Figures released today by the National Audit Office show that 646 pedestrians and 136 cyclists were killed on British roads during 2007, a deadly toll that road safety campaigners are saying is due to the Government’s over reliance on speed cameras instead of effective road policing.
Despite the number of road deaths decreasing to a record low in 2007, Britain still ranks 11th out of 23 other countries for pedestrian deaths. Critics of speed cameras and road safety campaigners alike believe more cameras are not the answer. In spite of this, the Government remains committed to increasing the number of UK roads 'policed' in this way.
The latest scheme to come to light is an array of cameras that will be fixed at 19 gantries above a six-mile section of the M20 and M25. This, says the Highways Agency, will help to ‘regulate’ the flow of traffic heading to the channel tunnel and ferry crossings at Dover.
The cameras are part of a £16.5m Highways Agency initiative to bring variable speed limits to even more motorways. It says they reduce congestion, limit stress, lower vehicle emissions and curb the number of accidents.
A 12-week consultation period has begun on the controversial M20 system that will calculate the optimum speed for any given traffic level and automatically display 60mph, 50mph or 40mph speed limits accordingly. As many as 124,000 cars will pass through this single speed camera network every 24hrs during peak summer months, which could potentially earn the government thousands of pounds per day from that stretch of motorway alone.
Earlier this week it was revealed that speed cameras already earn the Treasury an incredible £10k per hour, with over 1.4m motorists being booked for speeding in 2007. Fixed penalty notices rose to almost £88m in 2007 compared to just £28.5m in 1997.
Apparently the Labour government has pocketed £840m from speeding motorists since it came to power, and it seems there's more to come!