A new scheme from Kent County Council is looking to improve the habits of motorists in the county by imposing fines on those who drive badly.
Obviously, ‘bad driving’ is a subjective term, but, to Kent’s local authority, it means driving in bus lanes, ignoring no entry signs, and blocking yellow box junctions, among other things.
The fine for exhibiting such bad driving behaviour will be £70, although that can be reduced to £35 if it’s paid within three weeks of it being issued. Further, a first offence will be ignored within the first six months of the scheme.
"ANPR sensor" by synx508 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras will be used to spot these bad driving habits in action. For those unaware, an ANPR camera basically records the number plates of vehicles travelling within its view and then reports the plates that it detects to have broken the law or the rules of the road. They’re often used in ‘hot spots’ for poor driving, which is probably how they will be deployed for the new scheme in Kent, rather than having one camera per 100m, for example, on every road in the county. They’re also used in places like hospital car parks, for example, making it easier to catch people who park without paying.
Currently, there is no fixed or confirmed date for the scheme to be launched, but a spring 2024 date is expected for it to go live.
The RAC reports that Sean Holden, Chairman of the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee, said that the scheme’s objective is to change the behaviour of bad drivers and that it is not a way for Kent County Council to generate income.
Find all the latest motorcycle news on Visordown.
