The Press Association recently asked 45 UK police forces for data on how many fixed speed cameras they have, and how many of them are switched on. The results make for interesting reading – it seems that differing approaches to managing speed cameras mean that drivers in some areas have a much better chance of dodging speeding fines than those in other regions. Furthermore, only around half of the fixed speed cameras in the UK are active, which means that there are hundreds across the country that are not catching speeding motorists.
Regional results
From the 36 forces who responded, it was discovered that 13 regions have fewer than half of their fixed speed cameras switched on. Meanwhile, four areas admitted to having none of theirs on at all. The four regions with no active speed cameras are Durham, Cleveland, North Yorkshire and Northamptonshire. The cameras in Northamptonshire have actually all been switched off since April 2011. While the authorities there do have other devices in place to catch those who are driving over the speed limit, drivers whizzing past fixed cameras faster than the speed limit are unlikely to suffer financially as a result.
Of the 2,838 fixed speed cameras dotted around the country, only 1,486 are active, based on the figures from the 36 forces who responded to the information request. However, this does not include the mobile speed devices that many forces declared that they regularly use. All forces also stated that there are frequent reviews about which of their region’s fixed speed cameras should be switched on.
(Credit – David Dixon)
Worrying figures
Brake, a road safety charity, has said that these figures are concerning and that all fixed speed cameras should be switched on. Such a move would certainly help to tackle speed in the UK. Meanwhile, AA president Edmund King believes that the reason so many cameras are inactive is because of limited budgets.
This is supported by the fact that all money received from those paying speeding fines goes straight to the Treasury. It is not automatically put back into running fixed speed cameras. Thus it costs local police forces to run their speed cameras. Many people think that the resulting fines should go to those police forces operating the cameras, thus further incentivising them to deter motorists from speeding.
The great speed camera lottery
Do you feel it’s fair that the speed camera lottery means some drivers are more at risk of being caught than others? The answer probably depends on where you live!
For example, in Staffordshire there are 272 fixed speed cameras, with only 14 switched on. Derbyshire has 122 cameras, but only 10 are active. In addition, there is a whole range of regions that use less than a quarter of their fixed speed cameras to catch speeding drivers. These include Kent (25%), West Yorkshire (25%), South Yorkshire (24%), Greater Manchester (24%) and Cheshire (17%).
In comparison, London, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Northern Ireland have all of their fixed speed cameras switched on. As such, people speeding in these regions are far more likely to be caught than those driving elsewhere in the UK.
In the West Midlands, all of the cameras had been switched off. However, eight newly implemented cameras are now active, and there is one particular hotspot in Birmingham that saw 500 speeding tickets being issued within a single month!
Even though you now know your odds of being caught by a fixed speed camera, based on where you drive, it is strongly advised that you do not gamble on whether they are switched on or not. Not only could you end up with a hefty fine and points on your licence, speed limits exist for the safety of all road users. Sticking to them means those in your car and others around you are at less risk of injury.
Although some organisations feel that the roads would be safer with more police patrolling them, fixed speed cameras do tend to work as a deterrent, meaning that most motorists are driving safely. It is hoped that the revelations of these figures won’t change that situation.
Finally, remember that no matter which region you are driving in, all police forces use mobile speed cameras. These could be active at any point during your journey, and are much more difficult to spot than the fixed yellow boxes that may or may not be active at the time.
Will knowing about regional differences in speed camera use affect the way you drive? Should police forces be using these resources more in order to keep us within the speed limit? Let us know your views by leaving a comment below.
Cameras are for cash and do not stop bad or uninsured drivers,bring back more marked patrol cars.
Used as excuse by those caught or wanting to justify speeding, grow up!
Every driver over the age of 70 should have a driving test every 3 years, the revenue should go to the Police force,
…and females over 17
gwen. What a load of rubbish. Test every driver over 70? For what reason. Don’t tell me they are less safe than younger drivers. That is complete rubbish. It is the young drivers who are a problem.
Ask any insurance company.
Will you not ever reach 70 years old yourself? Think before you start to penalise others. There are a lot of young drivers who drive small cars beyond the design limits and beyond their own experience.
Well said drogue
Over 70, that’s where the experienced drivers are – the problems appear to be the newly qualified young people, mostly males. However, in each age group we find good and bad drivers. Stick to policing out the bad drivers of any and every age and get them banned for 10 years.
and prey tell How many over 70 year old do you see on mobile phone/drinking/eating/overtaking on bends etc and racing up and down high streets at night?
Firstly, speed cameras are a money raising scam. ( Strange, was it not, that a whole new batch of speed cameras appeared just before they raised the fines to £100.) There are better means of preventing “speeding” that do not penalise motorists. For instance a simple red stop light, ( as in a traffic light) triggered by the speed detection device (ie the radar) will stop a motorist speeding. If not, then the camera can come into play. These systems are in use in less autocratic countries, but here the govt refuses to trial them.
No-one deliberately speeds. Speed cameras are there to catch the unwary, those unfamiliar with the area, and those distracted by the process of not slamming into another car or pedestrian. The “speed limit” in any place is deliberately reduced from what nearly all motorists would describe as safe in order to catch people out.
No-one deliberately speeds? Try telling that to my neighbours, we live on the edge of a Midlands village, vehicles regularly exceed the 30 limit in the main road behind our house. 40-50 mph is fairly common, particularly for drivers with tuned exhausts.
Similar problem, mainly about 8AM (going to work?), about 8.45 (taking kids to school?), just after 3pm (collecting kids from school?) and about 6pm (going home from work?).
No one deliberately speeds tell that to people who have been injured or the families of people killed in high speed accidents. When you see 6 cars being driven by young men racing down a country lane and overtaking each other it is very scary as each time you go round a bend you expect to see a pile of mangled cars and possible dead bodies. Please think before you write!
Speed does not kill it is the idiotic drivers who speed who kill Drivers are to blame for all accidents they test cars improve roads but do not care about drivers once you have a licence its your for life it does matter if you know how to drive safely or not Retest all drivers who break any motoring law just for a startPbMpU
You’re quite, Rita. They should be targeted but the vast majority of people “speeding” are doing so only when conditions allow and then by small amounts.
No one deliberately speeds? What planet did you fall off?
Yes there are some great systems abroad. Why then do we here just rely on speed cameras? Money or safety?
Speed cameras deter speeding drivers over a very short space of tarmac, how many times have you seen drivers brake for the camera then accelerate once through it. We are obsessed with speed in this country, far more than they are in Europe. Speed on it’s own doesn’t kill….shock horror!!!…travel on the German autobahn’s, if speed kill’s they’d all be dead by now. Bad / careless driving kill’s, the standard of driving in this country is shocking, and there are virtually no Police patrol’s now to deal with it. Mobile (Community…lovely phrase) speed cameras are designed to do one thing, raise revenue, or else they wouldn’t adopt the tactics they do, i.e. hiding as best they can to catch out the unsuspecting driver doing 5 – 10 miles over the already ridiculous (On more and more roads) 50 MPH limit.
Dont know about obsessed!. i think its more a case of getting to where you are going without the, sometimes ridiculous speed limitations. There are many roads where the cameras are completely useless, and only there to gather funds.
YUP your right “cash cows” is all they are and when approached we slow down and if the roads are clear speed up again totally useless.
In Norfolk plod hide up Lay-bys, pathetic if you ask me, your home gets broken into NO PLOD just number to use for your claim, go 5/10 MPH over the limit and come out of the woodwork, sad bunch.
Absolutely!! Plod only want quick easy hits to keep the numbers up. Only ever see them when driving or attending football matches!! Hundreds of them there just stood in the road hoping for trouble outside grounds!!
I wonder if any members if your family were to be killed by a speeding motorist would you feel the same way. Although I agree our property should be protected it can be replaced , a life cannot. If people would stick to the laws of the road we wouldn’t need policemen hiding in layby.
Surely, bad, careless, dangerous driving at a lower speed is likely to be less dangerous than the same at a higher speed.
In rural Wiltshire there are many poor drivers who travel between 35 and 45 mph regardless of road conditions. On country roads they cause queues and overtaking (which causes more serious accidents than speeding). In urban areas they keep going at about 35 mph unaware of the risk. Focus on speed alone rather than on driving skills and concentration on the road is misguided.
Completely agree. Mobile cameras largely simply raise money and are often covert. They ‘hide’ between parked vehicles or ‘off road’ on wider pavements or within bush areas. One I saw had black curtains to shield the whole rear of their van and had small side markings which you only could read whilst passing it. The area had very large articulated lorries parked on shallow bends which meant that a car overtaking these vehicles would sometimes need to slightly ‘quicken’ passing them as cars coming the opposite way would appear in front of them. ‘CLICK’ – got you! The driver may only have gone a couple or so miles over for the length of the parked lorry / lorries! When I saw this I wrote to report my observation ….surprise, surprise – no reply!
I’m more bothered about your dangerous apostrophes.
The number of drivers exceeding the “safe” speed limit shows that the law is not in tune with what people want.
Hidden speed traps are simply a revenue collector; if dafety were truly the objective, they would be clearly indicated.
Around East Anglia there seem to be increasing numbers of “Average Speed” sections of road which, in some instances, cover several miles.
An excellent idea. Earlier contributors have mentioned the “see the camera-slow down/accelerate” way of driving, which is bad for the environment in terms of gases from acceleration ( bit like the speed bumps), but maintaining a steady maximum speed avoids this
” the law is not in tune with what people want.”, driving standards have dropped alarmingly, people want to exceed limits at will use their phones constantly while driving, overtake in unsafe places. If there were no traffic laws there would be a lot more accidents. Inexperienced and arrogant drivers often do not seem to understand how dangerous what they are trying to do actually is – these are usually the same one who drive at 10mph when it is not dry and sunny , ie when it rains Driving standards and awareness need to be a lot better before we worry about increasing speed limits.
In Northern Ireland just before the RAILWAY CROSSING on the Main Road to the International Airport. There is a 40MPH speed sign 8″” in DIAMETER which drivers can hardly c. IT’S A FIXED PENALTY FINE TRAP. It would be interesting to know how many drivers have been caught At that one. PLEASE INSTALL A NORMAL SIZE ONE.
A good quality Sat Nav system has what they call safety camera warnings. These are not illegal and show locations of speed camera’s including static and mobile ones, at least mine does. I treat all warnings of speed camera’s as if they are active.
Doh! If you think that cameras requires an apostrophe why haven’t you put one in warnings?
The word is “warnings”. The sat-nav provides more than one warning, so every time a camera is identified the equipment tells you of its presence. To put your apostrophe where you have suggested is a nonsense and has no meaning.
Warnings is plural and does NOT require an apostrophe.
Are you from the apostrophe police?
Pay for more police and stop all this nonsense of cameras now. Catch real criminals who break the law by patrol cars
The biggest difference between speeding motoists and real criminals is ths ease of identification of the former. If bufglars had to wear a registration plate front and back the police would go back to catching them. As long as mototists remain the easy option the police will take that route.
What an outrage!, do we still want accidents occuring because of speeding, what will this government think of next, speed cameras are put there to stop motorists speeding and not for the police to make a fast buck or 2 doing something or nothing. reinstate the speed cameras and put our minds at rest!
I live in Durham. We have never had fixed cameras up here. Show me the figures that prove our roads are less safe than those in an area saturated with the things.
Down here in Sussex, they should put cameras on traffic lights. The amount of drivers that jump them are becoming dangerous. I ride a motorcycle and drive a car.
Monument Hill in Weybridge is a thirty mile an hour road but the regular speed is more forty/forty five miles an hour. The motorists in North Surrey are probably the most inept and aggressive in the whole country. The number going through the town using mobile phones at the wheel is really alarming especially in the mornings and afternoons with children in the cars. A policeman stood almost anywhere in Weybridge could make his salary in two days by observing and writing down registration plate numbers.
I’d question your statement about North Surrey drivers being the most aggressive.
I live near Norwich and occasionally I have to drive my wife to see her sister in Cornwall, a 360 mile each way route which involves a lot of the M5.
Many drivers (BMW, Merc or Range Rover drivers in particular) on the M5 seem to need to be within touching distance of the car in front (Tail gating? Never heard of it! I’ve got an expensive car so get out of my way!) have no concept of using indicators when doing ANY form of lane changing. And their average speed seems to be north of 80mph.
I have NEVER seen a single Police car on that road!
If they patrolled it they could probably make their arrest quota in the first hour of their shift!
Do the people who buy the cars you have mentioned take a questionnaire before purchase? Question one, are you arrogant by nature? If yes, you can buy one.
Seem that a certain amount of jealousy on here from people that can’t afford a nice car
There may be no fixed cameras in North Yorkshire but the police employ several officer and vans daily to various spots in the County with their mobile cameras. You never know what is around the next corner!!
Oh please, get more Police + Police cars on the roads, especially the motorways where in the South it has all been handed over to The Highways Agency who do nothing unless an accident occurs.
Cars today cosset the drivers with little wind noise, blaring stereos, and all manner of other devices to make the drive comfortable, small wonder the drivers have no idea how fast they’re going until its too late.
Why are not all new cars fitted with a HUD (Head Up Display projected onto the windscreen) of the speed they are doing. They could link it into the obligatory SatNav so that it would change the displayed speed in bright red when over the speed limit. Schimples….
Use the cruise control!
I find the speed limiter in ave speed camera areas invaluable. But PLEASE set it around 2 mph above the limit otherwise you’ll be annoying everyone by doing 2mph under the limit.
Great suggestion. I use mine regularly
As a cyclist and driver I am appalled at the total disregard the majority of drivers have for driving at the prescribed speed limits. Unfortunately speed cameras are not very effective, even when switched on. They only force drivers to reduce their speed in a very short length of road. Mobile speed traps are also not that effective as oncoming drivers seem to feel the need to warn approaching traffic of their presence. While vehicle speed is controlled by the driver speed limits will be ineffective.
You have never exceeded the speed limit on your bike. I know I have. Yes the tech is available to fit to cars limiting cars to the speed limit. Why has this not been used yet?
Speed Cameras were introduced to stop people going over the speed limit on our roads. My opinion only is that they were introduced to us as always by the Government using it as an excuse to make more money out of the people they are suppose to be looking after fairly. It only stops people going over the speed limit where the camera is and nowhere else.SPEED does kill no question about it but how do we deal with it? (1) Extra Police in unmarked cars. (2) Speed Cameras that are Hidden.(3) Average Speed cameras over the top of all motorways and A roads.(4) Educate People how to be very tolerant and relaxed whilst driving.One thing which cause people to speed i know they should not is very annoying to everyone the driver who thinks the Middle Lane is for them to do whatever speed they want to go at on the motorway and dual carriageway. At the end of the day we wont stop speeding but with making sure the vehicle does not go over the speed limit with limiters could be a start.Anyway people are paid to put all this right what are we all going on about because when they get behind the wheel they think the can do whatever the want as there is no one in it to educate them otherwise.
The revenue should not go to the police as this is an incentive for them to just use them to boost their budgets. Sometimes drivers inadvertently exceed the limit slightly for a few meters as it is often difficult to stick to a limit when concentrating on the traffic. It may be that we accelerate to get out of a situation. I think that one should not get a hefty fine just for a momentary laps and so all speeding fines should be based on the average speed over at least 100 meters.
The big square yellow roadside boxes are now old Tech (1992), they are expensive to maintain & have to have their ‘photos’ processed. They do have the effect of slowing most responsible drivers; sat-nav’s warn drivers of their presence but have no effect on the idiots who deliberately flout the law using fierce brake accelerator driving mode with the aid of speed trap detectors.
Going back many years to the de-restricted (max70mph) speeds on most rural ‘A’ roads & motorways I used to really enjoy driving at a speed (sometimes accidentally exceeding the limit honest) that suited the condition & volume of traffic; journeys seemed to fly by because I could concentrate on the road & hazards not the sat-nav, the proliferation of road signs & the dreaded speed traps, however the roads are far more congested now so despite improvements to major routes journey times are much the same but less enjoyable.
Urban driving is purely for utility (A to B) so why push it the risks are just not worth it.
Its interesting to note that driving schools teach ‘how to drive in towns’ at least my sons schools did. How to ‘read ‘a road outside a town is not taught. A major fault as driving at speed outside towns in completely different and without this knowledge it can be dangerous.
I am appalled by the number of drivers of mostly commercial vehicles who deliberately tailgate you when you slow down to comply with a speed restriction as if forcing you to go faster! As for motorways the 70mph speed limit is an absolute joke as everyone & his dog pass you if you keep to that. The standard of driving in this country is utterly appalling & the withdrawal of visible motorway police patrols has only exacerbated the problem.
The fixed cameras may be switched off in their hundreds but the average speed cameras are alive and kicking!
The A1M is now awash with them and I can only see them putting in more as time goes by
I personally have nothing for or against cameras really. I just wish the speed limits in this country were a little more realistic. 70mph on our motorways is pathetic, i think it should be 100mph max but then variable according the the road and weather conditions. Just because the limit could be 100 it doesnt mean you would have to do it, it would allow all the members of the public with bigger faster more powerful cars a bit more freedom of choice. I think also if the limit were to be increased they could alter the rules regarding tyre wear depth and puncture repairs.
What about the French way, a short distance after the fixed camera is a mobile camera, that would be a shock to the system over here.
French way with road signs – minimal-
and speed limits generally and particularly outside schools- but only at school drop off and pick up time, not weekends would be a very sensible thing.
I keep having to brake for people who are already within the speed limit who suddenly brake when they see a speed camera. There used to be one on the A21 where people passing me would not only brake but swing sharply into the inside lane.
The other ridiculous complaint about speed cameras was a journalist who was caught by a camera on the A43 which has two speed camera warning signs before it – the only such signs on that road.
I’m interested in the term “switched on”. I live in Preston, Lancashire and I could take you to half a dozen cameras, within 5 miles of my home that are not active. That is, there is no camera unit in them. So your statement that all cameras in Lancashire are “switched on” is misleading.
I also live in lancs and can happily confirm this to be the case. Some kind locals even put flowers under the cameras if they ARE switched on!
Drivers in Lancashire must be particularly bad as they don’t seem to be able to grasp the rules concerning round-a-bouts, meaning the local authority has to install 24hr lights on the majority of them to help the locals figure out when they can go or have to stop.
I think that there needs to be a new agency responsible for improving driving in this country. At present County Councils are responsible for signage and the police responsible for enforcement. Both have decided that in the face of limited resources that there are other priorities. So the carnage goes on. The other thing is that governemnt funds improvements in black spots only where there are fatalities. H & S doesn’t work like that – there need to be risk assessments which need to be acted upon before there are accidents. Here in rural Ceredigion, boy racers, commuters, public sector employees and company vans often go well over 40mph and sometimes up to 70mph in 40 mph areas.
These are simply a revenue generator. There has been an epidemic of arbitrary speed limit decreases on roads that have carried a perfectly safe higher speed for decades. These are then enforced by the dreaded ‘scamera vans’ (collective noun: talivan) that are positioned perfectly to catch people out, or Police with radar/laser guns who’d be better deployed catching actual criminals. Community lobbyists are a real nuisance – just like the sort of people who move to the country and then complain about the farmer’s cockerel. Everyone has a choice, so if you don’t like traffic travelling at 60 mph, don’t live on or near a major road! More of problem are HGVs travelling in tandem on motorways (they should really be limited to the inside lane only of any road) and, the emerging problem of people driving too slowly and oblivious to the mile of traffic queuing behind. 35 mph in a 50 or 60 mph zone is not sensible when road and weather conditions are perfect. This seems to be a particular problem with small hatchbacks.
Speed cameras were allegedly brought out to reduce speed in accident black spot areas. Their visual presence is the deterrent for people to slow down so it makes no difference if they are on or off as long as they are visible and slow people down in that area. They are not supposed to be a income generator. However, publicising which ones are off negates this idea in my opinion. I am warned of every speed camera in advance and check my speed. Use the money spent on running speed cameras to repair all the potholes in the roads instead
I read this discussion with interest. My conclusions are that –
(1) There are no such things as ‘Accidents’ – collisions are ALWAYS caused by people. Even if they are driving faulty vehicles or other child/cyclist stepping out in front of a car etc.
(2) Careful driving and also educating other road users (pedestrians, cyclists etc.) instead of relying on ‘blame culture’ is a far better way to make roads safer. (Example of ridiculous blame culture – I was stationary in my car in a traffic jam. A small child rode its bicycle off the pavement into side of my car. I got out to help but a crowd of mother’s blamed ME for the incident!!)
(3) Speed does kill (rather than maim etc.) – but never on its own. Someone is also driving badly or behaving badly. ‘Consideration for other road users’ is not just about courtesy but also safety. And should apply to cyclists and pedestrians as well.
(4) Speed cameras (or the threat of them) do slow folk down. Nothing in principle wrong with that but let’s get MUCH better education into the heads of all road users.
(5) Ban insurance companies from cashing in on an already punished motorist who got an SP30 for travelling at 34mph past a speed camera and now even if the driver accepted a speed awareness ‘rehab’ course instead of fine! Picking up an SP30 does not brand someone as a bad or risky driver.
(6) I know this is a discussion about speed but let’s get more police patrols to capture offenders driving in a way to listen to their own noisy exhausts, driving cars with dazzling headlights, without insurance, parking badly, cycling dangerously, jaywalking, using mobile phones, using roads/pavements with their hearing impaired by headsets/loud radios etc.
Focusing on speed cameras – Let’s now see some statistics about how many lives or serious injuries are saved by the use of speed traps/cameras. The rest is all noise. There is an argument that drivers worried about getting caught or accelerating-braking past cameras are actually CAUSING deaths/injuries. Note I did not use the term ‘accidents’!
All Wiltshire cameras have been off for years, because they used cost more to run than they raised in fines – slow drivers, not racers, are a menace round here. 35 in a 60 zone is not unusual. There are lots of community speedwatch teams in villages (written warnings but no fines), and police video vans (fines), and lots of passive radar, which flashes up a speed warning if you are over the limit as you enter a 30 or 20 zone. It all seems to work very nicely. There are still accidents, but most are not down to poor driving rather than speeding anyway.
Drivers and riders should learn about speed and it s effects when learning to drive. I drive very fast on track,but on the road I tend to stick to a limit I consider safe for me .People slow down for the cameras and then speed up again.Speed cameras are there for one reason only, as a way of getting yet more money form vehicle owners who are paying through to noce to be onthe road, as it is
Logic tells me that there would be much less effort devoted to avoiding fixed and mobile cameras (of which I am guilty) if there was greater respect for the underlying speed limits in the first place. I am sure that readers can think of locations where driving at 59 mph on a country road is vastly more dangerous than on a motorway @ 90 mph. There is a village near here which has a 40 mph limit – only a madman would drive at anything approaching that – whilst there is an industrial estate in Northumberland with wide open through roads which is limited to 30 (where one could drive @ 50 mph and still be well within emergency stopping distance). There is nothing “magical” about 70 mph – it is purely an arbitrary number decided on by someone years ago when conditions were very different and written down in law and applied blindly as a rigid substitute for a more realistic approach (based possibly on fuel economy considerations). Hardly surprising that a large proportion of motorists (with exceptions of course) substitute gut feeling and common sense in place of a system that lives on a different planet. The police must be very well aware of this but are obliged to go by what it says in the book regardless of circumstances. The more unrealistic the limit the greater the tendency will be to disregard it, morals and the law apart.
While it may be stated that for example in Lancashire County that all the GATSO etc. fixed camera’s are switched on all the time I am of a strong belief this is in fact an incorrect statement. Many of the fixed camera installations have NO camera fitted day to day. It is a matter of fact that camera equipment is routinely moved from one site to another. This of course places an additional stress on motorists who generally drive at the or very near the speed limit as many fixed cameras are located on doiwn slopes on typical Lancashire roads having steep gradients – so what do you do – with a self accelerating vehicle – you drive down these steep hills with foot hovering over the bralke pedal or physically operating the vehicle’s braking system. Certatinly NOT good for the local environment or for economy!!!??? In addition to over-swamping with fixed installations Lancashire also makes extensive use of mobile speed camera vans to the observed point that in a 6 mile stretch of semi-rural semi-urban “A” road which is one of only 4 serving a valley there are 5 fixed camera sites backed up by frequent moves of the mobile camera van. Definitely OTT despite information about accidents etc. not necessarily being available to justify such emphasis as nothing appears to be published in relation to speeding events by uninsured, untaxed, non-licenced drivers or from dangerous driving or more likely drink or drugs as influencing factors – all of which have absolutely no influence on the perceived need (?) to install or use fixed or mobile cameras. I think the real influencing factors and answer might be obvious?
You know what? All this complaining about the motorist being a cash cow. The laws are there: speed limits have been laid down and we just have to adhere to them. If as an individual you are unhappy about those laws then lobby to get them changed. Meanwhile, don’t complain if you get a fine for ignoring them. Think about it: if we all abide by them then there would be no “greed” by the authorities – they wouldn’t have the income they receive from motorists who are falling foul of them. Those that decide THEY want to drive the way they want, with no regard to what is legal, then they deserve to be hit in the pocket or face punishment. One way to deal with these individuals is for punishment to hit them hard – the justice system remains limp and weak, which tempts the go-it-alones to chance their arm, hoping they are not caught. When they are they moan.
Fair enough for residential and other hazardous areas, but the 70mph blanket restriction for motorways and dual carriageways, by far the safest of roads, is outdated in my opinion. 80mph is more appropriate for modern light goods vehicles. Also, the blanket 50mph for motorway road works needs to be reviewed, and increased to 60mph where there is adequate workforce protection in place (i.e. barriers), as there is in most cases. Both of these proposals have been, or are being, debated by Parliament but they are too afraid to raise limits in case of a possible outcry. They prefer to stick to the lowest common denominator applied to all, as this is much simpler than allowing for more experienced and able drivers being able to handle faster speeds. And, if this generates more revenue for the Teasury, then even less incentive to modernise the motorway speed limits!
It is interesting to note that even though, famously, the Autobahns in Germany are supposedly “unlimited”, in actual fact this only applies to the more rural sections, away from hazards such as junctions, tunnels/underpasses and the like. I’m not suggesting that we in the UK go unlimited, but how about introducing higher, 80mph limits for some of our motorway and dual carriageway sections?
There are too many young speeding drivers in cars and motor cycles in residential areas where no speed cameras are present. A temporary flashing speed sign was recently erected on a lamp post near my home that was frequently showing speeds of 35-45mph in the 30mph zone and the highest I saw was 55mph. Now the sign has been taken down again. What did it achieve? – NOTHING!
I notice…..no mention of speed cameras in Scotland….we were still part of the UK last time I checked!
I cannot see the problem speed camera’s are there to prevent speeding or are they there just to collect money, if it’s for prevention then it does not matter if they are working or not the, driver does not know
Quote from the article
“Brake, a road safety charity, has said that these figures are concerning and that all fixed speed cameras should be switched on. Such a move would certainly help to tackle speed in the UK”.
You’ll note they say speed, not death or injury, makes you wonder what their agenda is and why they style themselves as a road safety charity if they’re not interested in safety.
In fact the number of deaths and injuries on our roads continues to fall despite the speed cameras not actually working so there must be another reason it. Perhaps Brake could investigate this rather than beating the old ‘Speed kills’ drum again and again.
As several have said, if you don’t want the fine, don’t break the speed limit. You may not agree with a limit as set, but it’s the law, like it or not. If you fell so incensed by a particular limit, start lobbying.
On the other hand some years ago the Road Research Laboratory published some statistics that shows that speed was a contributory factor in only 17% of accidents, which means that it was not a factor in the other 83%. So why do the authorities concentrate on speed and keep banging on about it? Because it’s easy pickings and woe betide anyone who argues to the contrary as they are immediately branded as criminals. It’s obviously far easier to set up a load of cameras and sit back with a smug look on your face and say “look how well we are policing those speeders” than getting out there in patrol cars and catching the idiot overtakers, the aggressive, and the plain incompetent.
My wife and I both used the same driving instructor who we named ‘crazy George’ because of his sometimes eccentric behaviour but his initial question was; “Do you want to learn how to drive responsibly and correctly or simply how to pass the driving test?” His golden rule was the three C’s – care, courtesy and consideration.
Too many people, taught by ‘pass results’ obsessed instructors, simply learn how to get through the test without being strongly reminded that they will be in charge of a potentially lethal weapon each time they venture out on the road.
There is undoubtedly a National obsession with speed being blamed for most problems encountered on our roads – In one of the countries with the lowest death / injury rates relative to the number of road miles driven! There is no denying that every death or injury is a tragedy for all involved but I would suggest that the there are many factors where basic incompetent or selfish drivers are to blame. Cameras do act as a speed deterrent but the money goes to Central Government rather than to help underfunded local police forces or to fund road repairs which would improve road safety in many areas.
Let fines go to the area where the offence is committed to justify the need for cameras in that area plus the funding could put more ‘human’ policemen on the road with the discretion to identify other causes of an accident over and above pure speed (the only easy one to physically measure).
I live in a town that has a speed monitoring device. Over 96% of motorists regularly exceed the legal limit. They get away with it because there is no police presence in the town. The worse offenders are middle age women on the school run.
variable speed cameras are the way to go they really slow traffic down especially in villages and towns. whatever speed cameras there are they should always be on and a percentage of the fine money should go to the upkeep and maintenance
More Police is what is needed. Cameras are limited to detecting excess speed over a short distance. So the vast majority of dangerous driving goes undetected since It is entirely possible to drive dangerously within the speed limit. But funding cuts have led to fewer Police and more dangerous roads
Police/Councils get their money back by selling Speed Awareness Courses.
Mobile units are much more lucrative!
Speed limits are set on the whims and fancies of local councillors (barring motorways), so how can any speed limit really relate to road conditions that are constantly changing?
All officialdom wants to promote, is brain dead drivers who religiously stick to speed limits and then are told they are ‘good drivers’!
Look at those stupid adverts for ‘good driver’ phone apps. How can you say someone is driving safely or with consideration if prevailing road conditions are unknown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t disagree with the cameras, if they are turned on. However when they keep changing the limits and don’t necessarily put up the proper visible restriction signs, and not following their own regulations, how are we supposed to keep up. It is a case of education and more hard hitting advertising with full on crashes and loads of blood everywhere. and i think there photos should be put in the local free newspaper or highest circulation paper and keep them non – blurry for extra motivation
Cameras are for cash and do not stop bad or uninsured drivers,bring back more marked patrol cars.
Used as excuse by those caught or wanting to justify speeding, grow up!
Every driver over the age of 70 should have a driving test every 3 years, the revenue should go to the Police force,
…and females over 17
gwen. What a load of rubbish. Test every driver over 70? For what reason. Don’t tell me they are less safe than younger drivers. That is complete rubbish. It is the young drivers who are a problem.
Will you not ever reach 70 years old yourself? Think before you start to penalise others. There are a lot of young drivers who drive small cars beyond the design limits and beyond their own experience.
Well said drogue
Over 70, that’s where the experienced drivers are – the problems appear to be the newly qualified young people, mostly males. However, in each age group we find good and bad drivers. Stick to policing out the bad drivers of any and every age and get them banned for 10 years.
and prey tell How many over 70 year old do you see on mobile phone/drinking/eating/overtaking on bends etc and racing up and down high streets at night?
Firstly, speed cameras are a money raising scam. ( Strange, was it not, that a whole new batch of speed cameras appeared just before they raised the fines to £100.) There are better means of preventing “speeding” that do not penalise motorists. For instance a simple red stop light, ( as in a traffic light) triggered by the speed detection device (ie the radar) will stop a motorist speeding. If not, then the camera can come into play. These systems are in use in less autocratic countries, but here the govt refuses to trial them.
No-one deliberately speeds. Speed cameras are there to catch the unwary, those unfamiliar with the area, and those distracted by the process of not slamming into another car or pedestrian. The “speed limit” in any place is deliberately reduced from what nearly all motorists would describe as safe in order to catch people out.
No-one deliberately speeds? Try telling that to my neighbours, we live on the edge of a Midlands village, vehicles regularly exceed the 30 limit in the main road behind our house. 40-50 mph is fairly common, particularly for drivers with tuned exhausts.
Similar problem, mainly about 8AM (going to work?), about 8.45 (taking kids to school?), just after 3pm (collecting kids from school?) and about 6pm (going home from work?).
No one deliberately speeds tell that to people who have been injured or the families of people killed in high speed accidents. When you see 6 cars being driven by young men racing down a country lane and overtaking each other it is very scary as each time you go round a bend you expect to see a pile of mangled cars and possible dead bodies. Please think before you write!
Speed does not kill it is the idiotic drivers who speed who kill Drivers are to blame for all accidents they test cars improve roads but do not care about drivers once you have a licence its your for life it does matter if you know how to drive safely or not Retest all drivers who break any motoring law just for a startPbMpU
You’re quite, Rita. They should be targeted but the vast majority of people “speeding” are doing so only when conditions allow and then by small amounts.
No one deliberately speeds? What planet did you fall off?
Yes there are some great systems abroad. Why then do we here just rely on speed cameras? Money or safety?
Speed cameras deter speeding drivers over a very short space of tarmac, how many times have you seen drivers brake for the camera then accelerate once through it. We are obsessed with speed in this country, far more than they are in Europe. Speed on it’s own doesn’t kill….shock horror!!!…travel on the German autobahn’s, if speed kill’s they’d all be dead by now. Bad / careless driving kill’s, the standard of driving in this country is shocking, and there are virtually no Police patrol’s now to deal with it. Mobile (Community…lovely phrase) speed cameras are designed to do one thing, raise revenue, or else they wouldn’t adopt the tactics they do, i.e. hiding as best they can to catch out the unsuspecting driver doing 5 – 10 miles over the already ridiculous (On more and more roads) 50 MPH limit.
Dont know about obsessed!. i think its more a case of getting to where you are going without the, sometimes ridiculous speed limitations. There are many roads where the cameras are completely useless, and only there to gather funds.
YUP your right “cash cows” is all they are and when approached we slow down and if the roads are clear speed up again totally useless.
In Norfolk plod hide up Lay-bys, pathetic if you ask me, your home gets broken into NO PLOD just number to use for your claim, go 5/10 MPH over the limit and come out of the woodwork, sad bunch.
Absolutely!! Plod only want quick easy hits to keep the numbers up. Only ever see them when driving or attending football matches!! Hundreds of them there just stood in the road hoping for trouble outside grounds!!
I wonder if any members if your family were to be killed by a speeding motorist would you feel the same way. Although I agree our property should be protected it can be replaced , a life cannot. If people would stick to the laws of the road we wouldn’t need policemen hiding in layby.
Surely, bad, careless, dangerous driving at a lower speed is likely to be less dangerous than the same at a higher speed.
In rural Wiltshire there are many poor drivers who travel between 35 and 45 mph regardless of road conditions. On country roads they cause queues and overtaking (which causes more serious accidents than speeding). In urban areas they keep going at about 35 mph unaware of the risk. Focus on speed alone rather than on driving skills and concentration on the road is misguided.
Completely agree. Mobile cameras largely simply raise money and are often covert. They ‘hide’ between parked vehicles or ‘off road’ on wider pavements or within bush areas. One I saw had black curtains to shield the whole rear of their van and had small side markings which you only could read whilst passing it. The area had very large articulated lorries parked on shallow bends which meant that a car overtaking these vehicles would sometimes need to slightly ‘quicken’ passing them as cars coming the opposite way would appear in front of them. ‘CLICK’ – got you! The driver may only have gone a couple or so miles over for the length of the parked lorry / lorries! When I saw this I wrote to report my observation ….surprise, surprise – no reply!
I’m more bothered about your dangerous apostrophes.
The number of drivers exceeding the “safe” speed limit shows that the law is not in tune with what people want.
Hidden speed traps are simply a revenue collector; if dafety were truly the objective, they would be clearly indicated.
Around East Anglia there seem to be increasing numbers of “Average Speed” sections of road which, in some instances, cover several miles.
An excellent idea. Earlier contributors have mentioned the “see the camera-slow down/accelerate” way of driving, which is bad for the environment in terms of gases from acceleration ( bit like the speed bumps), but maintaining a steady maximum speed avoids this
” the law is not in tune with what people want.”, driving standards have dropped alarmingly, people want to exceed limits at will use their phones constantly while driving, overtake in unsafe places. If there were no traffic laws there would be a lot more accidents. Inexperienced and arrogant drivers often do not seem to understand how dangerous what they are trying to do actually is – these are usually the same one who drive at 10mph when it is not dry and sunny , ie when it rains Driving standards and awareness need to be a lot better before we worry about increasing speed limits.
In Northern Ireland just before the RAILWAY CROSSING on the Main Road to the International Airport. There is a 40MPH speed sign 8″” in DIAMETER which drivers can hardly c. IT’S A FIXED PENALTY FINE TRAP. It would be interesting to know how many drivers have been caught At that one. PLEASE INSTALL A NORMAL SIZE ONE.
A good quality Sat Nav system has what they call safety camera warnings. These are not illegal and show locations of speed camera’s including static and mobile ones, at least mine does. I treat all warnings of speed camera’s as if they are active.
Doh! If you think that cameras requires an apostrophe why haven’t you put one in warnings?
The word is “warnings”. The sat-nav provides more than one warning, so every time a camera is identified the equipment tells you of its presence. To put your apostrophe where you have suggested is a nonsense and has no meaning.
Warnings is plural and does NOT require an apostrophe.
Are you from the apostrophe police?
Pay for more police and stop all this nonsense of cameras now. Catch real criminals who break the law by patrol cars
The biggest difference between speeding motoists and real criminals is ths ease of identification of the former. If bufglars had to wear a registration plate front and back the police would go back to catching them. As long as mototists remain the easy option the police will take that route.
What an outrage!, do we still want accidents occuring because of speeding, what will this government think of next, speed cameras are put there to stop motorists speeding and not for the police to make a fast buck or 2 doing something or nothing. reinstate the speed cameras and put our minds at rest!
I live in Durham. We have never had fixed cameras up here. Show me the figures that prove our roads are less safe than those in an area saturated with the things.
Down here in Sussex, they should put cameras on traffic lights. The amount of drivers that jump them are becoming dangerous. I ride a motorcycle and drive a car.
Monument Hill in Weybridge is a thirty mile an hour road but the regular speed is more forty/forty five miles an hour. The motorists in North Surrey are probably the most inept and aggressive in the whole country. The number going through the town using mobile phones at the wheel is really alarming especially in the mornings and afternoons with children in the cars. A policeman stood almost anywhere in Weybridge could make his salary in two days by observing and writing down registration plate numbers.
I’d question your statement about North Surrey drivers being the most aggressive.
I live near Norwich and occasionally I have to drive my wife to see her sister in Cornwall, a 360 mile each way route which involves a lot of the M5.
Many drivers (BMW, Merc or Range Rover drivers in particular) on the M5 seem to need to be within touching distance of the car in front (Tail gating? Never heard of it! I’ve got an expensive car so get out of my way!) have no concept of using indicators when doing ANY form of lane changing. And their average speed seems to be north of 80mph.
I have NEVER seen a single Police car on that road!
If they patrolled it they could probably make their arrest quota in the first hour of their shift!
Do the people who buy the cars you have mentioned take a questionnaire before purchase? Question one, are you arrogant by nature? If yes, you can buy one.
Seem that a certain amount of jealousy on here from people that can’t afford a nice car