Safe Speed Forums

I believe the following copy was used:

"Seen an unusually tall speed camera around your way?
If not, expect one to
appear soon < it¹s a new kind of
camera, and if you¹re caught by one you¹ll
know about it in a matter of days.
The £50k RedSpeed is
digital, and within two
minutes of the picture being
taken it transmits the image to a central office, where a notice of
prosecution is printed and put in the post. This can be achieved within 30
minutes of the offence being committed. They¹re also red-light cameras and
the manufacturers claim that the tall mounting pole makes them vandal-proof.
Over the next few months, 66 of the new cameras will
be installed across
the
country, accompanied by
a major anti-speeding
ad campaign in London.
However, the speed at which the cameras are
being fitted has prompted
suggestions that they are being rushed through before new rules that stop
revenue from cameras being spent
on more cameras comes
into force.
OEWith the £1m ad spend and the new cameras at £50k each, is the London
Speed
Camera Partnership burning cash and buying assets before the new rules come
in?¹ asked action group Motorists Against Detection.
Paul Smith of road safety campaign Safespeed said: OEI hope the Department
for Transport can control
runaway spending by greedy camera partnerships,
but
the first signs of runaway spending are right here."
==============================

Safe Speed issued the following PR at 19:38 on 4th April 2006:

PR299: The London dash to spend camera cash

news: Embargo: 0600hrs, 5th April 2006

Autocar Magazine will today reveal some extraordinary spending on speed cameras
in London. Reports suggest that 66 new digital cameras are going in at £50,000
each (=£3.3 million) AND £1 million is rapidly being spent on a massive
advertising campaign.

Coming as it does in the last month of financial year 2005/6, this
extraordinary £4.3 million spend will anger those who are serious about road
safety.

Larger issues are raised about control of expenditure in the forthcoming last
year of the 'greed charter' - the scheme whereby speed camera fines pay for
more speed cameras in what would have become a never ending spiral of motorist
persecution.

Before the end of the netting off scheme in April 2007, speed cameras will have
generated more than £1 billion in fines issued to in excess of 15 million
motorists. (Safe Speed calculated figures based on Home Office data,
extrapolated to April 2007.)

Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "The simple fact is that money spent on speed
cameras is wasted - they don't make the roads safer. They bring misery and
distraction to drivers. But worse than that are the false safety messages
implied by speed camera publicity. These undermine the true core values of road
safety - skills, attitudes and responsibilities."

"We will not be able to get road safety back on track while a single speed
camera remains on our roads."

<ends>

Notes for editors
=================

The draft we've seen of the Autocar story implies that the 66 digital cameras
will be installed nationally. Our information is that all 66 will be installed
in London.

Not all of the cameras are 'Redspeed' most of the new cameras are 'Speedcurb'
made by the same company.

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