Rat-run cameras 'could lead to incorrect fines'

The introduction of cameras to stop motorists using streets in Cambridge as rat-runs would face "significant challenges" and could lead to incorrect fines being issued, according to a council.

More than 200 people signed a petition calling for measures to stop drivers cutting through residential areas between Histon Road and Huntingdon Road.

"The congestion caused by the rat-running is a cause of air pollution in the neighbourhood and detrimental to residents' quality of life," it said.

But David Allatt, Cambridgeshire County Council's infrastructure director, told the highways committee that cameras – which would cost £35,000 – "would be difficult to implement and sustain effectively".

The petition, presented at Tuesday's meeting by Green city councillor Alex Sage, related to streets including Oxford Road and Windsor Road, where it was claimed the "volume of traffic is endangering children and pedestrians crossing the road" to the nearby primary school.

It also raised concerns about lorries driving through narrow streets.

Sage said that while he was on Oxford Road talking to a resident recently, "a speeding van came up the road and it killed their cat".

"You can see why people are worried... that could have been a child," he said.

Fabio Geraci, 53, who lives in nearby Richmond Road, said the traffic was an issue during school drop-off and pick-up times.

Allatt said the council understood the issue and had "carefully considered" a proposal to introduce camera enforcement, allowing access for residents and their visitors via a permit system.

But he added: "Whilst we understand the intention behind that suggestion, there are some significant practical and operational challenges that make this approach very difficult for us to deliver at the present time.

"To operate a system like this, we would need to create and maintain a list of all authorised vehicles, which would involve contacting every household in advance to collect vehicle details.

"Maintaining this list would also require ongoing work as residents move home, change vehicles or have visitors, and experience elsewhere suggests that keeping such lists fully up to date can be really challenging, and inaccuracies can lead to penalty notices being issued incorrectly."

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