A London council is to become the first local authority in the country to issue fines to drivers who breach 20mph limits.
Labour-run Wandsworth has won permission to run a pilot scheme for up to eight months, starting next week. If successful, the crackdown could be rolled out across the capital.
Normally speeding offences are enforced by the Metropolitan Police using fixed cameras and mobile patrols. But it tends to concentrate on trunk roads and higher speeds — meaning 20mph limits in many residential areas go unenforced.
Drivers caught by the council speed cameras will be sent a £130 penalty ticket but will escape the three points being added to their licence that normally results from a police caution.
Wandsworth has chosen to target two roads where residents frequently complain about drivers exceeding the speed limit — Priory Lane in Roehampton, and Wimbledon Park Road.
Priory Lane is heavily used by cyclists riding between Putney, Roehampton and Richmond Park. Wimbledon Park Road is a busy street that includes Southfields Tube station and leads to the Wimbledon tennis grounds.
Recent traffic studies found that one in four vehicles broke the speed limit in Priory Lane and one in five in Wimbledon Park Road.
Wandsworth’s Labour leader Simon Hogg said: “Speeding traffic is one of the biggest sources of complaints we receive. Ensuring drivers stick to the 20mph limit not only improves pedestrian safety levels and encourages more people to walk or cycle, it helps reduce harmful emissions too. ,
“If judged a success, we will look to make it permanent and carry out enforcement in other parts of the borough where we know vehicle speeds are excessive.”
Nearly half of London roads have a 20mph limit – including all roads within the central London congestion charge zone - and a majority of the 33 boroughs recognise it as the “default” legal maximum.
Last week Transport for London announced that more than 17 miles of roads in Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Haringey would become 20mph by March 2023.
Drivers caught by the Wandsworth cameras will initially receive a warning letter. Fines – reduced to £65 if paid within a fortnight - will be imposed several weeks after the scheme launches.
Wandsworth will use an experimental traffic order to run the crackdown. The move was approved by London Councils, which represents the 33 boroughs.
Income from police speeding tickets normally goes to the Treasury. However, the money raised by the council cameras can be ploughed back into road safety initiatives in the borough.
Wandsworth said this would help it to play its part in London mayor Sadiq Khan’s “vision zero” target of no deaths or serious injuries on the capital’s roads by 2041.
Councils are already empowered to use cameras to fine drivers for “moving traffic” offences, such as driving in bus lanes, making banned turns, stopping in yellow box junctions and breaching low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) and “school street” restrictions.
