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CHELMSFORD: Speed camera switch-off plan will 'cost lives'

SPEED cameras across Essex could be scrapped as part of the Government's cost-saving measures.
But already police and safety campaigners have hit out at the plans at a time when figures show they are saving more lives than ever.
Statistics show the number of serious road accidents tumbled and takings from the controversial cameras also dropped, prompting claims that they are having the desired effect of slowing drivers down at accident blackspots.
One camera on the A1060 Roxwell Road in Chelmsford is credited with reducing the number of accidents at the former blackspot to zero.
However, there are fears that the good work could be undone if proposals by the Government to cut funding to local authorities for cameras go ahead.

This week Oxfordshire County Council voted through plans to get rid of all of its roadside speed cameras, following the Government's pledge to 'end the war on the motorist'.
Chairman of the Essex Police Authority, Robert Chambers, said: "I don't think that this has been thought through very carefully.
"I do not agree that they should be scrapped. In Essex these cameras are saving lives. They are expensive, but it costs money to take them down as well."

The grant from central Government to the Essex Safety Camera Partnership was cut this year by £100,000, to a total of £800,000 and it is expected that further cuts will be announced when the Government completes its comprehensive spending review in the autumn.
Shadow home secretary Alan Johnson criticised the plans, saying: "Everyone who has analysed this has said that speed cameras have been an important part of the dramatic improvement on our roads."

Figures released by the campaign group Taxpayer's Alliance show that in the last year, the takings from the 76 speed camera sites across Essex dropped by over half a million pounds – from £2,002,740 to £1,403,400.
During the same period there was a 30 per cent drop in the number of accidents in which someone was killed or seriously injured – referred to as "KSIs" – in the county.
The findings show that drivers in the county are bucking the national trend, as a survey reveals across the country more than £87 million in fines were issued in the last year.
Road safety experts said the results were good news and show that drivers are paying more attention.

Essex County Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr Norman Hume, said: "We have no plans at the moment to remove cameras on a large scale.
"What we are doing is looking at individual sites and seeing how they perform.
"Statistics show that the number of accidents has been reduced at over 90 per cent of the sites where we have cameras in place.
"However, if there are further cuts, then everyone, including Essex, will have to look at where money can be saved.
"We will have to review how we manage these cuts when we know the extent of them."
Mr Hume said he would be carefully monitoring the situation.
Funding may be diverted into more "average speed" schemes, such as the one on the A127, where a driver's speed is measured over a stretch of road.
However, although these schemes may be more effective, they are also more expensive to set up and run.
Campaigns assistant for road safety group Brake, Sarah Roberts said: "Brake is extremely concerned to hear that some councils are switching off their speed cameras. Research shows that speed cameras are very effective at preventing deaths and injuries on our roads.
"Brake urges local decision makers to continue to support the use of speed cameras."