Monday 25th January 2010

Call For UK-Wide Average Speed Cams

'Sustainability' report demands raft of anti-motoring measures

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Average speed cameras should be installed on more motorways and urban routes, and automatic speed controllers fitted to cars - all in the name of reducing the UK's carbon footprint, says the tax-payer funded Sustainable Development Commission.

A new 64-page SDC 'quango' report issued today entitled 'Smarter Moves' calls for a raft of anti-motoring measures, some of which we've listed below. If your Monday isn't miserable enough already, you can find the full report on the SDC website.

Call us biased if you will (and we won't deny it!), but a quick scan of the report's contents reveals a painfully predictable document that rehashes many of the narrow-minded arguments of the anti-motoring lobby. In fact it's all so depressingly familiar that we're staggered the SDC thinks it can justify the tax-payer cash it has expended on putting the report together at all.

From our brief acquaintance with it, the report is entirely one-sided and seems to have taken no evidence from the automotive industry itself. In fact the author/s appear blind to how technological advances are already reducing CO2 tailpipe (and whole life) emissions from the cars we are driving.

You may imagine how our despond deepened to read that one of the SDC's report's recommendations is the formation of a new 'Sustainable Mobility Innovation and Growth Team' for the nation to chuck more of its budget deficit at...

'Highlights' of the Smarter [sic] Moves report recommendations:

• The Department for Transport, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to sponsor an ICT Enabled Sustainable Mobility Innovation and Growth Team.
• Work with the Highways Agency to enforce motorway speed limits through the use of average speed camera technology
• Encourage the use of average speed camera technology to better enforce urban speed limits
• Accelerate actions to enable the widespread introduction of voluntary Intelligent Speed Adaptation technology, setting out a clear timetable for implementation of the recommendations made in the joint Commission for Integrated Transport/Motorists' Forum report.
• Consider further trials of Intelligent Speed Adaptation, fitting units to ministerial and other Government Car and Despatch Agency vehicles. If successful, the technology should be rolled out to all government, public sector and public transport operator's vehicles.
• Monitor and report on the level of public awareness of the benefits of eco-driving and further raise awareness through the "Act on CO2" campaign.
• Ensure all public sector employees who drive a vehicle as part of their job are given eco-driver training.
• Put in place actions to accelerate the growth of car clubs, working with Carplus and local authorities to identify and overcome barriers to growth.
• Department for Transport to encourage more efficient road network utilisation through better use of parking controls, tolls and road pricing.
• The Department for Transport to revise transport funding arrangements to allow local authorities increased flexibility between revenue and capital funding.

[Nickellarse]

1) Post "speed enforcement" story to PH web site.
2) Light blue touch paper.
3) Retire safe distance.
4) Let the begin.

[joe_90]

fk OFF, that is all. never mind the cost/carbon to implement this in the first place.

Edited by joe_90 on Monday 25th January 13:37

[EDLT]

A quango suggesting that more quangos are needed. Who'd have thought it?

[wtdoom]

we have stop putting up with this . if this was france there would be enough sheep burning on the roads .
baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[Denis O]

Fook burning sheep. Burn the fooking lentil munchers.

[louismchuge]

read so much of this nonsence in the last year or so that this is water off a ducks back really

[Gun]

I think I'd politely tell them to shove this up their arse sideways.

[MrTappets]

It takes two to quango.

[soad]

fk off, you stupid s. Average Speed Scameras are bad enough, auto speed regulators aswell now?! Who's goin to pay for all that - we are, of course.

fking tts of the highest order.

[stuckmojo]

I despair

[henrycrun]

Nowt on there, just a link to a Telegraph story. PH please don't waste our time

[timewatch]

IN OTHER WORDS - "TAX THE MOTORIST OFF THE ROAD".

Shrink the population that's what I say !

They are so Shallow!!!!!

TW>>>

[scottdav]

I'd rather remove my own testicles with chopsticks then eat them, thanks anyway

[Chris-R]

henrycrun said:

Nowt on there, just a link to a Telegraph story. PH please don't waste our time

And this:

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?i...

[7mike]

How much concrete would be needed to plant all these extra average speed cameras in the ground, not forgetting transporting them to site, traffic delays whilst planting them, movement of raw materials to make the bloody things in the first place etc. Shirley, a cull of those in government funded non jobs would have a much greater effect on reducing the country's carbon footprint.

[98' INTEGRA]

Plant more trees if you want to reduce the carbon Dioxide!! Tiz not rocket science...

[Sir Snaz]

I can feel my ps begining to boil .......what is wrong with this damn country!!!!!

[thundercolo]

It´s a pity that so many good people like you keep spending their precious time with this kind of stuff. Wake up guys!! The whole Europe and United States are governed by a bunch of people called Masons or Illuminati and their only purpose is to make us lose all hope and faith in everything. Put your eyes off the TV for a f...ing second and look around, you´ll notice that nothing works fine (governs, religion, economics, health, environment, work, even cars and things related to them) and that all the c.ap we stand everyday has only one reason for being, its being made on purpose! Is the only way to make us believe in their crazy ideas. And most of this world conspiracy started and is still controlled from the UK, so if you want to enjoy your car like a proper human being you only have two options: go to another non-mason-controlled country or like one of the best rock bands you ever had said................... ANARCHY!!!! Greetings from Spain!!

[leon9191]

Its laughable really, what has happened here is a bunch of yahoos have been given some money and been told to write a report on carbon foot print reduction or some other such crap. They then proceeded to cock about and blew all the budget on “business” lunches and then when their homework was due cut and pasted it out of Wikipedia.

I wouldn’t read too much into this it’s a load of bkss.

[sc00byd00byd00]

There is a getout...... (currently)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-2337087...


Lane Hop......

The company's technical director Graeme Southwood said that when the devices were approved by the Home Office in 1999, they passed strict tests for use in one lane at a time. But there was not enough time or finances to extend Home office approval tests to cover the cameras' use over two or three lanes at a time. This has created the loop-hole. (A speeding vehicle would not be picked up, if it's gone from lane one to lane three between cameras)