London - 200 new speed camera sites approved

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LONDON
31/03/06 - News section

200 new speed camera sites approved

More than 200 new speed camera sites for roads across England have been approved by the Government.

A written statement lodged at the House of Commons revealed ministers have agreed to plans to create 233 new locations for cameras.

At the same time 30 existing sites where road safety has significantly improved will be decommissioned.

Groups that operate cameras, known as safety camera partnerships, must prove there is a clear need for casualty reduction at potential new sites.

A Department of Transport spokesman said the new sites do not necessarily mean more cameras.

He said: "There are strict guidelines for the creation of new sites. Basically they are there for a reason: that is to save lives."

There are currently 4,314 speed camera sites and the Government has pledged to spend £110 million of the money raised in fines every year on road safety.

Government figures show nine people are killed and 85 injured each day, on average, on the UK's roads. They calculate that safety cameras save about 100 lives every year by cutting speed.

Shadow Transport Minister Owen Paterson said: "Motorists will be disappointed to see the Government planning yet more speed cameras on our roads.

"Speed cameras clearly have a role to play in road safety but they are not the be all and end all. We need the co-operation of drivers if we are to improve road safety and if we simply install endless amounts of cameras we risk losing their support."

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Speed cameras will net £120m this year

Speed cameras will net £120m this year
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
(Filed: 31/03/2006)

Permission for more than 200 new speed cameras was given by the Transport Department yesterday to add to the 6,000 already monitoring motorists.

The approval came as it was disclosed that the 39 ''safety camera partnerships'' across the country are expected to net £120 million in the coming financial year.

A speed camera
Prosecution for prosecution's sake?

These partnerships of police, councils, courts and the Highways Agency can keep some of the fines to meet the cost of running the cameras, which supporters say have improved road safety and critics call money-making machines.

Home Office figures showed that each year almost half of all motor vehicles are involved in a traffic offence against only a third 10 years ago.

The statistics for 2004 disclosed that there was a total of 13.5 million offences, ranging from serious crimes such as dangerous driving to illegal parking and speeding.

Such figures confirm the perception among motorists that the likelihood of being fined or prosecuted has risen dramatically in recent years.

In England and Wales in 2004, there were 466 offences for every 1,000 vehicles against 355 a decade earlier.

Much of the increase has been fuelled by the ''decriminalisation'' of parking offences, with 7.7 million tickets issued by councils in 2004.

In 1998, 447,000 offences were caught by traffic cameras but this has now swollen to more than two million. Almost nine out of 10 of those found guilty of offences were men.

Tony Vickers, of the Association of British Drivers, said: "It is beginning to look more like prosecution for prosecution's sake, rather than a realistic road safety policy.''