Safe Speed Forums

A speed camera on every corner to enforce new 20mph limit

Hundreds of speed cameras should be put up to enforce a reduced urban limit of 20mph, says an influential road safety group.

It also calls for a blitz on motorists more likely to cause accidents - such as fat drivers who are prone to dozing off and elderly drivers who may no longer be safe behind the wheel.

The report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety - which advises MPs and the Government - says local authorities want to introduce digital cameras which measure speed over a set distance to enforce the 20mph limit.

Such cameras - as opposed to those which log a cars speed at a single point - regularly catch out thousands of drivers at roadworks on motorways.

However, the type requires Home Office approval to be operated at lower speeds. The report says the Government should make it a priority to grant it.

The speed camera measure is one of a number aimed at ensuring the annual number of road casualties starts falling again.

The advisory council argues for more 20mph zones in built-up areas and the setting of a target to reduce deaths on the roads to half the present level - about 3,200 a year - over the next decade.

"One significant impediment to lowering speed limits and expanding the 20mph network is that, at present, standard cameras are not type-approved to enforce limits below 30mph," it says.

Traffic humps and chicanes are used instead but are unpopular, expensive, cause problems for emergency vehicles and add to emissions.

"Time-over-distance cameras offer an effective alternative enforcement tool," it concludes.

"Many local authorities, and Transport for London in particular, are keen to explore the possibilities of using time-over-distance cameras."

The Department of Transport said it was up to local councils to make decisions on cameras and 20mph zones, and up to the Home Office to grant typeapproval for camera equipment.

A camera blitz on speeding must be accompanied by a war on motorists' dangerous lifestyles - with the very fat, the very old, and the very young to be targeted, adds the report.

It says the Government must even tackle poverty in its efforts to reduce road deaths - pointing out that children in the poorest areas are five times more likely to be killed in a road accident than those in the wealthiest areas.

The report says "sedentary lifestyles" make drivers more prone to an accident.

On the problem of older drivers it notes: "The UK population is ageing and likely to keep driving further, in larger numbers and for longer than previous generations.

"With the increased frailty and potentially declining capabilities, an older population poses a significant challenge to the road safety profession."

The report, called Beyond 2010 - a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain, says all new residential developments must pass a "pint of milk test" - whether a resident can reach a shop to buy a pint of milk in under ten minutes without using a vehicle.

Edmund King, of the RAC Foundation, said: "Motorists will accept 20mph limits where they make sense - but they don't want them everywhere."

The AA Motoring Trust said: "The question drivers have to ask themselves is this - are they prepared to meet some pretty draconian measures and loss of freedom to achieve these extremely tough road safety targets."

Cameras 'to catch 20mph speeders'

The report argues for more to be done to improve road safety
Drivers breaking 20mph limits could be caught out by new speed cameras if the government accepts advisors' proposals.

Local authorities are keen to introduce the cameras, a report by the government's advisors on transport safety says.

The devices measure a driver's speed over a certain distance and should be a priority for the Home Office, it says.

The report also argues for more 20mph zones in built up areas and a target to cut road deaths by half.

Early approval

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) said the devices need Home Office approval and priority should be given for this to happen.

The report, called Beyond 2010 - a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain, also recommends that all new residential developments should be subject to a "pint of milk test".

This is whether a resident can reach a shop to buy a pint of milk in under 10 minutes without using a vehicle.

There are currently around 3,200 road deaths annually, compared to more than 7,000 a year in the 1960s.

Deaths preventable

This improvement is due to a number of factors including seatbelts, improved car design, the breathalyser and traffic-calming measures.

The government has a target of reducing deaths and serious injuries on the roads by 40% by 2010 compared with the average figure for the mid-1990s.

Pacts' executive director Robert Gifford said: "Improving road safety is not an academic exercise. Deaths on our roads are preventable occurrences where society could and should do more to prevent them.

"Every year, the inhabitants of a town the size of Nottingham or Belfast are killed or injured on our roads. This report highlights the actions that need to be taken to reduce this level of death and injury."

The report, called Beyond 2010 - a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain, says all new residential developments must pass a "pint of milk test" - whether a resident can reach a shop to buy a pint of milk in under ten minutes without using a vehicle.

You should have heard the waffle on BBC News this morning here in Suffolk. Someone spouting how the government have cut road deaths by half, and that these 20mph limits will cut them even further. They want us all at a standstill.

Excellent. All housing development in rural areas stopped at a stroke.

"Many local authorities, and Transport for London in particular, are keen to explore the possibilities of using time-over-distance cameras."

How do people THIS stupid get allowed anywhere near the jobs they're in. Seriously.

The only sensible suggestion is the pint of milk test. We've had endless 'discussions' about how taking pensioners car off them can leave them isolated. And it will if we keep building huge estates with no facilities, where everyone drives and all the shops are out of town hypermarkets.

I notice that they've started comparing current road deaths with the figures from the 1960's, in order to show a 50% reduction. It's factually correct but extremely misleading.

It also calls for a blitz on motorists more likely to cause accidents - such as fat drivers who are prone to dozing off

It says the Government must even tackle poverty in its efforts to reduce road deaths - pointing out that children in the poorest areas are five times more likely to be killed in a road accident than those in the wealthiest areas.