The camera site in question
Remember all the media fuss last week when Thames Valley Safer Roads (sic) Partnership claimed more people were speeding after Oxfordshire cameras were switched off? Seems we may have been misled.
The Oxford Mail reported yesterday that it has managed to dig up figures which the Safer Roads (sic) Partnership had previously claimed 'were not readily to hand', and the numbers clearly show that one of the camera sites witnessed a four percent fall in offences when 'like for like' data was used. One angry local councillor was moved to use the time-worn phrase "lies, damn lies and statistics" about the widely reported piece of pro-camera propaganda released by the Partnership.
You can read the Oxford Mail article here. While we're not in possession of enough facts to comment specifically on this case, if this turns out to be the work of self-interested 'Road Safety Professionals' releasing dodgy data in the panic to save a gravy train that's being derailed by (popularly supported) budget cuts... well, we won't be surprised at all.
On the other hand, it could be a perfectly innocent mistake. Either way it all smells pretty rotten - in our humble opinion, of course. Hats off to the Oxford Mail for getting stuck in.