Don't get confused - ANPR vs Speed Cameras

Photographs are courtesy of © Freefoto.com

This photograph is of an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) van watching the A1 in North Yorkshire from a motorway bridge.

These cameras scan and record the vehicle registrations of every passing car.

The numbers are then cross-checked against the Police National Computer, the DVLA databases and police intelligence records, both locally, regionally and nationally, to identify vehicles of interest to the Police.

The cameras can check up to 3,600 number plates every hour, even on cars travelling in excess of 100mph.

ANPR is estimated to be around ten times more effective than normal traffic policing because its spots suspect vehicles that may not normally attract police attention.

ANPR cameras do not check speeds of passing vehicles, they are used solely to check for criminals and illegal vehicles. The officers operating the camera system tell the computer what to look for (e.g, drivers without insurance, tax, unregistered vehicles or disqualified drivers) and the system flags these up. When the suspect vehicle passes by, it is stopped further down the road by a waiting traffic car or motorbike.

If you're ever uncertain as to the camera system being used, slow down and drive carefully (of course, you're doing that already!) incase you are spotted by the camera operator (in the case of laser speed detection) and your speed is checked or you're entering the range of the Gatso's RaDAR.

See how the police are also testing ANPR on their helecopter. This is capable of checking 18,000 vehicles per hour. That's 5 every second!

Photographs are courtesy
of © Freefoto.com