Thames Valley Police launches new motorcycle safety and speed camera team
Thames Valley Police has launched a new motorcycle-mounted safety camera unit designed to target speeding and the 'Fatal Five' offences in places traditional camera vans struggle to reach.
Forget hidden speed camera vans parked in lay-bys, as Thames Valley Police has unveiled a new fleet of motorcycle-mounted safety camera officers. The force says the bikes will allow enforcement to reach places that have previously been off-limits to larger camera vehicles.
The new Safety Camera Motorcyclist team has been introduced as part of the force's wider road safety strategy, with its sights firmly set on what police refer to as the 'Fatal Five' offences: speeding, drink and drug driving, mobile phone use behind the wheel, not wearing a seatbelt and careless or dangerous driving.
Unlike traditional camera vans, which need to find a suitable spot or layby to hide park in, the motorcycles can be deployed almost anywhere, opening up tighter and more narrow rural ruoutes. Thames Valley Police says they'll be used in rural communities, outside schools and in locations where space or access makes it impractical to position a van. Each bike carries handheld laser speed detection equipment alongside video recording technology, allowing officers to carry out speed enforcement from a much wider range of locations.
The force says deployments will be intelligence-led, with officers responding to collision data, complaints from local communities and requests from neighbourhood policing teams. Any offences detected will be processed in the same way as existing speed camera offences, with Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPs) issued where appropriate.
Superintendent Euan Livingstone, head of Thames Valley Police's Roads Policing Unit, said the move comes after repeated concerns from residents about speeding in the region.
"We are listening to communities across the Thames Valley, and the clear and consistent concern we hear is about speeding.
"This capability enables us to focus on what matters most to the public... ensuring we can take action against those who choose to put others at risk."
The initiative is funded through the Thames Valley Police Road Safety Fund and has the backing of Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, who said the bikes will allow the force to "boost enforcement capability" in areas where conventional camera vans simply can't operate.
For motorcyclists, the irony won't be lost. While bikes are often associated with proactive policing because of their ability to access the same roads as riders, these machines aren't there for high-speed pursuits. Instead, they're effectively mobile speed camera platforms, giving officers greater flexibility over where they can monitor traffic.
The flip side of the deployment means the possibility of more enforcement on popular biking roads, which obviously won’t be good news for all bikers. In short, if you've previously relied on spotting the now-familiar speed camera van before rolling off the throttle, you might now need to keep an eye out for a police bike parked in the bushes.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
