Speed cameras - spending cuts

[obi_waynne]

I'm hearing of local councils cutting speed cameras due to budget constraints.

Local authorities pay to maintain and care for the speed cameras, the fines all go to central government.

Although the cameras raise more money that they cost the local authorities but as the local authorities are not getting the revenue they are deciding to ditch them.

Is this a good move? Is this a false economy? Do speed cameras have a positive side? Will foot patrols and mobile speed traps become more prevalent?

 

[dpsubaru]

this is definately a vote getter - why didnt they announce this before the election, it would have been a landslide victory!

 

[bigbadjoe]

They are meant to be here for safety reasons. Therefore, you can place them outside of any school in the country and I am happy with that. Put them outside of parks, big shopping centers, fine.

Putting them on a straight bit of a 60 mph road is not saving anyone. So they can save money by removing them. If they were to place them on corners, then fair enough, stop idiots like me flying round a corner at 85-90 mph (I dont really get any thrills going fast in a straight like, I am into my cornering) then I could see the reason.

The reason why they dont put them on corners, is because they would not make as much money.

 

[glabus]

Hi again
Can you people stop having rants and views I feel I need to reply to?
I have a concern as to the validity of cameras being switched off. Is it possible that they are not??!!
If covered then you can expect not to get a ticket but if you BELIEVE that they are off you could be tempted to go too fast past them!!
There is a stretch of 30 in Wakefield where MOST drivers stick to it. There is always a few though who, for whatever reason/s; don't. You never see any flash so, are the cameras off? Are the Police/ Council not sending out fines. My fines periods are finished. I am not looking to get more!
A road where speed reductions were made locally made me think that cameras would be set up after it was assumed drivers had realised and conformed. No cameras (or patrol cars) arrived. Drivers still do well over speed limit. It is not too difficult to imagine that by convincing drivers that camera/speed restrictions have been stopped that revenue can be still obtained because they aint!!!!!!

 

[geraint13]

its starting in oxfordshire as early as next week if reports are to be believed. i agree with the highly pedestrianised areas for cameras, but all they were was money generating machines to hit the motorist as per.

 

[HDi fun]

Speed cameras are always going to be a contentious point. Personally I'm not a great fan of them, believing that they send out the message that it's OK to do exactly as you want, drive abysmally as you like, just so long as you do it within the posted speed limit.

I do think many people take the **** in 30mph areas. Often 30 is too high in such areas anyway and if they get clobbered well it's probably well deserved. Most cameras are highly visible so where are the drivers looking?

On faster roads I think it's debatable whether the value is very high in terms of safety. But, then again, there are comparatively very very cameras on de-restricted roads and they, too, are very very visible. So if you get a ticket for, let's say 72mph in a 60mph zone then you have not been paying attention far enough ahead.

 

[dpsubaru]

Agree with BBJ about speed camers in sensitive areas like schools. the rest of the time they could just use mobile vans as these are much more of a deterrent, although you could say that drivers would then spend more time looking for them parked up in laybys, bridges etc.... than concentrating on the road?

static cameras are just a waste of money, you know where they are, slow down for them and then speed up again immediately after so they are just their as a waste of money and the usual argument; slowing down for the speed cameras destroys the flow of traffic and is more likely to cause an accident. Although dont have any proof of this its all just theory.

 

[pgarner]

well done dumfries and galloway, no fixed cameras here anyway just the mobile ones

 

[WLBjork]

I think this could be a useful experiment.

Speed cameras have been useful in persuading people to drive within the limit more often, to the point where many speed camera units claim less in fines than it costs to maintain them.

By removing cameras, we can see whether it is the fear of the cameras that causes people to drive within the limit or if they have genuinely learned to drive sensibly within the limit.

Nottingham Ring Road is a very good example of this. Since installation of the cameras, fatalities and accidents resulting in serious injury have pretty much halved, however the cameras have been making a loss for years.

So, don't enforce the cameras for a period and see what happens. If accidents and speeds go back up then we know that cameras are an unfortunate necessity.


Having said all that, I must say that as a personal preference I prefer cameras to speed bumps of various types, due to my job I really don't like travelling over those. My reading between the lines is that the new goverment want more road messes (i.e. bumps and width restrictions) than speed cameras.

 

[obi_waynne]

I think the biggest things reducing accident rates is the high cost of fuel. It's too expensive to drive quickly, everyone is watching their MPG.

 

[bigbadjoe]

I think the biggest things reducing accident rates is the high cost of fuel. It's too expensive to drive quickly, everyone is watching their MPG.

True, True. And I'm sick of it. I hate knuckle heads that drive around with there eye's fixed on there fuel gauge. I was in a convisation at work, and one guy was saying how he can get 47mpg at 58mph. And the other was saying that if he stays at 55mph then he can get 49mpg (the old eleven areef thing) then they asked me and had a slime ball grin on there face. I just said, aint got a clue, when she is empty I fill her up, I enjoy my time in my car too much to be arsed about what MPG you get in her. For the record, its about 18! Sod the plannet!

I'll never go green!

 

[dpsubaru]

I'll never go green!

i'll second that!