Monday 6th November 2006

Safe Speed scores media victory

Much coverage in mainstream outlets

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Truvelo speed camera

Road safety campaign Safe Speed, in the shape of founder Paul Smith, scored a media victory over the weekend.

An article in the Observer's colour magazine looked into the question of speed cameras, and the last half was a largely favourable description of Safe Speed's forensic approach to road safety statistics.

Smith was quoted lambasting the Government which, in 1992, brought in the first speed camera. They seemed almost like magic at the time: "If you're not looking into it in too much detail, the promise of a magic accident-reducing machine is very persuasive, but it ignores all the other psychological factors that ensure we avoid carnage on the roads", said Smith.

The feature then went on to describe Smith's discovery that the real fatality rate on the roads is not diminishing but getting worse, as a result of an increasing reliance on speed cameras for roads policing.

The article points out: "Taken as a whole, we are left with one broad problem: there is still no fundamental agreement on how speed relates to danger."

Safe Speed has figured heavily in PistonHeads' coverage of speeding issues, and we agree with Smith that the government has got the balance wrong. Here's hoping that this is the start of a national debate, rather than slogan-slinging.

• Observer article: Fast and furious

[beasto]

Safe Speed's work is excellent -- II wish that UKGov could approach this, and many other issues, with a similarly forensic approach.

Lack of police patrols can be seen anytime -- bad, driving examples abound, but do cameras note any of this? At present not.

What's coming is full-time video, with intelligent software that notes deviant behaviour, flagging up people like the t**t in his hot little Honda driving so aggressively among the shopping cars in Aylesbury yesterday.

The sad thing is that as usual, the behaviour of the few wrecks life for the rest of us.

Ho hum.