Safe Speed Forums

'Change the law' for more speed cameras
Paul Whitehouse
A DEMAND for a change in the law that would allow speed cameras to be installed on more roads could be ratified by Barnsley Council today.
But a report to the council concedes the devices could create a danger in some circumstances.
All traffic cameras in the county are operated by the South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership, an organisation that includes the borough councils, police and others.
They are restricted by tight regulation on where fixed cameras can be installed or where mobile units are allowed to operate. Under Government rules there must be a history of crashes causing serious injuries or deaths in the area.
Earlier this year the Partnership submitted a document to the Government making a case for new sites, including two at Barnsley on the A61 at Staincross and Laithes Lane at Athersley.
The council has conducted its own study into speed cameras and believes there are at least two more roads in the town where safety would be improved by them.
Their crash record is not bad enough to meet the Government guidelines and today the council's ruling cabinet will decide whether to ask for a legal change to increase councils' powers over deciding camera sites, regardless of accident records.
Councillors are being asked to lobby MPs for changes to the rules over where speed cameras are positioned.
That recommendation comes despite a suggestion in the same report that accidents could be caused by drivers looking for cameras instead of paying full attention to activity on the road.
A further recommendation in the report is more use of vehicle-activated signs, which flash up a warning if a vehicle approaches too quickly.
Some are in use in Barnsley but they are more widely utilised in surrounding communities, including Doncaster and Wakefield, where they are seen as successful.
The report to Barnsley Council states: "Vehicle activated signs would not induce drivers into slamming on their brakes in order to avoid prosecution when approaching a speed camera.
"Such action carried the risk of causing a pile-up, in itself. Research suggested that other accidents could be caused by drivers on the look-out for speed cameras and therefore not paying attention to the road."
Research suggests the signs, where used, have reduced traffic speeds by an average of up to 11mph.
"It was felt that as VAS would not lead to the prosecution of speeding motorists and were a less controversial means of curbing speed, drivers were more receptive to them," the report says.
02 November 2005

Can sanity prevail......we shall see