Axing cameras may cost lives, says AA
LIVES will be put at risk if speed cameras are scrapped, the AA has said.
The motoring organisation has written to the transport minister Philip Hammond about the matter after some cameras were switched off in parts of England.
The intervention is highly significant, because motoring groups are often seen as hostile to speed cameras.
The new coalition government has bowed to such anti-speed camera feeling, with Mr Hammond declaring an end to what he called a "war on motorists" shortly after he took office and some cameras have ceased operation.
But the AA in fact supports speed cameras and believes that there is a misconception that motorists are opposed.
"The AA is concerned that the views of motorists are not being reflected accurately in this debate and that ultimately lives are at risk."
AA/Populus polls consistently show that 70 per cent of AA members accept the use of cameras.
Superintendent Muir Clark, head of PSNI traffic branch, also believes that speed cameras are one of the reasons why road deaths are at an all-time low in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
A detailed News Letter analysis of road death statistics recently found that road deaths in Northern Ireland have dropped continuously since peaking in the 1970s.
Compulsory seat belts, better cars, better roads and better road markings are among other factors.
Mr Clark yesterday welcomed the AA's comments: "The AA argue a very compelling case that cameras are not simply there to generate revenue, they do save lives.
He added: "If cameras are turned off, I fear that downward trend will start to rise."
Mr Clark told the News Letter: "I believe that the right type of speed enforcement technology – such as average speed cameras or a fixed camera in a site that cannot be easily rectified such as a bend – makes people slow down and saves lives."
In Northern Ireland, a safety camera board keeps funds from fines in excess of running costs, to re-invest in technology or schemes that reduce road deaths.
But this revenue would be lost if the province was to follow England, where funds have been brought under central government control, meaning that camera scheme boards had to bid for their money.
Oxfordshire County Council reduced funding to the Thames Valley safer roads partnership, resulting in the announcement that camera operations will cease.
Carla Bramble, a 45-year-old resident who lives on the A44, which runs into Oxford centre, said: "Cars used to slow down when they saw the camera and, because there is another one along the road, they would maintain that speed.
"But now they belt along the road as fast as they like. People have read the papers and they know that all the cameras are off.”
Frances Alexander, a former mayor of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, who lives near a site where a camera is to be switched off, said: “How many children will suffer because of this?”
Speaking about the speed camera policy across the UK, AA president Edmund King said: “There is currently a road safety policy void which could lead to an increase in crashes.”
He added: “Local people are more concerned about the ‘battle to save lives’ on local roads that could become race tracks rather than any ‘war on the motorist’.
“Cameras will never be loved but their use is accepted by the majority of motorists. If cameras are situated in the right place, on the right roads with the right speed limit, they can be effective and will be accepted by the public.”
Mr Hammond responded: “We believe that speed cameras can be an effective tool in reducing speeding but as Mr King has said, they should not be seen as ‘the first and the last resort’.
“Local authorities, not central government, are best placed to decide how to make their roads safer. That is why we have given them more responsibility and freedom to set their own priorities.”
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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