Camera vans on the decline?
MCN survey reveals a drop in the number of speed camera vans
On the decline?
The paper reports: “Funding changes brought in by Government have plunged speed camera authorities into chaos and led to drastic cuts in the number of hours spent enforcing the limits, an MCN investigation has found.”
“Under the Government’s National Safety Camera Programme, partnerships between police forces and local councils were set up to run cameras using fine money. That scheme was scrapped in April, leaving local councils to pay for cameras out of a general road safety grant. Now the partnerships have been forced to shut down websites and are struggling to find the staff to man mobile speed cameras. In some cases confusion reigns over whether the ‘safety camera partnerships’ still exist.”
“In Gloucestershire mobile speed cameras spent a total of 164 hours catching speeders in June 2006 but only 69 hours doing so this June. It means enforcement levels last month were only 42% of their level last year. The actual number of mobile cameras also fell, from three in June 2006 to two last month. Gloucestershire Safety Camera Partnership blamed the fall on staff shortages, saying vacancies were currently being filled.”
“In Northamptonshire the partnership’s official response reported a fall of 17% in the time speed cameras vans were active in June 2007 compared to June 2006.”
“MCN asked camera partnerships across the UK for the same information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. In nine counties to so far respond, mobile speed cameras were deployed for 19% fewer hours in June 2007 than June 2006. The rest have until the end of the month to respond under the FOI Act.”
Paul Smith, founder of SafeSpeed.org.uk, said: "So it looks like speed cameras are finally fading away. That's good, but it's nowhere near good enough. The decline of speed cameras will be a relief to motorists, but it is essential to road safety that we scrap speed cameras - with considerable ceremony - if we are to start to shift the dangerously false road safety dogma that supports them."
"This reduction in speed camera activity is the direct and deliberate result of the new funding arrangements from Department for Transport. It is perfectly clear - and not at all surprising - that Department for Transport has lost confidence in the speed camera programme. I am extremely angry that they do not have the courage or the decency to come out and say so. Clearly they would rather save face than save lives."
"Speed cameras have failed as a road safety policy. We must scrap the lot and move on to policies that will actually save lives on our roads."
"All our speed cameras are in the wrong places - they should be in the scrap yard."
More police cars and officers I say. They can target general bad driving rather than people who stray a couple of mph over the limit.
Also on the subject of things how much extra would it cost to turn highway patrol officers into police so that they can do some good.
I hate speed cameras due to their binary approach to law breaking but am not pig headed enough to think that well trained, reasonable police officers are not totally necessary.
They say in this article that the money from fines would go to fund this scamera network, and now the government have changed there mind, probably that muppet Gordon Brown so now it all goes into the huge black hole he calls an economy. ( I suppose that is a good thing as the scamera vans are on the decline)
Had my first experience of the A14 SPECS as well - what a useless scheme - I touched 65 once on the whole stretch. The daftest thing is that if you get a brief moment where you can do 90, chances are your average speed will still be within tolerance.
Had my first experience of the A14 SPECS as well - what a useless scheme - I touched 65 once on the whole stretch. The daftest thing is that if you get a brief moment where you can do 90, chances are your average speed will still be within tolerance.
Had my first experience of the A14 SPECS as well - what a useless scheme - I touched 65 once on the whole stretch. The daftest thing is that if you get a brief moment where you can do 90, chances are your average speed will still be within tolerance.
Had my first experience of the A14 SPECS as well - what a useless scheme - I touched 65 once on the whole stretch. The daftest thing is that if you get a brief moment where you can do 90, chances are your average speed will still be within tolerance.
I then saw a further two in Leicester.
I have not seen any for ages, and yesterday I saw 3, doing no good to anyone, other than make people react unpredictably when they eventually woke up and spotted them.
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