Avon - Batheaston Bypass

Situation:

Cameras placed on brand new dual carriageway with a 50mph speed limit before it even opened. Road is approached from a 60mph single carriageway.

Absurdity:

Trucks can increase speed from 40 to 50 when they reach the dual carriageway, whilst cars must slow from 60 to 50 at the very point when it is most safe to overtake the HGV!

Camera Abuse:

How can a brand new road be a proven speed related accident blackspot? Either the Highways Agency are knowingly engineering blackspots into new roads or they are not telling the truth about cameras being deployed in accident blackspots.

Derbyshire: A619 between M1 junction 30 and Chesterfield

Situation:

Fourteen cameras in ten miles of open A road.

Camera Abuse:

Mike Winnett, of the Transport Research Laboratory, who wrote the original guidelines for camera deployment, said on BBC 2's "Traffic" programme "This is not what speed cameras were designed for".

Middlesex - A40, in particular the Master Brewer Junction

Situation:

This red light camera was the very first in Britain, making the Master Brewer junction one of the worst accident blackspots in the country. This camera, along with numerous speed cameras on the A40, then became part of the "West London Speed Camera Demonstration Project" which was used to justify further camera introductions nationwide.

Absurdity:

One speed camera on the A40 is located directly under a pedestrian footbridge across a three lane dual carriageway where the limit has recently been reduced from 70mph to 50mph. How is this protecting pedestrians?

Camera Abuse:

How is a red light camera at a dangerous junction an abuse? In its own right, it is not. The abuse comes because the worst accident blackspot in the country simply disappeared from the measurements which "proved" camera effectiveness when a new bypass around it was opened during the test period.

A1 Elkesley near Retford, Nottinghamshire

Situation:

Following several accidents involving vehicles turning across the central reservation, a 50mph limit was introduced. When the accidents continued, a local councillor campaigned for cameras to enforce this wholly inappropriate limit. The accidents have not stopped.

Absurdity:

One of the first people to be caught when the cameras went li1ve was the man who had led this campaign. And caught properly, too - at 88mph in a 50 limit.

Camera Abuse:

Cameras cannot prevent this type of accident. A main trunk road like the A1 should have proper junctions.

West London - M4 Bus Lane

Situation:

Bus lane introduced in the outside lane of the M4 eastbound. Speed limit reduced to 50mph between Heathrow and the two lane section. Enforced by two speed cameras. Ongoing two lane section after bus lane reduced from 50 to 40 - enforced by a further three cameras.

Camera Abuse:

The limit was only lowered because of the bus lane. The Highways Agency must once again either be knowingly creating danger or using speed cameras for purposes other than safety.

M25 Variable Speed Limit - Surrey Section

Situation:

Variable speed limit enforced by numerous overhead gantry mounted cameras.

Camera Abuse:

This is not a safety scheme but an effort to prevent congestion by slowing traffic before it has to stop in order to better use roadspace. This has failed, with journey times through the scheme increasing, and it has not been extended to other motorways as planned. The cameras, of course, are still live. Once again, they are not being used for safety reasons but to enforce a scheme that aimed, unsuccessfully, to cram more traffic onto the roads.

All routes into London

Situation:

All main radial routes into London have been aggressively populated with cameras irrespective of the accident record and most roads have had speed limits reduced from 70mph to 50 or 40mph since the cameras have been introduced. Other cities such as Birmingham have followed suit.

Camera Abuse:

The reduced speed limits, which are not supported by drivers using the routes, are only enforceable because of camera technology. The purpose is not appropriate road safety targeted to accident blackspots, but mass intimidation to discourage drivers from bringing their cars into the city centre. Every route has cameras as a matter of policy.

A professional London Borough Highways Engineer said to the ABD: "Speed cameras on the majority of radial routes into London were put there by the Traffic Director for London, as part of the implementation of the red routes network. When the pilot red route was introduced about 5 or 6 years ago, it was very successful in alleviating congestion due to illegal parking, to the extent that speeds rose to above the speed limit! To answer the criticism that followed, the Traffic Director installed speed cameras in places where the highest speeds occurred, even though accidents had reduced, probably because the removal of parked vehicles made it less likely that pedestrians could step into the road unseen. It has been the Traffic Director's policy ever since to install speed cameras on all red routes where there is a likelihood that drivers will exceed the speed limit. Perhaps some of the cameras are at accident blackspots but the majority are not."

A45 - Coventry - Birmingham

Situation:

Numerous cameras enforcing a 60mph dual carriageway limit, mainly located at crossing points which have since been closed. The last crossing point, Packington Crossroads, is now to have a bridge built.

Camera Abuse:

The limit and cameras were not an appropriate solution to the problem of junction accidents. They have failed, and the proper solutions have finally been implemented. The cameras and the unnecessary limit remain, however.

Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire - A40

Situation:

Fourteen cameras plus several Truvelo sites.

Camera Abuse:

At least three of the cameras are located in the only spots where safe overtaking is possible, leading to riskier overtaking where there are no cameras. Many of the sites are hidden behind road signs.

Scottish Borders A68

Situation:

Numerous cameras, some located on overtaking straights, but many hidden behind signs and in bushes.

Camera Abuse:

These cameras are not in accident blackspots but are there solely to make an enjoyable road unpleasant for drivers. If cameras are supposed to be a deterrent to speeding in dangerous situations, why are they hidden?