Safe Speed Forums

A camera that cost £20,000 to install caught just one driver breaking the law in a year, resulting in a £60 fine.

It was condemned yesterday as ‘absolutely pointless’ and a ‘considerable waste of money’ that did nothing to improve road safety.

The fixed Gatso camera is on suburban Rhiwbina Hill in Cardiff, with a speed limit of 30mph.

Its pitiful record, suggesting that the road it covers is almost completely safe, was revealed in figures released by South Wales Police.

The force’s busiest camera, on the M4 motorway near Cardiff, caught 6,657 drivers – an average of 18 a day. All 89 fixed cameras run by the force netted £706,020 in fines in 2009, the latest year for which figures are available.

But police chiefs admitted the camera on Rhiwbina Hill was its lowest earner – flashing just once during the year.

Gerald Ambler, 71, was annoyed when it was put up outside his house more than five years ago. ‘It is pretty useless and bit of an eyesore,’ he said.

‘The only time the camera is any good is when I’m directing people to my house – and can tell them to turn by the big yellow box.’

Robert Dent, 63, who lives nearby, said: ‘It is a joke. This camera is absolutely pointless.

‘It does nothing to improve road safety – it’s a total waste of money and an eyesore.’

Local councillor Jayne Cowan said that before the camera was installed average speeds on the road were lower than the 30mph limit. ‘It seems to be a considerable waste of money,’ she said.

Fellow councillor Adrian Robson said: ‘Historically there were a few accidents caused by the low sun blinding cars as they came over the hill.

‘But if the average speed was lower than the limit, then speed wasn’t the problem.’

Maria Fort, research director at the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Yet again, this is an example of excessive surveillance invading our lives under the guise of safety.

‘The use of these static cameras should be re-evaluated and their resources put towards more appropriate and effective forms of policing.’

There are more than 4,000 fixed Gatso speed cameras in use across Britain.

Its pitiful record, suggesting that the road it covers is almost completely safe,....