Safe Speed Forums

Speed cameras face the axe in cuts
By Tim Shipman
26 July 2010

Thousands of speed cameras will be switched off after the Government slashed the money that funds them.

In an open attempt to have the controversial cameras axed, ministers have pushed through 40% cuts to the cash handed to councils for road safety.
That will limit the amount they can pass to road safety partnerships which run the cameras.
Ministers have also axed all funding for new speed cameras.
But senior Ministry of Transport officials indicated that many of the grey and yellow camera shells could remain to act as a deterrent to speeding drivers - a move that will irritate motorists.
The Government has cut £38m of the £95m that had been due to go to local authorities this financial year for road safety.

The move to reduce the number of cameras was welcomed by motoring groups which have long claimed that they are a stealth tax measure which has little impact on road safety.
Since they were introduced in 1992 the 6,000 speed cameras across Britain have been generating an estimated £100m in fines each year.
Every camera in Oxfordshire is set to disappear after £600,000 of cuts to the Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership.
The county council will vote tomorrow on whether to cease all enforcement in the county and switch off its 72 fixed speed cameras - which raised £1m last year - as soon as August 1.

Road safety minister Mike Penning said: 'In the coalition agreement the Government made clear it would end central funding for fixed speed cameras.
'Local authorities have relied too heavily on safety cameras for far too long.
'So I am pleased that some councils are now focusing on other measures to reduce road casualties. This is another example of this Government delivering on its pledge to end the war on the motorist.'
A senior source added: 'The likelihood is that many councils will leave the camera shells in place but nine out of ten of them won't have a camera inside.'

Road safety campaigners warned that the move would cost lives.
Ellen Booth, of road safety group Brake, said: 'It would be a disaster if these cuts were passed on in full by county councils to road safety partnerships.
'It would be especially hard to justify the idea that all speed cameras should be turned off. We would really be risking people's lives.'
Alan Johnson, who was Home Secretary in the Labour government that presided over an explosion in the number of cameras, said the removal of those that had been shown to reduce the number of road casualties was 'a big mistake'.
He added: 'Everyone who has analysed this has said that speed cameras have been an important part of the dramatic improvement on our roads.
'The carnage on our roads every year has gone down dramatically.'

But Claire Armstrong, of the lobby group Safe Speed, said: 'We are delighted that this is a step in the right direction.
'People are getting fleeced for something that's unnecessary. 'But we need to get rid of all of them, the Gatsos and the average speed cameras.
'If you're constantly checking your speedo and looking out for cameras, it alters the focus of your eyesight and ruins a driver's anticipation of hazards ahead.'
She said that the fake shell cameras should all be removed.
'Cameras alter people's perceptions. All that people are worried about is their driving licence and whether there's a camera.
'That's an awful thing to do to drivers who are otherwise driving safely.'

STUNG FOR £2M IN THREE MONTHS
The most profitable traffic camera in Britain has snared more than 16,000 drivers in only three months - raking in nearly £2m from them.
The camera, near Victoria Station in Central London, has caught out motorists who have strayed into a bus lane because of a badly-signposted diversion.
It is collecting more than £150,000 a week, beating the salary of the country's best-paid footballer, former England captain John Terry.
So far, 16,123 drivers have been hit with fines of £120. If the camera stays for a year it will have earned £8m for Transport for London.
Motoring organisations complained yesterday because permanent and temporary road signs at the busy junction give contradictory orders to drivers.
To make matters worse, Transport for London's website shows the now-banned route past Victoria Station as a way of avoiding the capital's congestion charge.