Bath Evening Chronicle
Discussion
Been making a nuisance of myself again...
DRIVERS IGNORE CAMERAS BECAUSE LIMIT WAS SET TOO LOW
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11:00 - 01 April 2005
The article about speed cameras in and around Bath (About 4,000 drivers speed past this camera every day. Call this a deterrent? March 30) makes for interesting reading. First, let us not beat around the PC bush. These cameras measure speed and not safety. Therefore, they are speed cameras, not safety cameras.
There are very good reasons why the Batheaston bypass cameras are treated with contempt by drivers - it is because the road planners and the camera partnership have treated the motorists with contempt in setting arbitrarily low limits and then policing them against their own guidelines.
We are told that cameras are only erected in places that have a history of deaths and serious injuries. So how was the decision taken to erect these cameras on a brand new stretch of road? And why is the limit 50mph for the entire length of this wide open dual carriageway, with safety barriers along its complete length, when the winding single carriageway A roads that it leads to are limited to 60mph?
People lose respect for unjust legislation and the result is bound to be worse than legislation that is respected and fairly policed.
The fact that so many vehicles are exceeding the arbitrary limit, and that no carnage is ensuing, proves that the limit is set too low.
I actually think that the 50mph limit is necessary around the Bath exit to the bypass, where vehicles are merging into lanes. The rest of the bypass should be reclassified at 60mph, which is, in any case, the nationally recognised limit for a dual carriageway.
The recent spate of accidents at the bends at Upper Swainswick are a different matter. A road is an inanimate object so, by definition, there is no such thing as a dangerous road. For every person who crashes at a given point, millions of others will have passed safely by without incident. The problem isn't the bend, it is the road user. At the root of this is the massive reduction in driving standards that has become apparent over the past few years.
We have all been fed the message that speed kills, ad infinitum. This is too simplistic an approach. Government has spent millions of taxpayers' money on focusing purely on speed detection, removing traffic officers from duty and replacing them with boxes on poles. The result is that drivers now believe they can do whatever they like, in absolute safety, so long as they don't exceed the speed limit.
Sadly, lack of enforcement means that this view is ever more accurate. A driver can go out with no licence, no insurance and no MOT and drive backwards up the pavement with a bottle of whisky in one hand and a shotgun in the other, and they won't be censured so long as they are within the speed limit.
Speed doesn't kill. Contempt for the law and other road users, idiocy, inattentiveness and poor training are the things that really kill. We shouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket marked speed, we should be improving driver training and bringing back traffic officers who are mandated to enforce all the rules of the road. Only then will we see a real reduction in road casualties.
These were traditional strengths of our road transport system, which is why British roads have always been the safest in Europe. A record that is now, sadly, being imperilled by political dogma.
MALCOLM CUPIS
Haweswater Close
Bridgeyate, Bristol
DRIVERS IGNORE CAMERAS BECAUSE LIMIT WAS SET TOO LOW
Next Story | Previous Story | Back to list
11:00 - 01 April 2005
The article about speed cameras in and around Bath (About 4,000 drivers speed past this camera every day. Call this a deterrent? March 30) makes for interesting reading. First, let us not beat around the PC bush. These cameras measure speed and not safety. Therefore, they are speed cameras, not safety cameras.
There are very good reasons why the Batheaston bypass cameras are treated with contempt by drivers - it is because the road planners and the camera partnership have treated the motorists with contempt in setting arbitrarily low limits and then policing them against their own guidelines.
We are told that cameras are only erected in places that have a history of deaths and serious injuries. So how was the decision taken to erect these cameras on a brand new stretch of road? And why is the limit 50mph for the entire length of this wide open dual carriageway, with safety barriers along its complete length, when the winding single carriageway A roads that it leads to are limited to 60mph?
People lose respect for unjust legislation and the result is bound to be worse than legislation that is respected and fairly policed.
The fact that so many vehicles are exceeding the arbitrary limit, and that no carnage is ensuing, proves that the limit is set too low.
I actually think that the 50mph limit is necessary around the Bath exit to the bypass, where vehicles are merging into lanes. The rest of the bypass should be reclassified at 60mph, which is, in any case, the nationally recognised limit for a dual carriageway.
The recent spate of accidents at the bends at Upper Swainswick are a different matter. A road is an inanimate object so, by definition, there is no such thing as a dangerous road. For every person who crashes at a given point, millions of others will have passed safely by without incident. The problem isn't the bend, it is the road user. At the root of this is the massive reduction in driving standards that has become apparent over the past few years.
We have all been fed the message that speed kills, ad infinitum. This is too simplistic an approach. Government has spent millions of taxpayers' money on focusing purely on speed detection, removing traffic officers from duty and replacing them with boxes on poles. The result is that drivers now believe they can do whatever they like, in absolute safety, so long as they don't exceed the speed limit.
Sadly, lack of enforcement means that this view is ever more accurate. A driver can go out with no licence, no insurance and no MOT and drive backwards up the pavement with a bottle of whisky in one hand and a shotgun in the other, and they won't be censured so long as they are within the speed limit.
Speed doesn't kill. Contempt for the law and other road users, idiocy, inattentiveness and poor training are the things that really kill. We shouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket marked speed, we should be improving driver training and bringing back traffic officers who are mandated to enforce all the rules of the road. Only then will we see a real reduction in road casualties.
These were traditional strengths of our road transport system, which is why British roads have always been the safest in Europe. A record that is now, sadly, being imperilled by political dogma.
MALCOLM CUPIS
Haweswater Close
Bridgeyate, Bristol
Peter Ward said:I can sum up the majority of the printed responses in four words: "Think of the children". Oh, sorry, you said 'logical' arguments
Good stuff. Perhaps you can post the responses that get printed next week? It will be interesting to see what logical arguments are used against what you've said.
- StreakyI initially e-mailed the local scamerati about the "accidents" used to justify the cameras on this brand-new stretch of road in Feb '04. I've pursued them ever since, been directed to the Police for an answer, back to the scammers, back to the Police, to the Highways Agency - and STILL NO ANSWER.
No-one appears to know what the accidents were that "justifed" the cameras, what their causes were, or even their precise locations. The scamerati even told me they hadn't moved the downhill camera - when they had.
This is a bloody farce from start to finish.
No-one appears to know what the accidents were that "justifed" the cameras, what their causes were, or even their precise locations. The scamerati even told me they hadn't moved the downhill camera - when they had.
This is a bloody farce from start to finish.
MMC said:Have you tried the Freedom of Information act? Also MPs often like to help - try them
I initially e-mailed the local scamerati about the "accidents" used to justify the cameras on this brand-new stretch of road in Feb '04. I've pursued them ever since, been directed to the Police for an answer, back to the scammers, back to the Police, to the Highways Agency - and STILL NO ANSWER.
No-one appears to know what the accidents were that "justifed" the cameras, what their causes were, or even their precise locations. The scamerati even told me they hadn't moved the downhill camera - when they had.
This is a bloody farce from start to finish.
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