Swindon in Wiltshire has become the first council to discontinue the use of speed cameras on all its roads, saying that the revenue it would have spent keeping them maintained will now be spent on better road lighting, improved junctions and better driving awareness initiatives.
The British government, needless to say, disapproves of this decision, and the Department for Transport has already been critical saying that speed cameras reduce accidents by 42%. Swindon Council has responded that, by the Government's own figures, speed is a significant factor in only 6% of accidents, while tiredness, lack of concentration and sheer carelessness account for 42%.
There is no doubt that people drive slower through a speed camera zone, but I'm not sure that makes them any safer. In fact my experience is I spend more time looking for the next camera and at my speedometer and that is time I would normally have spent watching the road, and particularly the car in front.
I hope this is the beginning of the end for speed cameras. They are a cash cow and little more. They may make people slow for a short time but they don't change habits and people simply look out for them. Swindon's approach in suggesting more driving awareness initiatives, particularly for those caught speeding, is a good one.
So upstanding everyone and please drink a toast to....Swindon Council. And may I ask you, Swindon councillors, when you come to disposing of them, can I come along with a hacksaw and chop the head of the first one please?
PS. My judgment is slightly clouded having just applied for a new European style plastic card driving licence to replace my years old paper one. Part of my reason for paying £17.50 for a new one was to have a new licence clear of speeding endorsements (having been picked up twice by aforementioned damned cameras) Unfortunately, when it arrived, one endorsement was still on it.....and has only 2 weeks to run!!! I had forgotten that endorsements are now on for four years not three.
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