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ZOOM WITH A VROOM
 West Yorks gets motorbike speed camera patrols by Debbie Leigh and Jessica Salter
SPEEDING motorists beware – a motorbike camera patrol is taking to West Yorkshire's roads.
The West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership says the motorbike will be safer than its Ford Galaxy people carriers as it will tuck away at the edge of single lane carriageways.
But Edmund King of motorists' group the RAC Foundation said: "Is a motorcycle easier to hide and is that part of the plan?
Is it really about getting cars off the side of the road or about making it harder to spot the cameras?"
He added that if the new patrols were highly visible and not done in an "overtly secretive manner" they could successfully deter motorists from speeding.
Philip Gwynne, spokesman for the casualty reduction partnership, said the purpose of the police-staffed patrols, launched yesterday, was to act as a high-visibility warning that drivers were on a road where there had been deaths and serious injuries The partnership says officers often position vehicles in a highly visible spot to encourage drivers to stay within the legal limit.
Mr Gwynne added: "We had one or two motorists last year say it was a bit much because they were trying to get round the van while trying to keep themselves safe. The motorcycle will occupy less road space."
The camera motorbike, which is clearly marked as a police bike, will join a fleet of four police Ford Galaxys monitoring 85 crash black spots across the county.
The camera and recording equipment are stowed away in paniers on the bike, but take less than five minutes to set up.
The new cameras are much smaller and lighter than the cameras used in the Galaxys.
A police officer demonstrating the new camera said: "Three times I've had to knock at someone's door and tell them that a family member had died in a road accident and I hope it's something I'll never have to do again.
That's why we're here."
debbie.leigh@ypn.co.uk 19 May 2006
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