Letter: Review value of cameras
We have just marked the 23rd anniversary of the introduction of speed cameras in the UK – and I think the time has come for a major review of the network.
It is time to differentiate between those cameras which are genuinely helping to save lives, and those which are nothing more than revenue-raising cash machines.
I am all in favour of speed cameras, where there is clear evidence that they are in accident blackspots and are helping to make our roads safer, both for the motorist and the pedestrian.
But thousands of these cameras are just being cynically used to raise money from drivers, instead of saving lives.
We need complete transparency about their effectiveness – let us see the number of accidents and casualties at each camera site, both before and after they were installed.
And any cameras which are proved to be simply victimising motorists without making any difference to road safety should be scrapped.
According to the website speedcamerasuk.com, there are now around 6,000 speed cameras on Britain's roads, including some 2,500 mobile cameras.
Yet figures from the Department of Transport have shown that less than five per cent of accidents on UK roads are caused by speeding drivers.
And The Taxpayers' Alliance published a report which showed that, since the first speed cameras were switched on in 1992, the decline in road casualty rates has actually slowed down.
Jill Seymour, UKIP West Midlands MEP
