Speed Camera News Campaign group rubbishes speed camera claims
Thanks to www.abd.org.uk for the link!
http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/campaign_group_rubbishes_speed_camera_claims_1_989103
Campaign group rubbishes speed camera claims
By Steve Knight, chief county reporter
Sunday, August 14, 2011
12:00 PM
A motorists’ group has hit out at claims speed cameras have led to a 77 per cent reduction in deaths and injuries on Kent’s roads.
The Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership has taken credit for the drastic decrease in serious accidents, down from 347 in the three years prior to cameras being installed in 2002, to just 80 between 2008 and 2010.
But the Association of British Drivers says the organisation is wrong to claim excessive speed is the only contributing factor to crashes.
Kent branch secretary Brian MacDowall said: “The Department for Transport lists 77 causation factors to accidents but the camera partnership lists just one – speed – and doesn’t state how far from the camera the accidents occurred.
“Two factors stand out above all others – failure to look properly (38 per cent) and failure to judge another road-user’s path or speed (20 per cent). The camera partnership has blatantly ignored these and other contributory factors.
“No doubt this is part of its charm offensive to justify its existence.”
Last year Kent County Council slashed £508,000 from its speed camera budget after the Government cut £38 million worth of road safety funding.
Other local authorities throughout the UK have switched their cameras off completely.
Mr MacDowall added: “We suggest there is the potential for considerably more savings of Kent taxpayers’ money by abolishing the partnership, especially as speed is such a low factor in accident causation in the county.”
A recent survey by the Institute of Advanced Motorists suggests the majority of people are still in favour of safety cameras, with more than 80 per cent of those questioned in the South East agreeing that cameras are an acceptable way of identifying vehicles involved in speeding offences.
(Ban the Cams note: SUREEEE, why don't we LET THE PEOPLE VOTE ON THIS, COME ON WE DARE YOU!)
Over half of those surveyed also believe injuries and deaths on the road will go up if cameras are switched off.
Camera partnership spokeswoman Katherine Barrett said: “Crash fatalities and casualties across the county continue to fall at camera sites year on year, and this success has been achieved through a combination of educating drivers and encouraging them to slow down, effective publicity campaigns, and enforcement.
(Ban the Cams comment: What isn't being mentioned by the scamera side is high gas prices are casuing UK driving way down as can be seen this year in the attached UK article just like it went down in the US in this 2010 article: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3268.asp UK: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1724684/Petrol-costs-pushing-drivers-road-says-AA.html Quote: Motorists are filling up less frequently and using public transport more in the face of soaring petrol, prices, according to the AA. )
“Unfortunately there are still some areas where drivers are failing to heed speed warnings, and where fatal or serious injuries have remained the same or slightly increased.
“We will continue to review the effectiveness of cameras at these sites and look at other ways of reducing speeds and casualties.”
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