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Speed traps are saving lives on the roads
May 3 2011 by Andy Newport, Paisley Daily Express
SPEED cameras that were placed at seven deadly accident blackspots have made Renfrewshire a safer place for motorists.

The Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP) has released details of a series of fixed and mobile cameras and figures relating to the number of serious road smashes.
And the statistics show that, since the speed traps have been introduced, the number of people dying or suffering serious injury in horror road accidents has nosedived.

SSCP chiefs also report that the number of people being caught speeding or driving through red lights is on the wane as the “speed kills” message finally gets through.

Spokeswoman Gladys Cadden said: “Excessive speed is a key factor in many serious or fatal injury crashes and the falling numbers of both crashes and offenders bear out that safety cameras are having a deterrent effect in discouraging drivers from taking the risk at places where people have come to grief.
“Our role is all about prevention, as well as raising awareness of speeding, red-light running and changing driver behaviour, so that our roads are safer for all users.”

There are four fixed-location speed cameras in Renfrewshire, as well as two spots where a mobile camera van is licensed to park up and attempt to catch out dodgy drivers.
The first camera to be installed was the 30mph device at Glenburn Road, in Paisley.
It was put in place 11 years ago after roads bosses were left shocked by a series of accidents in a five-year period that included three serious or fatal crashes.

Since then, there has been just one serious smash.
Cameras at Caplethill Road and Gleniffer Road, also in Paisley, were both installed in 2004 after eight deadly or life-threatening accidents dating back to 1999.

In the seven years since then, there has been just four such crashes.
Paisley Road, in Renfrew, was one of the most dangerous roads in Renfrewshire before its speed camera was introduced in 2004.

There had been a total of 30 crashes at that site in the five years before then, including seven that were serious or fatal.
However, police have recorded just three serious or fatal accidents there in the last seven years.
Mobile speed camera vans, meanwhile, are regularly seen patrolling both Glasgow Road, in Paisley, and Beith Road, Johnstone.
The Paisley site was introduced after three fatal or serious crashes, while there were another two in Johnstone.
Since the cameras were introduced in 2003 and 2006 respectively, there have only been three major accidents at these two sites.
However, experts at anti-speed camera group Safe Speed claim that the fact some people are still dying on local roads proves that speed cameras are not the answer.

Claire Armstrong, Safe Speed’s founder, told the Paisley Daily Express: “Our opinion is that speed cameras don’t work at all.
“They continue to give drivers the wrong road safety message, which is that speed is entirely to blame for accidents. It is not.
“They also cause accidents, as anyone who has been driving behind a motorist who has been speeding along before they come to a camera and then brake harshly to get under the speed limit, will know.”

The Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership (SSCP) has released details of a series of fixed and mobile cameras and figures relating to the number of serious road smashes.

And the statistics show that, since the speed traps have been introduced, the number of people dying or suffering serious injury in horror road accidents has nosedived.

Well I gave him a lot of good quotes shame as there were some very important messages within them all - these were probably the weakest - what a shame!