Most speed cameras in England and Wales are not operational Which? Magazine turns up some interesting figures
Fewer than half of fixed speed cameras are operational at any one time, making the chances of speeders getting caught a lottery, Which? magazine has said.
The consumer watchdog found 47% worked at any given moment in all 43 police authorities in England and Wales. Its study also highlighted regional differences, with all 60 cameras in Sussex working, compared to 10% of Lancashire’s 287 sites. Some 6,000 cameras have triggered an estimated £100m in fines since 1992. Which? said most areas rotated the working part of their cameras at random or in response to speed levels or accident statistics.
Editor Martyn Hocking said: "Speed cameras in some areas are always operational, whereas in
Bedford Borough Gets a Grip!
Bedford Borough Council deserves to be in the news again.
As part of their involvement with MAG's GET
A GRIP! campaign, they have decided to start using non-slip overbanding throughout their region.
This will be on an 'as needed' basis and won't be retrospective, but crack filling and seam joining happens all the time, so this is great news.
This move comes on the back of Bedford Mayor Dave Hodgson's approval of trials permitting motorcycles to use bus lanes and the Council's decision to trial composite, non-slip manhole covers.
They have also fitted extra parking bays for motorcycles, are currently identifying new areas that may be suitable and trialling an inovative ground anchor locking system. Hats off to Bedford Borough at a time when too many Authorities use budget constraints as an excuse for inaction.
others there could be a one in 10 chance the camera you've passed isn't working. It really is a tale of two counties."
Accident figures
Police authorities were asked how many speed camera housings they had and how many were operational under a Freedom of Information Act request. Dorset, Hertfordshire, Merseyside, Norfolk and Suffolk refused to answer, Durham said it used a single mobile camera, while no fixedsite cameras are operated in Cleveland, North Yorkshire or Wiltshire .
There were just a dozen fixed cameras in Cumbria compared to 263 housings in Staffordshire, although of those, just 11% were operational. Of Avon and Somerset's 54 sites,
94% were working. A Which? survey of 1,920 members was divided over whether speed cameras made the roads safer, with 47% saying they did and 45% disagreeing.
Almost a quarter of those surveyed had received a penalty notice for speeding. Of these people, 48% paid more attention to driving within the speed limit following the fine, 39% were more cautious about their speed when near a camera and 18% did not change their driving.
NB: Downing Street has announced it will cut the road safety budgets it gives to English and Welsh local authorities by 40% as part of its wider efforts to reduce public spending.
New drug device Westminster
Technology to help police test motorists suspected of drug driving will soon be available to police, say ministers. Currently, police must call out a medical examiner to assess if suspects are impaired by drugs and authorise a blood sample. The Home Office has released specifications for a new device that will let officers test drivers themselves and take a blood sample if the device gives a positive reading.
The device will still be based at police stations, but the Home Office says it will help cut bureaucracy and allow officers to get back to frontline duties sooner.
Manufacturers can now submit devices to the Home Office for testing. If the specifications are met, a product could be approved by the Home Secretary for use by police.
The potential device will take a mouth swab and test it for drugs including cannabinoids, cocaine, amphetamines, methylamphetamine, methadone and opiates.
Alongside this, government says it will continue working with manufacturers to investigate the feasibility of introducing portable drug screening devices for roadside drug testing.
Council Bully Boys
Westminster City Council (WCC) are at it again, using public money to act against the public interest.
It has come to light that in their efforts to stop the 'No To Bike Parking Tax' campaign, WCC have sent threatening emails to the web service who have been hosting the 'No To' website. So vociferous have these been, that the hosting company felt compelled to withdraw their services, and as such, remove the No To website from the internet.
WCC have allegedly threatened to take legal action over some material on the website that they believe to be defamatory, but the irony is that the material in question is actually on a completely different site!
What is striking about this situation, apart from the fact that a public body such as Westminster City Council should be above such behaviour, is that they also instructed the web hosting service to remove all of the sites managed by an individual involved with the No To campaign. These are commercial sites, completely unrelated to the campaign and as such are seriously effecting the livelihood of an untold number of businesses.
It is not yet clear whether the action was as a result of Westminster policy, or that of one senior Council employee, but at the time of going to press the No To site is back online and now being hosted by the same organisation that supplies webspace for Wikileaks.
The on-street motorcycle demonstrations that
bring West End traffic to a standstill on weekdays continue to be a feature of the campaign. This serves to maintain the profile of the campaign and assist its fund raising for the forthcoming High Court appeal.
ROAD Comment The contrast in attitudes between Westminster Council and others is stark. While Westminster see motorcycle commuters as a source of income others, like Bedford, endeavour to accommodate the needs of motorcyclists in order to relieve their traffic congestion problems.
10 The ROAD
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