No one likes speed cameras, or do they??

Looking back at the article on the Northamptonshire Safety Camera Teams in Flywheel Issue 20 prompted me to do some more research on the dreaded cameras and the Police. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-police, in fact I’d rather have more traffic cars (visible deterrent) than Gatso speed cameras (usually hidden).

As most people will probably be aware some police forces are handing out more and more tickets so they can afford to pay for…..even more Gatsos.

That would perhaps be justifiable if it could be shown it was the best way to reduce the number of road accidents. However, other authorities are finding that a more effective – and cheaper – way to cut speeding and slash accident rates is simply to paint their existing Gatsos in bright colours. Road users spot them and slow down; fewer people get tickets and everyone’s happy.

However, not everyone sees it that way. At the time of writing it’s now ten months since eight of the country’s police forces were allowed to keep the money from fixed penalty speeding fines and spend it on cracking down even further on motorists, and for some of them it has become a licence to print money.

Already the results are staggering. In Northamptonshire alone, 8000-9000 fixed penalties are now being issued every month. That compares to just 4000 for the whole of 1999 – an increase of more than 25-fold.

It’s hardly surprising the Northants force is out to make money, as it recently spent £620,000 on five speed detection vans, 13 fixed-camera sites and a whole building full of extra staff to process the increased number of tickets.

Catching speeders in the county has now become an entire separate industry with its own, seemingly unstoppable, momentum. More tickets means more money means more Gatsos means more tickets, and so it goes on.

The force claims the project has been a huge success, resulting in a 16% reduction in the number of deaths and serious injuries on the county’s roads.

That figure sounds significant, until you realise that accident rates have been slashed much further without such a heavy-handed approach – and for a fraction of the cost.

Traffic chiefs at Plymouth City Council have decided to paint a Gatso camera in Dayglo colours at a notorious accident blackspot on the A3064.

Painting the camera cost just £250 - but in a few months accidents on the road resulting in death, serious injury or slight injury have fallen by 43%, almost three times the figure claimed in Northamptonshire, and, crucially, that has been achieved by actually reducing the number of tickets issued. Offenders on that stretch of road fell dramatically from 19.2 per day in March 2000 to 3.8 per day in August 2000 – 80% down.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has praised the Plymouth initiative. Spokesman Don Webster said: "Anything which has an impact on accidents is to be encouraged."

Steve Upsher of the AA agrees. He said: "The best way to reduce accidents is to have well-seen deterrents. The more people who are aware of cameras, the better effect they have."

However forces, which have been allowed to keep money from fines, insist their approach is the best way of reducing accidents – even though in the case of Northamptonshire the results are poorer than Plymouth’s and have come with a bill of several hundred thousand pounds.

Susan Becks, the Northamptonshire project’s marketing officer, would like to see the cash-for-tickets scheme rolled out across the country.

She said: "Plymouth’s scheme has been incredibly successful and I congratulate them, but I don’t think it means the best thing to do in Northamptonshire is paint cameras. The best thing for us to do is continue with the initiative we have."

Becks refused to acknowledge that Plymouth’s scheme had been more effective, but she did say that Northamptonshire would consider painting some of its own Gatsos as well as siting more speed traps. "We always look to find the best strategy," she said.

Many of the other eight areas involved in the scheme are also busy splashing out on extra anti-speeding measures. In Cleveland, £980,000 has been spent on catching speeders in 2000. The cash has been used to pay for new cameras, speeding signs, additional staff and a £50,000 publicity campaign, and even though there are no figures to show there has been any reduction in accidents, the county is claiming success.

Neil Ellison, for Cleveland’s speed campaign, said: "On the roads we’ve targeted we’re now getting 100% compliance with the speed limit."

Ellison also refused to accept that Plymouth’s scheme had been more successful, but he did say Cleveland was considering following its example. "We’re contemplating trying the same thing at two very specific locations," he said.

As in Northants, the number of people caught for speeding in South Wales has soared since the local police were allowed to take part in the scheme. Between April 1^st and September 30^th 2000, fifty six thousand people were given tickets compared to just 21000 during the same period in 1999.

John Rolands, spokesman for the scheme, is also claiming it has been a success - even though there are no official accident statistics available yet to prove it, but he also said the authority would consider painting Gatsos as an extra measure. "It’s something we’ll look at in the next couple of months," he said.

In 1997, Cleveland had 48 dedicated traffic officers, but now it has effectively disbanded its traffic division by giving every officer multiple roles, including responding to crimes in progress or firearms incidents.

Force Spokesman Charlie Westberg said: "There’s now no separate traffic division. This has been done to reduce supervisors and save money."

Only the Northamptonshire and South Wales forces said they still had dedicated traffic officers on patrol. South Wales claimed it currently had 146, but said it would take six days to obtain the same information for 1997, while Northamptonshire spokesperson Niki Hastings said the force currently had 70 compared to 80 in 1997.

Authorities have a choice when it comes to dealing with speeding. There’s no chance of Gatsos disappearing - more’s the pity, but if more areas adopt Plymouth’s sensible approach, speed cameras could be more effective in reducing accidents – and we’d also have a chance of saving our licences.

The Big Brother alternative is forests of Gatsos sprouting up all around the country in order to perpetuate the money-spinning speeding industry, but where does it end??

If a camera catches enough people in five days to pay for itself - and that’s happening - then in ten days there will be another, and ten days later there’ll be four more.

Remember that a Gatso can’t scrape you off the road when you have an accident, a crewed, marked Police patrol car can.

© Martin Essam.
February 2001

UPDATE
Doncaster have painted a number of cameras in the town in Lifeboat Orange to make them more visible. Early indications are that this has been successfull and the scheme is to be rolled out across the county.

Another camera was erected in mid December 2001 on the county border at the A605 Elton turning. It is a Gatso and is set to take the rear of the car heading towards Peterborough. It was painted yellow during the last week of April 2002.
To see more about Speed Cameras in Northamptonshire Click here.

In a victory for common sense Home Secretary David Blunkett decided in 2001 that any new cameras that are put up should be only at known accident sites and made more visible.

'VISIBLE' SPEED CAMERAS UNVEILED ON 3rd DEC 2001

High visibility speed cameras painted bright yellow have been unveiled by the government.

The end for sneaky speed traps

21 May 2002

The Government has banned cops from using covert cameras and hidden officers to catch speeding motorists.
Transport minister John Spellar has told chief police officers that from next week that Gatsos must be in plain view, all officers on mobile camera duty must wear high-visibility day glow bibs and that all manned camera units must be sited in the open in marked police vehicles.
New Gatsos will only be permitted on roads which are proven accident blackspots and signs which warn of phantom cameras will be banned.
The Government is keen to avoid the charge that the cameras are merely revenue-generating devices.
Spellar said; " We are not in the business of persecuting Britain’s motorists. Speed cameras have an important role to play, but must be used to prevent accidents."
All speed cameras must be painted bright yellow and clearly visible to drivers 60 metres away in 40mph limits and from 100 metres in all other speed limits.
However, it’s not all good news; police forces and local councils around the UK already plan to add another 3000 cameras to the 5000 already in place.

Speed cameras: the truth behind the hype

29 May 2002

Despite recent media speculation, next month won’t see the end of speed cameras.
For the full story on the truth behind the media hype on speed cameras don’t forget to check back here.
New Government regulations come into force at the end of June, which should mean that speed cameras and mobile units are more visible, but they won’t be thrown on the scrapheap.
The new rules apply to the 26 areas of Britain which are in the netting-off (or hypothecation) scheme. That allows them to have a percentage of your speeding fine back to cover their operating costs. But counties which don’t abide by the rules will not be told to take their cameras down and scrap them.
The only punishment is that they will not be given their share of the money raised by that camera.So if you think you will be able to avoid a speeding fine because the camera’s not yellow, forget it.
You’ll still get the ticket, but the county which owns the camera won’t get its cut of the cash.
The new camera rules:
*Signs warning that you are approaching a camera must be no further than one kilometre away from it.
*Road signs or foliage must not obscure the view of the camera to motorists.
*Cameras must be visible to approaching motorists from 100 metres away.
*They must be painted yellow on the sides that face motorists. Cameras in beauty spots may be exempt from the rules on yellow paint, to prevent them becoming an eyesore.
*There must have been at least four people killed or seriously injured in accidents within one kilometre of the camera site.

NEW CAMERAS. Put up on 30th May just south of Strattford Upon Avon in Warwickshire on the A46.
This followed a week later by another just a mile further south on the same stretch.
Both hidden in trees but are painted yellow.

Spotted on 14th June. The cameras on the A605 at Thrapston and Thorpe Waterville have this week had day-glow colours added, however, the cameras on the A14 round Kettering are still yet to receive this treatment.

Wednesday June 19, 02:57 PM
More Speed Cameras Called For

Thousands more speed cameras are needed to police Britain's roads, a Commons select committee has reported.
In a special report, the Transport committee, which slammed the Government's 10-year transport plan in May 2002, spoke of the "slow progress" of Government policy on road traffic speeds.
The report recommended that steps should be taken to ensure speed camera schemes cover the entire country by 2004 and that a speed limit of 30mph should be set in villages.
It continued that the Government's decision to limit the placement of cameras to accident blackspots based on the assumption that crashes only occur in these areas would cost many lives.

Leadership needed

The report was also critical of new Government rules regarding the visibility of cameras, stating that it should be left up to police.
"The Government has to give leadership. It needs to make it very clear that speeding is unacceptable," the report said.
"In March 2000, the Prime Minister launched the Government's road safety strategy, `Tomorrow's Roads - safer for everyone', but unfortunately since then little has happened."

Heavy-handed

Commenting on the committee's report, John Dawson, the AA's motoring policy director, said: "We are as concerned as the committee about the severe effects that speeding can have, and we agree that much more must be done to deal with it, but the Government must guard against a heavy-handed approach. Our huge success in tackling drink-driving was only achieved because the public bought into the need for doing it, and the policing methods that had to be used. The lessons are exactly the same for speeding."

Paul Hamblin, the Council for the Protection of Rural England's head of transport policy, said: "Recent pandering to a vociferous motoring lobby has obscured the simple truth - speeding traffic kills. Much of the rural road network has a speed limit where vehicles would kill a pedestrian instantly, while implementation of Government commitments to a 30mph limit for villages has been lamentable. This report is welcome in sending a clear message that this must change."

Naive attack

However, Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, was unconvinced by the report: "Speeding and road safety are major issues but this report misses an opportunity to add substance to the debate. We feel that it is unfair and naive to attack the Department of Transport and the media for the problems of speeding motorists. The Department has spent considerable efforts and money on the (road safety) Think campaign."

Wednesday June 19, 10:13 AM
Speed kills, say MPs

Weeks after savaging the government's ten-year transport strategy, MPs have attacked restrictions on the number of speed cameras and plans to make the controversial devices more visible to drivers.
The Labour-dominated Commons transport select committee, co-chaired by outspoken Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich Gwyneth Dunwoody, recommends that cameras cover the whole country within the next two years.
"Crashes do not just occur at accident blackspots. There was no scientific research to support this decision. People will die as a result," the report, published on Wednesday, said.
Other committee recommendations include a series of measures aimed at slowing down motorists, including a reduction in the speed limit through villages to 30 miles per hour and the imposition of more 20 mile per hour speed limits.
"Road casualties are a forgotten story which receives far too little national attention. If any disease killed as many people as die on the roads, there would be an outcry," the report notes.
"We do have a very odd attitude to road deaths in this country," committee co-chairman Gwyneth Dunwoody told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.. "If you kill nearly 3500 people every year in this country, either in any other form transport or by some form of public health problem, everybody would be screaming for action. There is a direct connection between speed and road deaths."
In response, transport minister John Spellar argued that Britain's roads were among the safest in Europe, and described the report as "disappointing. We have actually been steadily reducing road deaths in this country, even in spite of increasing of increasing traffic," he said. He admitted however, that more work was needed to improve road safety, particularly in rural areas.
The Slower Speeds Initiative welcomed the report.
"The government needs to listen to ordinary people. It must stand up to the hysterical minority of motorists who demand the right to break the law," said a spokesman.
However, motoring organisations criticised the proposals.
"The government must guard against a heavy handed approach," said John Dawson, policy director at the AA. "Our huge success in tackling drink driving was only achieved because the public bought into the need for doing it."
The media also came under attack from the committee for portraying speed cameras as a nuisance rather than as a tool that prevents accidents.

Page created 1 Jan 2000.
Last updated 16 June 2002