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http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1455812004

Web of speed cameras traps Scots drivers 181,000 times in one year

JOHN INNES

SPEED cameras trapped drivers almost 181,000 times in Scotland last year, it was revealed yesterday.

The figures are a rise of 56,000 on 1999 and show that the average number of speeding offences in each of the 32 council areas is 5,654. Penalty points were imposed on 180,948 occasions in 2003, compared with 125,000 in 1999.

By far the biggest single increase was in North Lanarkshire, which has emerged as Scotland?s worst area for speeding drivers. Almost 30,000 speeding convictions were recorded there last year - five times the Scottish average. Convictions in North Lanarkshire rose seven-fold between 1999 and 2003 - the biggest increase in Scotland.

The Aberdeen City Council area was next, with a six-fold rise in speeding offences from 3,296 to 20,852 over the same period. Edinburgh came third after the number of convictions went from 8,030 to 20,250.

Furious motoring organisations said the growing proliferation of speed cameras had generated a huge rise in fines, to £12 million a year. Critics said that the "safety" blitz had not prevented road deaths from rising, contradicting Executive claims that the camera programme would make Scotland?s highways safer. The number of people killed in accidents rose by 7 per cent from 310 in 1999 to 331 in 2003, and the number of children who died rose by 20 per cent to 17.

David Mundell, the Scottish Tory transport spokesman, said the figures clearly demonstrated that road-safety claims were deeply flawed and that speed cameras were simply "cash cows" with which to tax motorists by stealth.

He said: "There is no doubt that cameras and speed traps are focused on volume of traffic rather than road safety. Speeding is a serious issue, but these deterrents should be sited in villages and housing areas where the danger is, not on motorways and dual carriageways where they can make the most money.

"There are still communities the length and breadth of Scotland crying out for speed-camera activity on dangerous local roads, but they get nowhere."

Paul Smith, of the Scottish-based anti-camera group Safespeed, said: "Police and politicians keep telling us that excessive speed is a major factor in fatal accidents. Yet, after years of annual falls in the number of Scottish fatalities, we?ve just had a 7 per cent rise, despite the huge increase in camera offences.

"This policy based on speed cameras is clearly not working. They criminalise ordinary drivers who have inadvertently allowed their speed to creep just above the limit."

Nigel Humphries, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, described the anti-speeding policy as "complete madness". He said: "There?s been a huge increase in speeding convictions, but no corresponding drop in fatalities on this country?s roads.

"We believe there?s a case for cameras at real accident blackspots like blind summits and schools; other than that, they are fatuous and irrelevant," he added.

Last year, the number of cameras deployed in Scotland soared to more than 500, and several police forces introduced new mobile laser equipment.

Strathclyde Police launched trials of "smart" cats? eyes, embedded in the centre-line of the road, which can detect speeding drivers.

Andrew Wilkie, director of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme, said the rise in enforcement was mainly due to new camera partnerships being set up. He said: "Across Strathclyde, the oldest partnership in Scotland, the majority of areas covered by the programme have seen a significant decrease in the number of detected speeding offences, showing that more people are driving within the speed limit."

He highlighted an independent evaluation, which showed that Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership had achieved a 34 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites.

University College London researchers reported that safety cameras had cut deaths and serious injuries at camera sites across the UK by 40 per cent.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Great story except for one glaring problem; it ends with


which is what is going to stay in the minds of many readers!

If it started with these quotes and then went on to debunk them the true message would be more likely to be retained by the reader rather than the other way around.

Certainly good press though!

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

Wasn't that the same 'research findings' that the North London Camera Parntership were brought to task by the ASA for quoting on their leaflets.

Maybe the newspaper should be reminded of the ASA's ruling on the matter?

Also, can't we dig up again the quote from the DfT spokesperson where they said the 33% reduction claim (one-third-lie) was a "figure we are no longer using".

??