Flex flash works well. Mobile speed cameras resulted in this many fines in Drenthe and Groningen

The fact that more fines were issued in Drenthe than in Groningen is because more mobile speed cameras were deployed at the six locations in Drenthe than at the three speed cameras in Groningen. Most fines were previously registered on Rijksweg N360 near Ruischerbrug in Groningen. More than 6,000 drivers were speeding on this 50 kilometer road. In Drenthe, the Hogeweg in Zuidlaren scores the highest with more than 5,600 fines.

The flex flash is a new phenomenon in the fight against speeding and fewer deaths in traffic. Last year, the mobile speed camera was used for the first time in the northern provinces, a total of six. The robust metal device will be placed for two months along a road where people often drive too fast and where accidents occur. After two months, the flex flash moves to another location. After a while, the poles return to a previous location.

For example, the mobile speed camera is currently on Groningerstraat in Assen for the second time. Other places where the device has been located in Drenthe are the Hogeweg in Zuidlaren, the Industrieweg in Hoogeveen, the Asserstraat in Vries, the Burgemeester Legroweg in Eelde and the Vaart Noordzijde in New Amsterdam. In Groningen the speed camera was located, except in Ruischerbrug, along the Woldweg in Kropswolde and the Woldweg in Sebaldeburen.

In summer 75 poles

The Public Prosecution Service, specifically the Public Prosecution Service Central Processing Office (CVOM), determines in consultation with the police, provinces and municipalities where the mobile speed cameras will be used. Fifty of these devices are active at 150 locations nationwide. “Next summer we will expand the number to 75 and by 2026 we hope to have 125 flexible speed cameras. We will also check in more places,” says Sander Barendregt of the CVOM. It has three new locations in Groningen in mind. “Which? We can’t say yet, but we are making preparations.”

After a year of deployment, according to the CVOM, it appears that the speed on the controlled roads remains lower. Not as low as when the flex flash was there, but less high than before the controls.

Speaker against vandals

The metal speed cameras are deliberately made robust to prevent vandalism. They are equipped with solar panels and a battery to store power, allowing them to flash 24 hours a day. They are also equipped with a camera and speaker. Barendregt: “If vandals want to destroy the flash, they are captured on camera. The control room receives a signal and can call the police. From the control room, someone with malicious intentions can be told via loudspeaker that he is being watched. That has a very preventive effect. So far no mobile speed cameras have been destroyed.”