Manchester's new 'super' traffic cameras catch out 10,000 motorists in just SIX weeks

If each £60 fine was paid in full, council bosses would rake in almost £600,000 - the 17 cameras cost a total of £255,000

Eye spy: The ZenGrab LaneWatch Mk2 cameras

New super traffic cameras have caught out almost 10,000 motorists in just SIX weeks.

The 15 cameras – which cost £17,000 each – have been installed on some of the busiest commuter routes across Manchester.

And the M.E.N. HAS revealed that between August 5 and September 15 the council issued 9,698 tickets to motorists breaching bus lanes – an average of 1,600 per week.

It means if each £60 fine was paid in full, council bosses would rake in £581,880.

Even if every motorist paid their fines within 14 days at the reduced rate of £30 the council would still net £290,940.

So far Manchester council is the only authority in Greater Manchester  to install this type of camera. The only other council which has plans to do so is  Tameside.

Each device has two hi-tech cameras and includes night vision capabilities – enabling them to catch up to 50 times more motorists than previous models.

The cameras, which target motorists who illegally use bus lanes, were installed last month across the city on routes including Cheetham Hill Road, Ashton Old Road and Victoria Station Approach.

Councillor Nigel Murphy, executive member for environment at Manchester council, blamed the  huge increase in fines on ‘a lot of inconsiderate drivers’.

He said: “It’s quite simple – if you don't do the crime you’re not going to pay the fine.”

The 15 ZenGrab LaneWatch Mk2  cameras are on track to rake in between £3m and £6m a year, but Coun Murphy   insisted the cash would not  subsidise general council spending that was slashed at start of the year. He said the money will be re-invested in the public transport system, highways and the environment.

The news came as Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, said that councils in England could be banned from using traffic calming devices to raise revenue under new government proposals.

He said: “The devices should be used to tackle crime and not to raise money for councils.”

Coun Murphy denied that the new cameras would be used in this way, claiming residents and businesses are crying out for effective enforcement.

But he conceded there is always a revenue when there is a fine.

How dangerous are elderly drivers?

The number of over-70s holding a UK driving licence has exceeded four million for the first time. But how dangerous are older drivers?

There are occasional very well-publicised stories about elderly drivers going the wrong way on a motorway or dual carriageway. Only last week an 84-year-old woman died after driving the wrong way on the A1 in Northumberland.

The RAC Foundation says the UK's oldest licensed driver is a 107-year-old woman, and there are 191 people over the age of 100 with a licence. They are among 4,018,900 people aged over 70 with full UK driving licences.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says there is no evidence older drivers are more likely to cause an accident, and it has no plans to restrict licensing or mandate extra training on the basis of age.

There were 10,974 accidents involving drivers over the age of 70 in 2011, says the DfT. That compares with 11,946 accidents involving 17-to-19-year-old drivers and 24,007 accidents involving 20-to-24-year-old drivers. These statistics do not account for who caused the accident.

Figures also show that 46 drivers aged 16 to 19 died in an accident, while 173 drivers aged between 20 and 29 involved in an accident died. That compared with 59 deaths in drivers aged between 70 and 79 involved in an accident, and 52 over the age of 80.

The young-versus-old driver data is used by a number of road safety charities to argue elderly drivers don't pose the greatest danger behind the wheel.

Research by the RAC Foundation suggests drivers aged 75 and over make up 6% of all licence holders but account for just 4.3% of all deaths and serious injuries. By contrast, drivers aged 16-20 make up just 2.5% of all drivers but 13% of those killed and seriously injured.

"There are huge benefits to people driving, it helps them feel empowered. What we want people to do is see their optician regularly, and go to independent assessment centres if they are concerned," she says.

"There's some evidence that suddenly stopping driving and a lack of mobility leads to depression, so we want to keep people independent for as long as possible. The key thing is for people to start preparing for it early so they have other options,"

42 Penalty points motorist still driving around

afzal school of motoring    UK photocard driving licence

MOTORISTS with 30 or more penalty points on licences are still driving, according to figures.

A woman from Isleworth in west London accumulated 42 points last year, statistics from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) highlighted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) showed. The points were all for failing to disclose the identity of the driver between May 26 and December 21 last year.

Drivers can be banned if they accumulate 12 penalty points on their licence over a three-year period.

The IAM said the second-highest points total was  36 - for a person still driving went to a man from Warrington, Cheshire, who was caught driving without insurance six times in less than two weeks between February and March last year.

Other notable still-driving offenders included: a man from Southend with 30 points, who was caught speeding 10 times between March 2011 and August 2012; a man from Blackburn with 29 points, who was caught speeding eight times between September and November 2011; and a man from Pevensey, East Sussex, with 24 points who was caught speeding six times in two weeks between September 30 and October 13 last year.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: "DVLA and the courts service are upgrading their computer systems to ensure that offence information is shared more efficiently, but this is not due to be in place until October. When drivers with 10 speeding offences are getting away with holding a licence, these improvements cannot come quickly enough."

He went on: "The IAM has no sympathy for owners who refuse to reveal the identity of the driver, and we would welcome an urgent consultation on new ways to deal with this problem. Drivers must expect that 12 penalty points means a driving ban or the whole system falls into disrepute."

A spokesman for HM Courts & Tribunals Service said: "The vast majority of drivers who get 12 or more penalty points are fined and disqualified from driving. Magistrates can use their discretion to not enforce a driving ban if doing so would cause exceptional hardship, such as losing a job or the ability to care for a dependant. A fine will still be enforced. Only a very small number of cases are affected by the data-sharing issue and we are working closely with DVLA to improve this."

A DVLA spokesman said: "The DVLA's role is to record the information provided by the courts. The courts are able to use their discretion to decide whether or not to disqualify a driver."

Young Drivers Welcome Night Driving

Research conducted by Road Safety analysis on behalf of Michelin showed that 40% of young drivers aged between 17 and 25 would welcome compulsory motorway lessons and night driving.

The Study also revealed that young drivers in rural areas are twice as likely to be involved in accidents as those drivers in urban areas.

Michelin’s head of government affairs, Darren Lindsey said: “ It is not the fact that rural roads are inherently more dangerous than urban  roads. The fact is that young drivers are more likely to crash, either because they feel more confident driving at speeds, negotiating bends or driving on unlit roads.”

Not all of the government’s proposals received backing from young drivers.  Only 14% of respondents back a year’s minimum learning period and only 1 in 10 backed post test curfews.

The  survey questions were put to 700 young drivers for too much, too young, too fast report, which provides a compelling case for some of the DfT’s green paper proposals.