9:25am Monday 7th August 2006
By The Page Turner
Roadside cameras and warning signs are to be trialled on the A34 through Oxfordshire in a bid to prevent drivers tailgating.
The new technology will be tested by the Highways Agency later this month between the Chieveley junction, where the A34 meets the M4, and Oxford.
The pilot scheme will use video cameras attached to overhead gantries or bridges to detect when a vehicle is following another too closely.
It then records the registration number before transmitting it to a sign further along the route, which warns the offending driver to keep its distance.
Highways Agency spokesman Roger Jones said: "The A34 in Oxfordshire has been chosen not because of a high number of tailgating incidents, but because it provides the best possible configuration of warning signs and overhead gantries or bridges.
"Once the overhead camera has recorded the tailgating driver's numberplate, it will then be beamed to the next possible warning sign, which will flash up the number and a phrase like 'keep your distance'.
"We have already experimented with chevrons nationally and this trial is designed to research the most effective way to influence driver behaviour and stop them driving too closely.
"If it is effective, then it will be rolled out to other areas, including motorways."
The technology is similar to that used in Germany and France, where drivers caught following too closely are automatically fined.
Mr Jones added that there were no plans at present to pass registration numbers to police, but the camera technology could be used in the future to help police prosecute motorists.
At present, there is no separate offence of tailgating in the UK, so police must prosecute under the laws covering dangerous driving, or driving without due care and attention, but this rarely occurs.
According to the Highways Agency in 2002-2003, tailgating was a contributory factor in 29 per cent of all personal injury accidents on the motorway and trunk road network.
A separate report published last week by the Institute of Advanced Motorists claimed 26 per cent of drivers were "an accident waiting to happen" because they drive too close to the vehicle in front on motorways.
Its survey of 22,105 vehicles found that the worst offenders were on the M4 in Wales, where more than 50 per cent of drivers were too close to the vehicle in front.
The best behaviour was on the M5 where fewer than 10 per cent of drivers were tailgating. Drivers are advised to remain at least two seconds behind the car in front.
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