Figures released recently have shown that the number of deaths on the roads in Essex increased to 116 in 2003. That's up from 92 in 2002 and comes close to the 123 killed in 2001.
Essex now has more speed cameras than any other county in the UK and has issued thousands upon thousands of speeding tickets to motorists.
In 2002 the Essex Safety Camera Partnership blasted out the message "THEY ARE WORKING" to support its use of cameras as road safety tools. Either driving standards have got worse in areas not monitored by cameras or in 2003 they weren't proving effective...
The sad aspect to all this is that while cameras partnerships maintain their dogged belief in cameras, people continue to die on our roads as a result of poor driving.
The dependence on cameras remains perverse. It's time for an Essex Safety Partnership to be formed with a focus on safety rather than cameras. Alternative funding needs to be found.
In the years to come it's likely that we'll see more and more evidence that road deaths aren't decreasing and the credibility of more and more partnerships will become undermined. It will take a brave politician to grasp the nettle though...
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