History of safety cameras (From This is Hampshire)

History of safety cameras

1:25pm Thursday 16th July 2009 in

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By Dom Buchan

SAFETY cameras have become an every day sight on British roads in recent years, being both revered and despised in equal measure.

More commonly known to motorists as speed cameras, they are either known as the key to making our roads safer or cash cows taxing otherwise law-abiding motorists.

The cameras however have their origins in the world of motor racing.

Racing driver Maurice Gatsonides created a device to measure speed because he wanted to improve his lap times on his race track.

His company - Gatsometer BV - is widely credited with creating the first automatic speed camera.

Later the first radar camera this was then created and used on roads and to keep the members of the public under control of the way they drive there cars. Now Gatsometer BV have become the world’s largest supplier of road speed cameras – most notoriously, the Gatso.

The first road camera is thought to have been used during the 1960s.

However it was not until the late 1990s, when digital imaging was introduced, that they began to all over the nation.

Digital speed cameras meaning that it could transfer images and data quicker, making it easier to process and issue fines to drivers caught breaking the speed limit.

Although digital cameras provide a better picture quality, film cameras provide a reasonable quality no matter the weather meaning they are more effective in poor weather conditions such as lightening and torrential rain.

As a result, film cameras are still being bought and used, despite the majority being digital.

There are as many as 2000 live cameras on the UK roads, with up to 6,000 more that are not currently turned on.