory which estimated that tailgating was the cause of nearly a third (29%) of motorway crashes.

And motorway crashes are of developing concern following a Division of Transport report which revealed the quantity of folks killed on motorways rose from 88 to 25 last year, this in spite of an all round fall in the quantity of deaths across the complete road ne2rk.

To attempt and curb the difficulty, police have been provided the powers to concern penalty points and on-the-spot fines of £100 to any drivers caught tailgating, hogging the middle or outer lane of a motorway, mounting the pavement or accelerating by way of a puddle.

More than 5,000 drivers had been caught out inside the first 6 months of the new ‘careless driving’ legislation coming into force, and this quantity could develop even further as soon as the new technologies is brought in.

Preliminary trials are scheduled to end in May possibly 2015 and, if productive, the method will be given further motorway trials.

How close is also close?

For the trial to be a accomplishment, the Highways Agency and police will have to establish how close a driver can get to the vehicle in front prior to they’re deemed to be committing an offence.

The Highway Code indicates that when driving on quicker roads, motorists need to leave a gap of at least 2 seconds amongst themselves and the car in front. Although some roads have chevrons to delineate this gap, motorists could uncover this difficult to judge on roads that do not.

And although the system could undoubtedly boost road safety and decrease accidents, if employed indiscriminately there is a danger it could make drivers too cautious, top to huge gaps among cars and causing greater congestion.

There will also have to be a safeguard in place to safeguard innocent drivers who leave a secure distance amongst themselves and the car in front, only to have yet another driver cut in front of them, which itself opens up a entire other can of worms.

But if these difficulties can be ironed out with no fixed-penalty notices being dished out indiscriminately, then the scheme should get the backing of motorists – a Populus survey of 16,600 drivers carried out on behalf of the AA identified 76% would support the technologies.

More than to you – would you support far more cameras lining the roads to catch errant motorists?

Can cameras curb close calls?

Is losing white lines the way to curb speeding?

Speed cameras and sleeping policemen are 2 of the far more tried and trusted, not to mention controversial, approaches to deter speeding motorists – the former is frequently regarded as a cynical stealth tax while the latter provides motorists the hump due to the fact of the damage they can do to a automobile.

But the most current proposal to encourage motorists to stick inside the speed limit – the removal of white lines from the centre of urban roads – could prove the most controversial but.

Too considerably information

The idea to get rid of the centre lines has gained traction following the findings of a Transport for London (TfL) study into the effects of road style on driver behaviour.

Even though the broadly held view is that street indicators and road markings sustain road safety by supplying drivers with timely guidance to aid selection-making and minimize uncertainty, there is mounting evidence to recommend there are also a lot of visual intrusions at the road side and this is adding to driver confusion.

And so as element of its evaluation into ‘simplified streetscapes’, Transport for London has removed road signs and road markings along 3 of its routes to assess the influence a significantly less cluttered roadside has on driver behaviour.

If all goes to strategy, the routes with fewer road signs and markings will produce much better driver behaviour and a reduction in accident rates. So is it genuinely time to do away with the white lines?

White lines don’t do it?

Well, the TfL study has currently revealed a drop in vehicle speeds along the routes which had road marking removed.

6 Sisters Road in north London, for instance, saw southbound targeted traffic speed drop by almost 13%, from an average of 32.4mph to 28.3mph. Northbound visitors speeds also dropped considerably, from an typical of 31.4mph to 29mph.

These findings assistance these of a earlier study from the government’s Transport Analysis Laboratory which concluded there are security advantages from getting rid of the white lines in 30mph zones, specifically when combined with other measures.

And Wiltshire and Norfolk County Councils also located there was a drop in overall vehicle speeds and injury-causing collisions on roads exactly where white lines were not reinstated right after resurfacing work.

It is believed that the removal of white lines requires drivers out of their comfort zone as ‘their’ side of the road is no longer clearly defined and so they can not be confident that oncoming visitors will not encroach.

In turn, this uncertainty tends to make motorists concentrate far more on their driving and speed and is an successful way to make sure they stick inside the speed limit.

Decisions on no matter whether to get rid of white lines will be left to individual local authorities and will not be regarded roads on where markings are utilised to highlight particular hazards, such as on approaches to complicated junctions.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Decisions on what variety of traffic calming to offer are for nearby authorities, taking into account nearby circumstances and road layout. It is for them to determine if removing centre lines is suitable.”

What do you feel? Is the removal of white lines a very good idea? Let us know…

Is losing white lines the way to curb speeding?