Mobile camera snares speeding motorists on Coast Road

Police and council officials decided to designate the A183 Coast Road in South Shields as an area where mobile cameras would be used in response to concerns over the speed at which some motorists were travelling.

Signs - to comply with legal requirements - were installed by South Tynesikde Council before the camera could be used along the stretch of road from South Shields to Whitburn.

It has now emerged that the camera was put into action for two hours on September 27 and four hours on October 3.

In that time it captured 30 drivers breaking the 40mph speed limit, three people not wearing seatbelts and one person littering.

Chief Inspector Dave Gould said: “The use of static and mobile speed cameras is just one method used to detect offences and encourage people to drive safely.

“Statistics show drivers travelling at inappropriate speeds are more likely to be involved in a collision. The greater the speed also increases the potential for more severe injuries in a collision.

“Road Safety is a priority and reducing the number of casualties is taken very seriously by Northumbria Police. Speeding can have devastating consequences for all road users.”

Police say the camera will continue to be used at various times of the day and night and at various locations along the road.

The traffic enforcement action comes almost three months after police and council chiefs agreed that the two-mile stretch of road was suitable for closer speed scrutiny.

The road has been the scene of several incidents in recent years.

In August, police launched an appeal for witnesses after a motorcyclist was airlifted to hospital he was in collision with a van.

The rider suffered what police described as serious but not life-threatening injuries.

In another accident, last month, a motorcyclist and pillion passenger were left in a critical condition after smash with a car near the Marsden Grotto pub.

The man and woman, who were trapped under the car, were airlifted to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, with both suffering life-threatening injuries.

Police say neither incident was a factor in the decision to deploy the mobile camera- because it had been made before the accidents.