New powers see city crack down on poor driving

Transport bosses in Bradford will use newly granted powers to crack down on poor driving in the city centre.

Harder-line powers previously only held by the police were granted by the government to councils outside London in 2023 to help improve road safety.

Now officials in Bradford are set to sign off on hi-tech enforcement cameras in the city centre, with an initial focus on "inconsiderate" drivers who flout rules at yellow box junctions or make banned turns.

A report to be presented to decision-makers next week says up to 13 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will be "appropriately targeted" at problem hotspots.

Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said: "Road safety is a big issue for all of us and these enforcement cameras will allow us to take action against drivers who don't follow the rules and will free up police resources and time so they can focus on more pressing issues."

Bradford's problems with speeding and bad driving are well documented, with the district often tagged as being one of the worst in the country for driving.

Efforts have been ongoing to reverse that reputation.

The new measures will be piloted at two spots in the city centre before being rolled out elsewhere.

ANPR cameras will be put at the yellow box junction at Godwin Street and Sunbridge Road, and at the current "no right turn" restrictions at the junction of Shipley Airedale Road and Leeds Road.

The council said it was ultimately about using new "evidence-led" methods to identify locations for cameras - and to catch those trying to flout rules.

But it said tougher rules would only be put in place where all other "reasonable measures [have] been considered, delivered or discounted".

The report says wider financial pressures mean the council must stagger its crackdown efforts.

It says: "The number of issues raised far exceeds the capacity of the council to fund additional police resources to resource enhanced enforcement.

"The opportunity to deploy measures to address this behaviour is essential.

"However, enforcing every restriction on the network would be prohibitively expensive and the council therefore must adopt a prioritisation approach to vetting any potential sites."

Bradford is part of the West Yorkshire-wide Vision Zero strategy, which aims to reduce deaths on the region's roads to zero by 2040.

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