Safe Speed Forums

Cambridge Newshere[quote="Cambridge News - Raymond Brown"]Camera at death spot about to be switched on at last
Raymond Brown Published: 27/02/2011 00:00 - Updated: 27/02/2011 18:06

A speed camera near the spot where two teenagers died on the A1307 is about to be switched on – nine months after it was installed.

Work to set up the camera started in July last year, after it had been promised 18 months earlier.
Confusion over connecting the new speed camera to the electricity grid led to its switch-on being delayed.
The camera pole and box had been installed, but the camera could not operate until the supply was connected.
Cambridgeshire highways chiefs have now told the News the roadside camera will be switched on on Wednesday.
Campaigners have welcomed the news after a lengthy battle to make the road safer.
The camera is close to the Cardinals Green junction where both 15-year-old Imogen Barker and Alice Westland, 16, died in separate collisions after getting off buses.

Esther Cornell, of the Access 1307 group, said the camera had been promised more than two years ago and although it was a long time coming, it was very welcome.
She said: “This is excellent news.
“It was put up about eight or nine months ago and I think they were waiting for Government guidelines but to have a camera put up and not use it is stupid.
“This should reduce the speed of traffic and that is good.
“Anything that will help with speed on the A1307 is welcome.”
But plans for a second camera near Hildersham have been shelved.
The campaigner said: “There are people and children having to cross three lanes to get to a bus stop at Hildersham.
“There should be a camera there too.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council said: “We were waiting for the all-clear from the electricity company which we will have and the cameras will be working on Wednesday.”[/quote="Cambridge News - Raymond "]Isn't it sad how a few people have this magical belief in the mere presence of a speed camera will somehow make all things 'safe'.
Concentrating motorists and all road users away from the task at hand will not make them consider people that may cross or any other anticipated possibility !
If the road crossing is difficult then how about a zebra crossing or lights or widening / opening up the area for better vision and enable buses to pull right off the road ? Was it the bus presence that caused a visual impairment ? Did the people who crossed go in front of the bus so there was the least warning to motorists ? Motorists ought to have been aware of this danger but now with a camera they will even more be concentrating on their speed and speedo and the location of the camera and probably not even considering the possibility of people crossing.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

When the heck did a speed camera become an alternative to a pedestrian crossing? This is criminal.

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

The exact opposite happens round here. Sight lines (particularly into roundabouts) are being deliberately obstructed by errecting huge chevron signs or actual fence panels on the central reservation to obstruct your view of traffic on the roundabout. By this logic, bus stops should be hidden so that motorists can't see them!

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Yes,isn't it strange that after decades of safety films and slogans like, "see and be seen", wear light clothing at night, wear hi viz jackets , put your headlights on in dull conditions, etc.etc, that certain safety "experts" believe that "hiding" a large proportion of road users away from sight, until the last possible moment is somehow....."safe"!!!!

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.