Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology improves road safety

7 November 2023

A 12-month ANPR Capability Project , jointly funded by The Road Safety Trust and Gloucestershire Constabulary has identified a number of ways the effective usage of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology can improve road safety outcomes.

Whilst ANPR technology lies at the heart of a range of multi-agency efforts to effectively and efficiently police the UK road network, the key focus of this project was to identify ways to improve road safety outcomes. 

The project found that ANPR can help encourage multi-departmental and multi-agency collaborative efforts towards tackling those drivers and vehicle keepers that present the highest safety risk to themselves and other road users.

Similarly, it can help make better use of roads policing resource by helping to prioritise enforcement and compliance interventions.

The approach taken with this exercise has been fed back to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) ANPR portfolio, with elements of the findings being acknowledged as being highly relevant to capability levels in other forces.