Drivers in Cardiff have been slow to modify their behaviour since the city council became the first authority outside London to enforce moving traffic regulations.
The new system went live in early December but the authority has not seen a discernible trend of penalty notices tailing off during the first two months. By 30 January, 12,867 notices had been issued, of which 1,741 were rescinded. Almost 4,500 fines had been paid.
All of the penalty notices issued to date relate to unauthorised driving in bus lanes. Cardiff had intended to begin enforcement of yellow box junctions at the same time, but the equipment it bought for this purpose has suffered ‘teething problems’. A spokesman said this aspect, which will use moveable cameras, would be launched ‘when we’re happy that the equipment is fully functioning’. He was unable to give a timescale.
The South Wales Echo used the Freedom of Information Act last week to reveal the precise current location of all seven bus-lane cameras. ‘The fixed cameras are clamped but they can be moved,’ the spokesman told Transport Network. ‘However, we’re not going to enforce in areas where there aren’t any problems.’
Cardiff will add two more fixed cameras for bus lanes in the coming weeks. It is also procuring a camera car specifically to record instances of moving traffic offences outside schools.
The Welsh Government has given all 22 unitary authorities in Wales the power to introduce enforcement of moving traffic regulations, subject to Welsh Government approval.
