Safe Speed Forums

Just seen this:

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewa ... ?id=565504



Two cut free from crash car
Published on 16/11/2007

TWO people were hurt in a road accident on the A595 at Howgate this morning.

The incident involved one car – a black BMW 520i – which damaged a wall and left the road, landing on its roof, at around 5am.

Firefighters from Whitehaven and Workington had to rescue two people trapped in the car – a man and a woman – using hydraulic cutting equipment.

Both of them were taken by ambulance to the West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven. Their conditions are not known.

Cumbria Police closed the road from the south of the accident scene up to Lillyhall until around 7am to clear up the debris.




...and I'm wondering how close it would have been to the fixed cameras they've put up there.

I remember Steve saying on the old CSCP forum that one of the good things about cameras was the "general calming influence they exerted in the surrounding area" (or somesuch), so I was just wondering how big exactly this area was and whether this incident was close enough to be considered "at the camera site"...?

Howgate is bordered by two other hamlets, so I would say it was onsite.

However I notice that different agencies give different statistics.
Safer Roads for Cumbria are widely different on Slight Injuries, while last years fatals of 61 have been revised down to 60.

On Cumbria County Councils site, this page http://www.cumbriacc.gov.uk/news/2005/april/4_21_2005-115821-AM.asp has 2004 fatals at 58 while CSCP have 57.

Clearly somebody is getting their statistics in a twist, and they wont let something like on or off site incidents worry them.

Note from the page above, 50% of fatal accidents in the south of the county featured ALCOHOL, yet only 29 out of 634 stopped were found to be over the limit, while in the north of the county (your patch Mole!) it was 28 in 294 stopped!

Meanwhile THIS article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4205312.stm has 62.5% of accidents as SLEEP - related! So some of the 50% of alcohol related fatals might well have overlapped with the sleep related ones!

As my son walks to school I was somewhat alarmed at the statistics presented in an House of Commons answer here
which has more children killed or seriously injured WALKING to school than it does cycling or travelling in cars.

Are we in danger of being blinded by statistics?

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Speeding tickets issued in........1997.......and in.......2005 (latest available figure)
Cumbria..................................4,882.....................27,441

Have they had any affect on road safety in Cumbria?

Well fatal accidents remain worryingly high, serious injuries are falling... except NHS statistics have a higher level than the SCP's, and in car safety features have increased.

It would be wrong to assume that the cameas can somehow reduce the potential serious injury accident drivers, while not stopping potential FATAL accident drivers too!
We also had a long term downward tend in accidents figures, which levelled out with the onset of speed cameras.

We should ask the Chief Constable how many ROAD TRAFFIC policemen Cumbria has now, compared to 1997 or 2002, and how effective are they in detering motoring offences and other crimes. How many other crimes are deterred by use of a camera?

I note that many of the outrageous claims made on the CSCP website have been removed - such as the one that accidents at camera sites have reduced by 72% since my FoI request showed that they based the reduction on January 1999 figures, despite not starting operations in Cumbria until April 2003!! The CSCP site is now all about how to pay your fine as quickly and simply as possible. The news section has not been updated since 25th July 2007, and before that, July 2006!

Look at the accident figures on the CSCP website http://www.cumbriasafetycameras.org/facts.php?link=2007&display=block#monthly and then compare the figures on the Safer Roads For Cumbria website http://www.saferroads4cumbria.org.uk/Statisrtics/stats.asp

CSCP fatals =40......SRFC =41*******CSCP serious injuries =216.......SRFC serious injuries =237******CSCP slight injuries =1541..........SRFC slight injuries =1688

Who do we believe?

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Given their past history, I know who I believe and it ain't our 'friend'.
The NHS has no reason to lie, whereas who knows with the others.
Still, they need to justify their 'non-jobs' somehow.