Safe Speed Forums

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=362072005

11 million motorists trapped by speed cameras pay £700m fines

ALASTAIR DALTON
TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT

ONE in three drivers has been caught by speed cameras since they were introduced in 1992, according to new figures.

Safe Speed, an organisation that campaigns against speed cameras, has calculated that cameras have led to the conviction of more than 11 million of Britain’s 30 million motorists.

This has raised a total of £700 million in speeding fines across the UK. The group said that more than 12 million speed-camera tickets had been issued, only 6 per cent of which went to repeat offenders.

In Scotland, motorists paid £7.6 million in speeding tickets in 2003, with the numbers issued more than quadrupling over the previous two years to 132,000. There are 180 fixed speed cameras in Scotland, but mobile cameras are used at other sites.

Safe Speed, which is based near Inverness, claimed that road deaths had not been significantly reduced since the introduction of cameras. However, road safety campaigners claimed that deaths and injuries had been dramatically cut at camera sites.

The Safe Speed figures, based on government statistics, show that the number of drivers caught by cameras has soared from 290 in 1992 to 3.6 million last year. In Scotland, total speeding offences dealt with in court increased from 92,377 in 1994 to 181,371 in 2003.

A survey by Green Flag Motoring Assistance showed yesterday that 69 per cent of drivers questioned regarded speed cameras as a "revenue-generating exercise", with 22 per cent seeing them as essential to road safety.

Paul Smith, the founder of Safe Speed, said: "Our research shows that routine speeding by otherwise responsible motorists is not a serious road safety issue, yet while the focus remains on speed other more important issues are neglected. Even worse, is the effect of speed cameras on responsible drivers. It should be obvious to everyone that drivers looking for cameras are not looking for hazards on the road ahead.

"It’s a grudge thing for most motorists who have received a speeding ticket. They know full well that they were driving at a safe and appropriate speed at the time of the so-called offence and they resent being abused.

"So far, only the Conservatives have pledged to look at the speed camera programme - including a pledge to disband the greedy camera partnerships. But in the run-up to the election what party would dare to ignore the pain of 12 million voters and the disgruntled chattering in every pub in the land?"

Kevin Delaney, a spokesman for the RAC Foundation, said motorists would be aggrieved at the "king’s ransom" they had to pay in speed-camera fines. He said: "Cameras haven’t achieved the reductions in death and injury we expected."

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish National Party’s transport spokesman, said: "Speed cameras have not improved the tragedy of road deaths, but they have delivered a huge windfall to Chancellor Gordon Brown.

"The cameras are seen as a licence to print money to rival the Royal Mint. We should be targeting the drivers who statistics show cause a disproportionate amount of accidents - such as the under-24s, newly qualified drivers and those with a record of disqualification.

"Many motorists will feel that these fines are yet another stealth tax and they will make their dissatisfaction with this failed road safety strategy known at the ballot box."

However, the Executive said speed cameras performed a vital role. A spokeswoman said: "It is irresponsible to suggest that safe drivers who drive at appropriate speed are falling foul of speed cameras. Safe drivers do not exceed speed limits, put in place to save lives.

"Speeding is both a criminal offence and a contributing factor in many road accidents."

A spokeswoman for Brake, a road safety group, said: "Speed cameras are essential in the fight to stop speeding and research shows that at speed-camera sites, deaths and injuries are reduced dramatically. Law-abiding citizens do not get caught by speed cameras - only those who put lives at risk are fined and get penalty points."

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

Do you know what really peeves me / irritates me / annoys me / infuriates me / me ?...

... that oh-so-easy but incredibly unfounded and illogical association between "those who put lives at risk" and people who "get penalty points".

THIS is how they do it. And, unfortunately for road safety and reasoned logic, they largely get away with it, it just flows off the tongue, and forms part of official dogma.

Long live SafeSpeed, the voice of common sense in a jungle of oversimplistic spin and garbage!

You mean the SCPs....

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

That person from BRAKE really needs to get snapped by a camera

Has anyone checked her licence is clean anyway?

What really ticks me off in every single one of these reports is the way the RTTM reduction at camera sites gets churned up by every camera supporter and camera fines benefactor.

It ain't a lie, but it's a meaningless and ignorant statistic spouted by ignorant people.