The Dorset Safety Camera Partnership is an organisation committed to reducing the number of casualties on our roads by highlighting the dangers of excessive and inappropriate speed.

Our partners include Dorset Police, Dorset County Council, Borough of Poole, Bournemouth Borough Council, the Highways Agency, Her Majesty’s Court Service, Crown Prosecution Service and NHS South West.

We work closely in partnership with the purpose of reducing the number of casualties on our roads, through a combination of Engineering, Education and Enforcement.

Engineering:

Engineering has a vital role in maintaining and improving the safety on our roads. Reducing speed limits, introducing rumble strips, traffic calming methods, tree cutting and Speed Indicator Devices and a variety of other methods have all been used in Dorset to help achieve this. The roads across the county are constantly being monitored to see what future improvements can be made for the safety of everyone.

Education:

We believe strongly that education is the key to reducing the number of people killed and injured on our roads. Campaigns are used to target all road users through a combination of advertising, information packs, radio adverts, bus back posters, leaflets and events. We want to remind and influence people in positive way to reduce their speed and improve their driving skills for the benefit of everyone.

We also visit various groups from schools to community groups to give presentations about the work we do, as well as inform people about the consequences of driving at excessive and inappropriate speeds.

Driver education is also used to re-educate low end speeding offenders. Dorset Police was one of the first Forces in the country to introduce a re-education programme, The Driver Awareness Scheme, as an alternative to receiving three points on a driving licence. This programme is about to enter its third year and has proven successful with four, three hour classroom based courses being delivered every day of the week.

Enforcement:

We are responsible for the operation of all fixed and mobile safety cameras, as well as red-light cameras across the county. These cameras are placed at locations where there is a history of fatal or serious collisions. We work with Dorset Police for a co-ordinated approach to enforcement as well as responding to local resident complaints about speeding through their area.