Will we see fewer of them?
This week, an announcement that speed camera numbers are to level off will be made, following a change in how they're funded, according to a story in the Sunday Times.
Following the story on PistonHeads last month (see link below), the Government will announce this week that the link between funding and revenue from speed cameras is to be broken. Instead of going to the speed camera partnerships which decide whether and where to erect the devices, the money from speeding fines will go directly to the Treasury -- this year it amounted to £22 million.
The Government will also urge the camera partnerships to consider alternatives such as improved road design and signage, with scameras as a last rather than a first resort, helping to stem their remorseless spread.
The impetus behind this is the internal publication by the Department of Transport of a review of speed camera performance, the conclusions of which may also be published this week.
'Thalidomide of road safety'
In response, Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign said: "Road safety progress cannot be restored until DfT bites the bullet and scraps all speed cameras. They distract drivers, give false safety priorities and damage the police-public relationship. The side effects are so wide ranging and so deadly that they will go down in history as the Thalidomide of road safety. Without speed cameras road safety progress would have continued and road deaths would be down to around 2,000 per year by now."
"Road safety has its foundations in psychology because crashes take place when road users make mistakes. Speed cameras increase pressure and make mistakes more likely. "The only safe speed is one that enables a driver to stop in good time if a hazard develops ahead. The dream that increased speed limit compliance will improve safety is just that -- a dream without foundation.
"Government claims of increased safety at speed camera sites are based on useless, flawed and misleading studies."
Links
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)