The big speed camera switch off – good or bad?

Motorists and white van men alike are breathing a sigh of relief that the war being waged on motorists is finally over (well most places in the UK).

The coalition government has pulled the plug on the funding of these cameras and today Thames Valley Police are starting to ‘turn off’ their fixed cameras. Of course there are some people who are saying by doing this the safety of people is at risk and there will be more road deaths.

I disagree.

As someone who spends a lot of time on the road and managing drivers on the road, I can say hand on heart these cameras are a menace because when drivers see them they brake. Often suddenly. No regard to the vehicles behind them, their whole focus has left the road and is now concentrated on the speed camera and whether it caught them or not. That is where the danger is, not in the speeding but in the sudden stopping and in the distraction of being ‘flashed’ when driving.

Last year Swindon switched their cameras off and they have not reported an increase in speed related accidents, so quite obviously it was as many motorists expected, a revenue raising scheme. Last year the figures released state that £65 million came from fines from fixed speed cameras. That’s no small change, that’s a significant income for the local authorities involved.

If it was safety focused, there would be more average speed checks on the A roads. The average speed checks regulate the traffic flow more consistently and keep the drivers focus where it should be – on the road.

My final thoughts on the matter are this, local authorities need to balance their need to raise money and provide services. One money saving scheme being considered is switching of the lights on motorways to ‘save the carbon footprint’, if they were really focused on saving lives they wouldn’t come up with schemes that cost lives…

Kev