Pistonheads in The Times
Discussion
www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-933907,00.html
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Speed trap defender defies death threats by drivers
By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent and Simon de Bruxelles
POLICE are investigating death threats against the leader of a road safety charity who spoke out in defence of speed cameras.
Anti-camera campaigners have singled out Mary Williams, the chief executive of Brake, after she appeared on television to argue that cameras saved lives.
The debate over cameras has reached fever pitch in recent weeks. Ministers are growing increasingly nervous after learning that the number of drivers receiving camera fines and penalty points is approaching two million a year. Several protest groups founded by motorists have been lobbying intensively for the growth in cameras to be reversed.
They are particularly opposed to the Government’s “cash-for-cameras” policy, under which partnerships between police and local authorities keep a proportion of camera fines to cover the costs of speed enforcement. One council is now considering withdrawing its support from its local partnership after claiming that cameras were focused more on raising revenue than improving safety.
Mike Roe, the Conservative leader of North Somerset Council, said: “The cameras are simply an income generator for the partnership and a tax generator for the treasury. We feel they are fuelling the bureaucracy of more cameras. People feel very angry about it because it’s seen as a tax machine.”
Mr Roe’s comments were seized on by anti-camera groups, who consider them a turning point in their campaign. The favoured tactic of the groups is to focus on key individuals who support the cash-for- cameras policy, including Ms Williams and Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales.
Ms Williams had initially ignored the highly personal verbal attacks made on her, but yesterday she called in the police after a series of death threats appeared on pistonheads.com, a website for sportscar enthusiasts.
One member suggested that she should be “knocked off” or have her brake cables cut. Another described her as a witch who should be burnt at the stake. The messages were removed from the website last night after West Yorkshire Police began investigating.
Ms Williams founded Brake in 1995 after her mother was killed by a truck with faulty brakes. In 1997 her partner Richard Longworth was killed by an overtaking driver on a rural road in Hertfordshire.
Ms Williams said she was a professional charity leader who did not allow her bereavements to colour her judgment. She said that the campaign of vilification against her was distressing. “It is natural for anyone to be upset by such personal attacks. It makes you wonder the lengths to which these people will go to achieve their aims.”
Last night one of the leaders of the campaign against cameras offered sympathy to the drivers who had issued threats against Ms Williams. Paul Smith, founder of the SafeSpeed website, who makes regular media appearances denouncing cameras, said that speed traps were costing lives because drivers’ attention was being diverted from the road to their speedometers.
“Mary Williams is a dangerous character because she supports a fatally flawed policy. The comments made about her are mild reactions, quite frankly.” Mr Smith’s website carries a picture of a speed camera that had been destroyed by setting fire to a tyre placed around it.
Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, has been reluctant to be drawn into the debate on speed cameras. He has attempted to pacify irate drivers by offering to investigate reports of cameras being hidden or placed on roads where there was little danger from speeding.
It has largely been left to Ms Williams and a handful of other road safety campaigners to defend the Government’s camera policy.
CASH AND CONTROVERSY
There are 4,500 speed cameras in Britain.
Deaths and serious injuries fell by 35 per cent after
cameras were installed under a “cash-for-cameras” pilot scheme that allowed police forces to keep some of the fines to pay for speed enforcement.
A camera can be installed only on a road where there have been four deaths or serious injuries in the previous three years.
Durham is the only police force in Britain which has refused to establish a “cash-for-cameras” scheme.
1.1 million people were caught by cameras in 2001. This year the number is expected to be between 1.5 and 2 million.
Anti-speed camera groups say that 700 cameras have been damaged or destroyed.
Road deaths have stuck firmly at about 3,400 a year since 1998 after falling steadily over the previous 30 years.
LOVE AND HATE ON CAMERA
A vigilante group opposing speed cameras called
Motorists Against Detection (MAD) blew up a £12,000 camera with fireworks in Scotland last month. Their leader, “Captain Gatso”, promised more attacks this Christmas
A speed camera-proof car device was invented by ten-year-old Charlie Watts, from Norfolk, after his father got a speeding ticket. The laser device warns the driver to slow down when it detects a camera
A man who tried to set fire to a speed camera on the A47 outside Norwich was jailed for 12 months earlier this year. Karl Joyce, 20, vandalised the £38,000 camera in revenge after some of his friends were caught speeding
Roadside speed cameras showing a face that
frowns or smiles at drivers according to how fast they are going were tested by Sussex Police last month
Timothy Dews, 41, from Wiltshire, set up a fake speed camera on the edge of his garden in an attempt to slow passing traffic along a local “rat run”, and found that many motorists did reduce their speed
A policeman said to be obsessed with speed cameras was accused of driving tourists away from a popular holiday spot in North Wales. Angry hoteliers said they were losing thousands of pounds in trade after Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable, issued 20,000 speeding tickets over six months this year
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I just love the bit about:
"It has largely been left to Ms Williams and a handful of other road safety campaigners to defend the Government’s camera policy."
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
====================================================
Speed trap defender defies death threats by drivers
By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent and Simon de Bruxelles
POLICE are investigating death threats against the leader of a road safety charity who spoke out in defence of speed cameras.
Anti-camera campaigners have singled out Mary Williams, the chief executive of Brake, after she appeared on television to argue that cameras saved lives.
The debate over cameras has reached fever pitch in recent weeks. Ministers are growing increasingly nervous after learning that the number of drivers receiving camera fines and penalty points is approaching two million a year. Several protest groups founded by motorists have been lobbying intensively for the growth in cameras to be reversed.
They are particularly opposed to the Government’s “cash-for-cameras” policy, under which partnerships between police and local authorities keep a proportion of camera fines to cover the costs of speed enforcement. One council is now considering withdrawing its support from its local partnership after claiming that cameras were focused more on raising revenue than improving safety.
Mike Roe, the Conservative leader of North Somerset Council, said: “The cameras are simply an income generator for the partnership and a tax generator for the treasury. We feel they are fuelling the bureaucracy of more cameras. People feel very angry about it because it’s seen as a tax machine.”
Mr Roe’s comments were seized on by anti-camera groups, who consider them a turning point in their campaign. The favoured tactic of the groups is to focus on key individuals who support the cash-for- cameras policy, including Ms Williams and Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales.
Ms Williams had initially ignored the highly personal verbal attacks made on her, but yesterday she called in the police after a series of death threats appeared on pistonheads.com, a website for sportscar enthusiasts.
One member suggested that she should be “knocked off” or have her brake cables cut. Another described her as a witch who should be burnt at the stake. The messages were removed from the website last night after West Yorkshire Police began investigating.
Ms Williams founded Brake in 1995 after her mother was killed by a truck with faulty brakes. In 1997 her partner Richard Longworth was killed by an overtaking driver on a rural road in Hertfordshire.
Ms Williams said she was a professional charity leader who did not allow her bereavements to colour her judgment. She said that the campaign of vilification against her was distressing. “It is natural for anyone to be upset by such personal attacks. It makes you wonder the lengths to which these people will go to achieve their aims.”
Last night one of the leaders of the campaign against cameras offered sympathy to the drivers who had issued threats against Ms Williams. Paul Smith, founder of the SafeSpeed website, who makes regular media appearances denouncing cameras, said that speed traps were costing lives because drivers’ attention was being diverted from the road to their speedometers.
“Mary Williams is a dangerous character because she supports a fatally flawed policy. The comments made about her are mild reactions, quite frankly.” Mr Smith’s website carries a picture of a speed camera that had been destroyed by setting fire to a tyre placed around it.
Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, has been reluctant to be drawn into the debate on speed cameras. He has attempted to pacify irate drivers by offering to investigate reports of cameras being hidden or placed on roads where there was little danger from speeding.
It has largely been left to Ms Williams and a handful of other road safety campaigners to defend the Government’s camera policy.
CASH AND CONTROVERSY
There are 4,500 speed cameras in Britain.
Deaths and serious injuries fell by 35 per cent after
cameras were installed under a “cash-for-cameras” pilot scheme that allowed police forces to keep some of the fines to pay for speed enforcement.
A camera can be installed only on a road where there have been four deaths or serious injuries in the previous three years.
Durham is the only police force in Britain which has refused to establish a “cash-for-cameras” scheme.
1.1 million people were caught by cameras in 2001. This year the number is expected to be between 1.5 and 2 million.
Anti-speed camera groups say that 700 cameras have been damaged or destroyed.
Road deaths have stuck firmly at about 3,400 a year since 1998 after falling steadily over the previous 30 years.
LOVE AND HATE ON CAMERA
A vigilante group opposing speed cameras called
Motorists Against Detection (MAD) blew up a £12,000 camera with fireworks in Scotland last month. Their leader, “Captain Gatso”, promised more attacks this Christmas
A speed camera-proof car device was invented by ten-year-old Charlie Watts, from Norfolk, after his father got a speeding ticket. The laser device warns the driver to slow down when it detects a camera
A man who tried to set fire to a speed camera on the A47 outside Norwich was jailed for 12 months earlier this year. Karl Joyce, 20, vandalised the £38,000 camera in revenge after some of his friends were caught speeding
Roadside speed cameras showing a face that
frowns or smiles at drivers according to how fast they are going were tested by Sussex Police last month
Timothy Dews, 41, from Wiltshire, set up a fake speed camera on the edge of his garden in an attempt to slow passing traffic along a local “rat run”, and found that many motorists did reduce their speed
A policeman said to be obsessed with speed cameras was accused of driving tourists away from a popular holiday spot in North Wales. Angry hoteliers said they were losing thousands of pounds in trade after Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable, issued 20,000 speeding tickets over six months this year
================================================
I just love the bit about:
"It has largely been left to Ms Williams and a handful of other road safety campaigners to defend the Government’s camera policy."
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
just read the mary williams from brake thread , I can't say I agree with death threats in any way, but this female is downright dangerous. Taking deliberately skewed (i.e. false) statistics, pushing them emotively on radio/tv, then screaming blue murder when she gets caught out, and then having the barefaced audacity to insist that her attitude has nothing to do with her previous experiences. Stinks of Brunstromania!!! We must counter such extremists with measured well put argumentation, not death threats (if there were any!).
The problem is such lentilmunchers will always know and be able to get to the media whereas "mr average driver" will be outed by the extreme left in the media to their disadvantage, although the mr average driver is in the majority!!!!!
The problem is such lentilmunchers will always know and be able to get to the media whereas "mr average driver" will be outed by the extreme left in the media to their disadvantage, although the mr average driver is in the majority!!!!!
"It has largely been left to Ms Williams and a handful of other road safety campaigners to defend the Government’s camera policy."
Thoughtless bints!
Do they understand that we dont want to ban ALL speed cameras? Just the ones in the wrong places would be a good start.
EDUCATE THE DRIVERS
(Especially the ones that dont know how to use the motorway like the 4 old people driving down the middle lane of an empty M3 yesterday afternoon).
>> Edited by DustyC on Tuesday 16th December 07:38
Thoughtless bints!
Do they understand that we dont want to ban ALL speed cameras? Just the ones in the wrong places would be a good start.
EDUCATE THE DRIVERS
(Especially the ones that dont know how to use the motorway like the 4 old people driving down the middle lane of an empty M3 yesterday afternoon).
>> Edited by DustyC on Tuesday 16th December 07:38
puggit said:
Death threats my arse - that woman has NO SENSE OF REALITY - and has just proved it.
I have some plans up my sleeve... (note for Mary Williams, they don't involve death or any other crimes).
these sort of plans? (You have to knwo the bit of the film to understand it!)
(Again this is a light hearted joke.)
[pic]www.poster.net/taxi-driver/taxi-driver-you-talkin-to-me-5000052.jpg[pic]
[quote=]Ms Williams founded Brake in 1995 after her mother was killed by a truck with faulty brakes. In 1997 her partner Richard Longworth was killed by an overtaking driver on a rural road in Hertfordshire.
Ms Williams said she was a professional charity leader who did not allow her bereavements to colour her judgment [quote]
Tragic though her bereavements are, what have either of them got to do with speeding ????
If Brake were campaigning for more thorough safety checks on trucks ( although I guess that this incident was a long long time ago ) or better driver education she might find some support from us.
Instead, far from the incidents not colouring her judgement, she is clearly obsessed and possibly paranoid. Was she a 'professional charity leader before these incidents ? If so for which charity ?
Ms Williams said she was a professional charity leader who did not allow her bereavements to colour her judgment [quote]
Tragic though her bereavements are, what have either of them got to do with speeding ????
If Brake were campaigning for more thorough safety checks on trucks ( although I guess that this incident was a long long time ago ) or better driver education she might find some support from us.
Instead, far from the incidents not colouring her judgement, she is clearly obsessed and possibly paranoid. Was she a 'professional charity leader before these incidents ? If so for which charity ?
Recently the Pistonheads/Mr/Ms-Average-Car-Driver's viewpoint has been getting the appropriate publicity. 
This is a desperate bid to reverse the developing trend in the media to call for an independent enquiry into the use of Speed Cameras.
Their twisted version of statistics & the truth has been exposed. As such this is the beginnings of a PR war to defame the character of Mr/Ms-Average-Driver & to portray them as the bad guy.
This is a desperate bid to reverse the developing trend in the media to call for an independent enquiry into the use of Speed Cameras.
Their twisted version of statistics & the truth has been exposed. As such this is the beginnings of a PR war to defame the character of Mr/Ms-Average-Driver & to portray them as the bad guy.
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