I just did 6 or so minutes against Simon Collister from Brake about speed camera public acceptability. Brake have published some survey results today claiming that almost two thirds of drivers support mobile speed cameras.
Safe Speed issued the following PR in response:
PR138: Speed camera surveys are flawed
News: for immediate release
Figures published today by Brake and Green Flag Motoring Assistance
suggesting that two thirds of drivers support the use of mobile speed
cameras are "implausible at best" says Safe Speed.
These figures are the most recent in a long history of very doubtful
surveys regarding speed camera acceptability. The Department for
Transport imposes a set of questions, and the requirement for regular
surveys, on every camera partnership. These questions are designed to
elicit a particular response - some might say fraudulently so.
Professor Mervyn Stone, working as an independent adjudicator for
Radio Four, recently described these official survey questions as a
"loaded instrument", and said that the questions showed a "disgraceful
positive bias".
Perhaps it is illuminating that the recent Brake press release stops
short of informing us of the exact questions that were asked?
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe speed road safety campaign said: "It
all depends on the questions that are asked, and sometimes on how the
sample of respondents was selected. We challenge Brake to commission
an honest independent survey asking a fair sample of drivers the
following questions:
* Have speed cameras made the roads safer overall?
* Do you believe official government figures about the effectiveness
of speed cameras?
* What percentage of road accidents do you believe are caused or
contributed to by motorists exceeding a speed limit?
* Would you concentrate on your driving equally well if asked to
travel much more slowly than the speed that you would naturally
choose?
* Do speed cameras ever distract you from the road ahead? (For
example, do you take your eyes off the road to check you speedo a
number of times when you see a speed camera?)
* Are speed cameras mainly about money?
* Do speed cameras sometimes take the enjoyment out of driving?
* Do you persistently worry about speed cameras?
* Should most speed cameras be scrapped?"
Frequent public opinion surveys are conducted on the Internet by
independent organisations, including the BBC. Typical results show
that between 75% and 95% of respondents think speed cameras should be
scrapped.
Paul continues: "We should be very worried indeed about the claims
that speed cameras are desired by a majority of the public. Not only
are flawed and distorting questions the norm, but also the government
has spent many millions of pounds in a misguided attempt to make speed
cameras acceptable."
<ends>
Notes for editors:
==================
The third question above, if asked, would reveal the distortion of
public opinion caused by false propaganda about the prevalence of
speeding as an accident contributory factor. Safe Speed expects that
(on average) respondents will suggest that "more than half" of
accidents involve "speeding". The truth appears to be about 3%, and
the result may reveal a massive distortion in public opinion. Safe
Speed believes that false road safety priorities are a serious modern
cause of road danger.
Safe Speed commentary on speed camera acceptability surveys:
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/survey.html
The Stone report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/repor ... pfinal.pdf
Why drivers speed - the truth:
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/why.html