Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in the northeast of the UK has taken delivery of a new CCTV enforcement vehicle to help prevent dangerous parking in school zones around the district, following three reports of children being involved in road traffic accidents outside schools this year.
Supplied by Videalert, one of the UK’s leading developers of intelligent traffic enforcement and video management systems, the new mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV) has an unattended operating capability and will be used to enforce school locations where illegal parking on the yellow ‘keep clears’ has been identified as putting children’s lives in danger.
The Videalert MEV is a white Renault Kadjar compact SUV equipped with two roof-mounted ALPR (automated license plate recognition) cameras and two color cameras to capture contextual video evidence. Used in conjunction with the company’s latest video analytics, the system delivers the highest productivity at the lowest operating cost even in the highest density traffic environments. The onboard systems are controlled by the operator manning the vehicle using a dashboard-mounted touchscreen.
All contravention evidence data is transferred to Videalert’s Digital Video Platform (DVP) in the parking office at the end of each shift. The DVP system automates the construction of video evidence packs that are reviewed by trained council operatives prior to sending confirmed offences to the back-office processing system for the issuance of £70 (US$90) Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).
Redcar and Cleveland’s new MEV is also equipped with a complete suite of Videalert software applications enabling it to be used for a wide range of traffic and parking management applications in the future as required, including monitoring illegal parking on footpaths, bus lanes and stops.
“We know that measures to tackle parking are often controversial and seen by some as a ‘cash grab’, but that is simply not the case. This is all about safety!” explained Bob Norton, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s cabinet member for economic growth and highways.
“Three accidents involving school children in one year is three too many, and we won’t allow this continuing risk to the safety of children in our schools. Our message is clear: Don’t want to get fined? Then don’t put people at risk when you park.”
Tim Daniels, sales and marketing director at Videalert, noted, “In recent benchmarking trials, our MEVs equipped with four cameras have proved to deliver industry-leading capture rates and consistently outperform vehicles from other suppliers. This new generation of multi-purpose vehicles will give councils greater flexibility in the enforcement of a wide range of moving traffic and parking contraventions.”
