Monday 25th September 2006

Speed camera stats are wrong: official

Case for speed cameras collapses amid shower of statistics

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Gatso: no reason to exist

The government's own statisticians have shown that its speed camera policies have no basis in fact. In practice, they don't save lives.

The UK's ever-expanding forest of speedtrap devices has been officially justified by an alleged concomitant fall in casualty figures. However, official stats watchdogs have shown that the numbers of those killed or seriously injured (KSI) haven't fallen during a period when the numbers of such devices have expanded rapidly.

Instead, KSIs have remained static, and are now rising.

At the same time as an 11 per cent cut in traffic police patrols, the numbers of people in hospital as a result of road accidents has increased, according to the Statistics Commission. The official figures are supplied by the police and not from hospitals. According to the commission, if this information were included, the numbers could be up to 50 per cent higher than claimed.

A briefing note from the Office of National Statistics voiced 'particular concern' on the part of national statistician Karen Dunhill that the Government is using the lower, police-supplied figures to measure whether it's hitting its target of a 40 per cent reduction by 2010 in KSIs.

The latest police KSI figures are about 59.4 people per 100,000 -- down from 85.9 per 100,000 a decade ago. But figures based on hospital admissions have remained broadly constant over the period at about 90 per 100,000.

This is in line with the detailed analysis of groups such as Safe Speed, which has highlighted the lack of hard evidence for the speed camera expansion policy.

And in June, a study by the prestigious British Medical Journal showed that official casualty figures are deeply flawed and, by implication, that the government's speed camera policy was based on false information.

A separate study by University College London and Swansea University called 'Under-reporting of Road Casualties' said the number seriously injured could be double the number recorded in police statistics, blaming 'mis-classifying or mis-recording' of injuries.

Safe Speed's Paul Smith said: "So now we see the truth. The roads are not getting safer. Government road safety policy is being sexed-up by dodgy statistics. The Department for Transport must immediately pull the plug on the failed and dangerous speed camera programme."

Related stories

• Speed cameras have no reason to exist: report
• Speed safety claims wrong: research
• Cameras increase crashes: official
• Bad roads policy causes deaths
• www.safespeed.org.uk

[aston67]

quod erat demonstrandum

but how much did it cost us (the drivers) and all the harassment it has caused? how many people had their job damaged by this awful policy? How much our insurance premium went up?

And again Saturday you can see a moron swerving at 65 mph all over 3 lanes going to Guilford...

plenty of speed cameras but no a cop to be seen...

not one when you need them

AM

[Deltafox]

Tell it to the "partnerships", they insist that they work and that we all love them.

[fidgits]

Deltafox said:

Tell it to the "partnerships", they insist that they work and that we all love them.

but they'll just put their fingers in their ears and start saying "la la la - I'm not listening"

[HUGE]

Deltafox said:

Tell it to the "partnerships", they insist that they work and that we all love them.

...ever seen a turkey voting for Christmas ??

[Mista_V]

How many times have we heard the stats are a load of cr*p? It really is irrelevant to know anymore because nothing will change...

Everyone and their dog knows it's about the cash, scameras are here to stay.

I say we do it like the french and go mental running around the streets with chainsaws and JCB's just tearing the things down.

So who's with me...

[thirsty]

At least in the UK, all of the cameras are painted yellow and posted on websites. In Switzerland, the cameras are all hidden, and usually placed in a location to gain maximum revenue.

The only good part of that deal is that you don't get points on your license.

[jewhoo]

Eeven if this is a bit more "official", what's the chances of the government doing anything?

[Mista_V]

jewhoo said:

Eeven if this is a bit more "official", what's the chances of the government doing anything?

I'd say somewhere along the lines of winning the euromillions five times in a row.

[aston67]

maybe the Lib Dem will scrap them as a vote winner...

however I have some genuine doubts on how serious they are because recently they wanted to tax those heaters used to warm up patios in the gardens and outside pubs

[james_j]

It's refreshing to hear the truth now and then from official sources, particularly when all you get for much of the time is bullsh1t justification for cameras and speed traps. It's clear it's all for £££ as most of us know.

[droptheclutch]

This has probably been discussed before, however,

ANYONE FOR A UK TUF TUF CLUB??? :-)

[widjit]

Global warming (no no the ozone hole, no err oops global climate change caused by greenhouse gases including water vapour omit the last part)

Iraq.....where to start?

Casualty figures from Afganistan

Unending useless drivel backed up by massaged information

Sack them all!

[Fire99]

This is the government through and through..
The roads are now full of 'devices' to take our attention, making driving stressful and to be honest more dangerous..

Our wonderfull leaders are full of pointless 'icing on the cake' schemes to make life 'better' and 'safer' which merely points to a government who dont know how to govern.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to determine what makes driving safer and, regardless of technology, it hasn't changed much in 100 years..
I think its called Police policing the streets..

Cameras are just a lazy way to try and save money..
The same goes for most CCTV cameras too.. They haven't helped much either..

[hoonfest]

I guess we all ready new that scameras are just a money spinner for this goverment. We can only hope a total ban is called for and becomes a manifesto pledge for an incoming party, hmmm but how many of those promises are kept:rolleys:.

[protomoose]

Speed cameras are a great stupid tax - i.e. a tax on the stupid

Want to drive fast ? Go to a track, like I do on a regular basis. Or to Germany, where high speeds in the outside lane are expected and therefore lane discipline is taken seriously.

Too stupid to spot the cameras ? Excellent - I'll have your £50, or at least my share of it. I love my road tax being subsidised by morons. Keep speeding, jumping red lights, stopping in yellow boxes, etc!

[unobtainum]

protomoose said:

Speed cameras are a great stupid tax - i.e. a tax on the stupid

Want to drive fast ? Go to a track, like I do on a regular basis. Or to Germany, where high speeds in the outside lane are expected and therefore lane discipline is taken seriously.

Too stupid to spot the cameras ? Excellent - I'll have your £50, or at least my share of it. I love my road tax being subsidised by morons. Keep speeding, jumping red lights, stopping in yellow boxes, etc!

Dont work for Blair by any chance do you. You are missing the point. And no I will not explain it to you as I would be wasting even more time on you. What an idiot.

[gpshead]

Now listen. Cameras fulfil an essential role in discouraging car use, bringing cash in and allowing us to take huge numbers of traffic police off the roads. We are sick to death of people harping on about irrelevances such as road deaths, serious injuries, distractions and other actual safety concerns. We don't care about piddling little things like that, and you know it, so just accept that the cameras are here to stay, and we'll all get along much better. You are simply trying to antagonise and sidetrack us. Social engineering, political correctness and junk science are far more important than silly statistics about where, when and how many people have accidents. We haven't got the time or the inclination to concern ourselves with that sort of nonsense. Just be good and obey us, there's no need to think for yourselves. We know best, why would we lie to you?

[cross-eyed-twit]

Agreed with most of that but CCTV cameras have caught more paedophiles/rapists/robbers/high st thugs than I can imagine. Shame they actually have a use though.

Fire99 said:

This is the government through and through..
The roads are now full of 'devices' to take our attention, making driving stressful and to be honest more dangerous..

Our wonderfull leaders are full of pointless 'icing on the cake' schemes to make life 'better' and 'safer' which merely points to a government who dont know how to govern.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to determine what makes driving safer and, regardless of technology, it hasn't changed much in 100 years..
I think its called Police policing the streets..

Cameras are just a lazy way to try and save money..
The same goes for most CCTV cameras too.. They haven't helped much either..

[Deltafox]

protomoose said:

Speed cameras are a great stupid tax - i.e. a tax on the stupid

Want to drive fast ? Go to a track, like I do on a regular basis. Or to Germany, where high speeds in the outside lane are expected and therefore lane discipline is taken seriously.

Too stupid to spot the cameras ? Excellent - I'll have your £50, or at least my share of it. I love my road tax being subsidised by morons. Keep speeding, jumping red lights, stopping in yellow boxes, etc!

Spot the C*nt.

[thirsty]

protomoose said:

Speed cameras are a great stupid tax - i.e. a tax on the stupid

Want to drive fast ? Go to a track, like I do on a regular basis. Or to Germany, where high speeds in the outside lane are expected and therefore lane discipline is taken seriously.

Too stupid to spot the cameras ? Excellent - I'll have your £50, or at least my share of it. I love my road tax being subsidised by morons. Keep speeding, jumping red lights, stopping in yellow boxes, etc!