UK: Speed camera switch-off sees fewer accidents

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | August 7, 2010 | David Barrett

[Stoat]

Fewer people have been killed and injured on roads following a decision by a local council to switch off its speed cameras.

Accident data shows that in the first nine months after the devices were scrapped in Swindon, there were 315 road casualties in the area as a whole, compared with 327 in the same period the previous year.

In total there were two fatalities – compared with four in the same period previously – and 44 serious injuries, down from 48.

The figures were seized on by campaigners who claim speed cameras do little to combat problem driving and are primarily a money-raising mechanism for local councils and the Treasury.

Swindon became the first town in Britain to switch its cameras off, when they were deactivated on July 31 last year.

However, large parts of the country are now expected to follow its example after the Governmentannounced a £38 million cut in the Road Safety Grant, which funds the devices, from £95 million to £57 million.

[Stoat]

Swindon became the first town in Britain to switch its cameras off, when they were deactivated on July 31 last year Photo: PA

Previously:

 

UK: The great switch off: 1000's of speed cameras to be scrapped

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2562982/posts

 

 

 

 

[the_Watchman]

Arizona just scrapped the cameras which had been installed by Janet Napolitano before she left.

[TChad]

Pretty E-Type, but 1968 was the year the American emission requirements hit.

Meanwhile, Maryland is gearing up to double the number of roadside spy cameras, and automatically check every license plate that passes them.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/6/omalleys-spy-cameras/

[Stoat]

Arizona just scrapped the cameras which had been installed by Janet Napolitano before she left.

I heard about that!  Hooray for Arizona!  :-)

Hopefully their road accident rates will drop, just as they seem to have done in Swindon. 

[Stoat]

Meanwhile, Maryland is gearing up to double the number of roadside spy cameras, and automatically check every license plate that passes them.

That's sad to hear, particularly considering that this Telegraph article would suggest that such a move may cause even more highway deaths.

Regarding the license plate checking, I recall a story about a young Brit who discovered a police van parked in his neighborhood, which also had a 'hidden' speed cam which was placed in a manner suggesting that is was there entirely for revenue enhancement and not with safety in mind at all.  He crept up behind the police van, took a high-res photo of the license plate, went home to his computer and was able to produce a near exact copy of the plate.  He affixed the printout of his photo to his own car and drove past the speed cam at high-speeds numerous times.  ;-)

When the ordinarily law-abiding citizens of Maryland start geting the feeling that the speed cameras are merely another set of grubby fingers going for their wallets, I'm wondering if similar pranks, and worse, will occur?  You can only push decent people so far before they'll want to push back.

[skr]

LOL! Now that’s creative!

[Stoat]

LOL! Now that’s creative!

I thought so too  ;-)

However, when people start getting REALLY mad at the speed cams their expressions of unhappiness can manifest themselves in entirely different ways....

 

 

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm

 

Thanks to FReeper Charles Martel for the link above, which was kindly provided at post #18 at this related FR thread:

UK: The great switch off: 1000's of speed cameras to be scrapped

[Deagle]

They have, and so have Britain’s - although they do have a good attitude about them (cover them up or burn them). That also does the trick. Heck if it works there, we need to do that here if the local government refuses to listen to the public.

[Dilbert56]

So a 38M pound cut in Road Safety spending led to safer highways.

Is there nothing a government can't make worse by intervening?

[TChad]

You can only push decent people so far before they'll want to push back.

I know a liberal who believes that all American citizens should have GPS devices surgically implanted so the government can track their every movement. I bet he would applaud the cameras.

In addition to the highway cameras, red light cameras have become serious moneymakers for some local governments in the U.S. The Washington Times has printed a number of editorials and articles on the subject.

Those WT pieces have revealed two dirty little secrets of red light cameras. The first is that increasing the length of the yellow light by one second decreases the number of red light violations at an intersection by about 80%. Longer yellows mean fewer accidents, shorter yellows mean more accidents but also more revenue if cameras are used. Guess which option some some municipalities choose?

The second dirty little secret of red light cameras is that they increase accidents, because drivers slam on their brakes when the light changes to yellow. The cameras in effect change the meaning of a yellow light from "proceed through the intersection if you cannot easily stop" to "stop immediately or risk a ticket."

The science of red light cameras is settled, but some local governments cannot resist the lure of easy cash.