Drivers have been recorded going in excess of 100mph on roads across the Island, including in St Ouen, and Constable Chris Taylor’s parish, St John.
Now Mr Taylor and several senior honorary police officers have renewed calls for Jersey to install speed cameras in certain areas of the Island to combat dangerous drivers.
The call comes after the JEP revealed yesterday that there had been an average of 100 crashes each month since the start of 2018.
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Mr Taylor, who said there were roads in St John where drivers were often recorded travelling at more than 100mph, believes it is time to utilise technology as the States and honorary police forces no longer have the resources to carry out enough speed checks.
‘I’m fully in favour of speed cameras. I am not interested in, or particularly concerned about, people going at 35mph in 30mph zones or at 45mph in 40mph zones. It’s the idiots doing 80mph or 90mph that we must stop. We have smiley boards and behind them we can get information as to what speeds the traffic is doing and in St John they have recorded speeds over 100mph and it’s the same in lots of other parishes too.
‘The SOJP don’t have the resources to carry out speed checks and I know other parishes find it difficult to carry out speed checks so the only way forward is speed cameras.’
He added that the courts could impose harsher sentences to act as a greater deterrent to speeding.
‘The other thing that needs to go hand in hand [with speed cameras] is tougher sentences,’ he said. ‘If someone is doing, say, 30mph above the speed limit, so 70mph in a 40mph zone, they need to lose their licence for a long time – a minimum of five years.’
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has called for technology to be used at traffic lights as well to help identify drivers who run red lights.
However, Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis said the public had been against the introduction of speed cameras in the past and that there were no plans to revisit the topic. He added that hand-held devices used during speed checks were successful in tackling the issue.
Mr Taylor said some of the objections to cameras were based on the view that cameras looked ugly or would require lots of work to set up.
‘They are no uglier than the smiley-face machines and it is worth doing if it stops these people. The only people really against them are probably speeders themselves,’ he said.
Deputy Lewis said: ‘Introducing speed cameras was suggested some time ago but the public were vehemently against it. I think it was about five years ago. The general public view was that it would be a money-making scheme for the government.
‘But I know that the honorary police and States police have a problem with speeding. There would need to be a change in the law for speed cameras to come in, but it is not an issue the government is actively looking at.’
Mr Crowcroft said drivers travelling too quickly around the parish was one of the top reasons that parishioners contacted him.
He added that another issue which had come to his attention was the number of drivers running red lights in the parish, particularly on Gloucester Street and Midvale Road.
He said: ‘I think speed cameras are a difficult one but what I would welcome, and what I think should be brought in, is technology at traffic lights because people running red lights in St Helier is a big problem. It puts not just other road users but also pedestrians in danger.
‘It would mean more people going through parish hall inquiries, but I don’t think it would create a lot of extra work because it is difficult to argue a case if you’ve gone through a red light.’
