27/01/2011

Speed Camera Study In Focus

According to a new study by Which? over half the fixed cameras in England and Wales don’t work at any one time.

The consumer watchdog found that Sussex had 60 fully functional cameras, while only 10% of Lancashire’s 287 yellow boxes were snapping motorists at any one time. Meanwhile Cleveland, Durham, North Yorkshire and Wiltshire don’t have any fixed cameras at all.

Debates are ongoing regarding the ability for cameras to cut accidents. The study reported how eighteen months before the Oxfordshire switch-off, Swindon did the same, and reported no change in its accident rate.

Last month the RAC said that 800 more people would be killed or seriously injured on the UK’s roads if all speed cameras were to be switched off.

The Which? Study, titled 'The Truth About Speed Cameras', reported that 83% of people agreed that fixed cameras only stop people speeding at certain locations.

It also found that certain counties have more yellow boxes than actual cameras, and that devices get moved around depending on speed and accident statistics.

The report also found that local road safety grants, which are no longer ring fenced due to government cuts, force councils to save money by removing speed cameras.

Last year Oxfordshire County Council deactivated 89 mobile units and 72 fixed cameras.

(BMcN/GK)


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