Speed Cameras

...your preconceptions of the whole speed camera issue. The reason why I ask this is that many people (from reading the reviews on here) have completed entrenched views one way or the other, and comments like “all speed cameras should be banned” or “if you don’t speed, you won’t get caught” aren’t particularly constructive.

What I want to do is try and look at this argument in balanced way and suggest some proposals which balance the ...
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WHAT’S A SPEED CAMERA?

Unless you’ve been living in a hermitically sealed bunker in the Scottish Highlands for the past 10 years, you’ll know what a speed camera is. The basic principal is that if you break the speed limit, they’ll note your number plate and you’ll get a fine (and some points) in post. Although they do pretty much the same job, they fall into 2 camps: mobile and fixed.

Fixed cameras can be ... more

I want you to do something for me; just while you are reading this review – I want you to try and set aside your preconceptions of the whole speed camera issue. The reason why I ask this is that many people (from reading the reviews on here) have completed entrenched views one way or the other, and comments like “all speed cameras should be banned” or “if you don’t speed, you won’t get caught” aren’t particularly constructive.

What I want to do is try and look at this argument in balanced way and suggest some proposals which balance the needs of everyone. Will it make a difference? Probably not, but least I’ve said my piece.

WHAT’S A SPEED CAMERA?

Unless you’ve been living in a hermitically sealed bunker in the Scottish Highlands for the past 10 years, you’ll know what a speed camera is. The basic principal is that if you break the speed limit, they’ll note your number plate and you’ll get a fine (and some points) in post. Although they do pretty much the same job, they fall into 2 camps: mobile and fixed.

Fixed cameras can be 3 different types, the good old Gatso, the newer Truvelo, or the ultra high tec Specs system. Gatso are the more wide spread type of camera and use a radar system; they snap a picture of your rear number plate if you go too fast, with the calibration markings on the road serving to prove the point. Truvelos catch you face on, and are tripped by sensors in the road – they take a picture of the front of your car (with an infrared flash), so they can prove it’s you driving. The limitation with both these types is that they require film and film needs changing. If you are snapped by either of these, then there’s probably a 1/5 chance you’ll get away with it.

The Specs system is much more advanced – cameras mounted above the road note your number plate when you enter the zone and then again through-out. If you reach the last camera too quickly, then you’re speeding. A digital photo is taken and the fine is issued automatically with no need for human intervention. Not only does it never run out of film, but it also monitors your speed over a greater distance, not just the area in front of the camera.

Mobile cameras are just that. They may be brandished at the side of the road by a member of your local police, in which case they’ll normally stop you if you’re going too fast. Alternatively, they can be cameras mounted in the back of a special van which do the same job as fixed speed cameras, but they can be hoiked from place to place.

WHO DOES WHAT?

OK, that section was pretty dry, but I promise it gets more interesting from here on in. How speed cameras are managed really depends on where you live; it’s all a bit of a postcode lottery. Basically the powers-that-be normally set the policy for your local policing area, in conjunction with local councils. In certain places the local police decide what camera should go where and the revenue raised from the fines goes straight to the treasury. In some place, like here in Derbyshire, there’s a “Safety Camera Partnership”. The principals behind these are sound; local councils (who are elected) decide what cameras go where and the money raised from fines goes back into funding the whole programme and other road safety schemes. Any money left over goes back to Whitehall.

The trouble with both of these schemes is that accountability isn’t really high on the agenda. If you’re not in a “partnership” area, deciding what goes where is down to your police force. As you don’t get a say in who runs your police force, it’s more or less down to chance who’s in charge. As Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales Police said

"It is against the law and there is no excuse for drifting over the limit any more than there is for drifting a knife into someone."

And if you don’t agree? tough.

Safety Camera partnerships can be a little more transparent – but you do have to look at the “partners” involved. Here in Derbyshire, we have the Police (unelected), the Highways Agency (also unelected), The Crown Prosecution Service (nope, don’t remember electing them), The Courts Service (same applies), Derby City Council (yeap, they are elected) and Derbyshire County Council (no, I live in Derby City, so I don’t get a vote there either.

So imagine trying to force a change in policy; you couldn’t really. Even if you expressed your views in the ballot box come local election time, you could only effect a change of leadership in one of the partners. Even if you managed to perform a coup of both councils, you’re still in the minority in this partnership. And in any case when was the last time local elections had much of an effect. Doesn’t matter who you vote for, the council still gets in…

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Many official organisations like to back up their speed camera arguments with a little public relations.

To prove that camera’s aren’t just out to get motorists, the government commissioned a report on all speed cameras in the UK and whether they are all in the right place. This includes things visibility, signage and injury rates on the roads concerned. Do you know what they found? Nothing was wrong. There are no cameras in the UK which are in the wrong place. Not one.

The next day the tabloids ran stories identifying numerous questionable sites, with more or less sound augments to support their case.

Then there’s other propaganda. The government published a report not too long ago entitled “Ten criticisms [about speed cameras] and why they are flawed.”. Some nice balanced reporting there, then?

There’s also the issue of whether of not we should call them “Speed Cameras” or not. The tabloids reported that the Department for Transport spent over £1million coming up with a name which was more user friendly – “Safety Cameras”.

Our local partnership maintains that 86% of Derbyshire people support speed cameras. This statistic is extremely questionable, especially when you consider the question they really asked. “Do you support the use of speed cameras as a way of reducing accidents?” Well people were bound to say yes. Why didn’t they replace the word accident with something like “the maiming and killing of children”, to get even more favourable results?!

But joking aside, the practice of carrying out surveys, full of loaded questions, to justify the existence of an unaccountable body just isn’t on. If it wasn’t for the fact that the people doing this sort of work weren’t spending our money, it would be laughable. But they are; and I think it stinks.

SPEED KILLS

It would be folly of me to write a review about speed cameras without referring to why we have them in the first place. The fact is that if you run over someone at 35mph. the chances are you are going to kill them. If you did the same job at 30mph, they’d probably survive.

By the same token, if you had a head-on with another car, both going 60mph, airbags or not, you probably be strumming a harp pretty soon. As the police will tell you excessive speed is a factor in most vehicle accidents. Note the use of the word “excessive” not “illegal”.

So, it’s not hard to see why we have so many speed cameras, if we all slowed down a bit we’d all live longer. Or so it would seem.

Think about the 35/30mph augment once more. Would have a speed camera had any effect – no probably not.

Most cameras are set to a tolerance of 10% + 2mph (to allow for inaccuracies in car speedos), so quick calculation would reveal that the camera would ignore you going at 35mph, and not flash until at least 36mph.

IS THE LIMIT CORRECT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Speed Cameras are good are getting you if exceeding the set speed limit. But we have to ask ourselves is the limit correct? Consider is A446 between A41 and the A45, near Birmingham. This is a 70mph, dual carriageway. There’s no speed camera, no lighting, nasty bends, dangerous junctions and undulations – but driving on this road at 70mph is perfectly legal.

A few miles away, there’s the M42. Road works means the hard shoulder has been coned off. During evenings and weekends there’s nobody working – but the speed on this perfectly straight road has been reduced to 50mph for the duration. And guess what, its speed camera enforced.

Then there’s the road just near me, the A511. Not so long ago the limit used to be 50mph with a speed camera. One day the speed camera is taken away, which seemed to make sense, as there’s not been a major accident for years. Then, without any fan-fair (just a few inches in the paper), they announce they are dropping the limit to 40mph “to maintain consistency with other parts of the road”. Quelle surprise, 2 days after the very discrete lower speed limit was introduced (they didn’t bother putting any signs up to tell people the limit had changed), the camera was back!

These are just 3 examples which are local to me, where common sense doesn’t seem to be a factor in whether or not to use cameras. In these situations safety doesn’t seem to be a priority – the only thing that seems to be given consideration is whether or not to back up questionable speed limit changes with cameras.

SO GET RID OF ALL THE SPEED CAMERAS THEN?

Well, this bit may surprise you, but no. I do actually support the use of speed cameras, where justified.

Speed camera can contribute greatly to slowing people down in advance of potential hazards. They can also assist with managing traffic flow (as on the M25 variable speed limit), but I’d just like to see cameras being used more intelligently.

Many people often say, we should install speed cameras outside every school, which sounds like a good idea. But they become a bit of a nuisance the other 22 hours in the day when there are no kids around, not to mention during school holidays.

THE BETTER WAY FORWARD

There are a few things to consider here, so these would be my revised guidelines for the deployment of speed cameras:

* No cameras to be used on roads where the national speed limit applies (60mph single carriage way, 70mph dual carriageways and motorways) - Northamptonshire police please take note and remove yourselves from the A14!

* All Cameras to be clearly signed (not the situation that we have at the moment, because we’ve ended up with warning signs all over the place whether or not there are really any cameras). This includes 300 yards before every camera a sign containing a warning, a reminder of the speed limit and the type of camera (see picture).

* Where cameras are used to slow people down at specific times of day, such as outside schools or during road works flashing lights should be used to warn cameras are active. Out side these times, the camera should not be operational. (see picture)

* If limits are in place to assist in aiding traffic flow, this should only be used during designated times. Outside these hours cameras should not be operational (see picture)

* At the end of area controlled by speed cameras, it should be clearly marked that the zone ends (see picture).

I also think you should be able to elect a local “roads commissioner”, independently of any council. This individual who have the responsibility for the policing style design, upkeep and safety of roads in your area – put simply if you don’t agree with their policies, you vote them out!

CONCLUSIONS

You see, no one stretch of tarmac is more inherently dangerous than another. What does add danger is the design of the road, the people that use it and at what time of the day.

With careful use of speed cameras, which are properly signed, people’s speed can be controlled in these danger areas. If proper signage is used, it should have the effect of slowing people down, without issuing them a ticket.

You may think that all these warnings might give motorist a carte blanche to drive like loonies outside speed camera zones. And you’re right, to a point. But then any speeding driver runs the risk of getting pulled over by a good old fashioned police man. A policeman who has the skills and tools to make a judgement call about your driving, not just a mathematical calculation of your speed.

You see, speed cameras have a role to play. But not at convicting bad driving (in all its forms), that’s the police’s job. The task of a speed camera should be to reduce people’s speed in key areas at key times – and nothing more.

Thanks for reading

Rob

Please comment, I love reading them, even if you don’t agree!

UPDATE (12/05/04)

2 Weeks after writing this review, my better half receives a “Notice of Intended Prosecution” from Staffordshire Police. That’s sods law isn’t it?!

Apparently the speed was recorded at 39mph in a 30mph area. At the moment we’ve asked them for evidence. Although the other half isn’t the most observant driver in the world, I’m sure that if the speed was recorded from one of the “safety camera vans” then you would have seen the van? No. We did not even an inclining that this was in the pipe line. This is the first we’ve heard of it.

I’ll keep you updated as to what happens. By the way, if you ever wanted to see what a “Notice of Intended Prosecution” looks like (this is what they send through the post if you’ve been caught doing something naughty, but not been stopped on the road), have a look at the updated pictures.
 

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