Speed Cameras

Speed cameras are one of the best inventions ever thought up, it is just a shame our councils and police can not put them to better use. The sole purpose of out friendly little Gatso should / was originally to deter speeding and therefore cut the number of accidents involving excess speed.

I live at the bottom of a fairly large hill, which happens to be a major through road. Halfway up the hill is a primary school, because of the nature of the hill and the fact at the top of it, it changes from national speed limit to 30mph I have personally witnessed 1000's of car coming down the hill at 40mph plus, why is there not a speed camera there I will never know.

Leicester City council have recently announced they are doubling the number of speed cameras in the county, they also announced where they will be situated, I feel that is a brilliant idea as it will allow motorists to slow down but escape the harsh fines imposed, everyone’s a winner. However, the positioning of some of these cameras is completely ludicrous. There are four in the space of 2 miles on Leicester's ring road, a road that the majority of the time is gridlocked and it would be almost impossible to break the speed limit of 40mph. The cameras will only be punishing late night drivers who see a dual or three lane road and feel it is perfectly safe to do 55, which in my opinion is not unreasonable. Once again the councils good intentions go wrong.

Another problem with speed cameras is the way people are punished. A £40 fine and 3 points are ridiculous. I feel a new system should be introduced which mirrors the French system somewhat. There if you get caught speeding you get a on the spot fine which is relative to the speed above the limit you were travelling, you don't get any points on your licence and you can be on your way.

I have never been stopped for speeding but I have been pulled over twice by the police for driving related offences. Firstly I was pulled over for running a red on a set of temporary traffic lights, something which I deny. On this occasion the policeman was ultimately patronising and concluded my ticking off by telling me that I was lucky he couldn't be bothered to write me a ticket, what a wonderful example to set. Secondly I was pulled for taking a short cut through 25m long bus lane. I know I was at fault and I accepted my £30 fine, put it down to experience and vowed never to do it again just in case. The policeman was very friendly and even apologised for doing his job, the bus company had complained and the police had to been seen to be doing something about it. Since then every morning I see at least 5 cars doing what I did and getting away with it, how is that fair? If I complained about speeding motorists on my estate I wonder if they would do the same thing, somehow I doubt it.

This illustrates perfectly the main problem I have with speeding, speed cameras and the way we are punished, it is completely inconsistent I know someone who was pulled over for averaging 98mph he was given a producer. The police need t concentrate on street crime and drugs let the speed cameras if they are put in the right places do the work for them.