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Cameras can be stealthy
Page 16
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The NT is green lighting hidden cameras for 'covert enforcement'. David Harris reports.
HIDDEN SPEED traps could become more common on British roads after a new government document gave them the go-ahead last week.
The Department for Transport's Handbook of Rules and Guidance for Speed Cameras says secret cameras can be set up "where the police judge that covert enforcement is necessary to deal with exceptional situations".
The situations the handbook has in mind include the use of roads for racing where the participants check them for speed traps beforehand.
But this support for secret cameras on page 23 of the handbook apparently contradicts its statement in the executive summary on page 8, which says: -All speed camera sites must also be conspicuous and visible."
The key difference for the government is that the covert cameras are not part of the main speed camera programme and the police cannot reclaim any fines imposed through secret cameras, as they can with the clearly sited cameras.
Despite the mixed publicity generated by the speed camera programme, the DfT defends them strongly on the grounds of the numbers of lives saved.
Earlier this year Transport Minister Alistair Darling said the number of people killed or seriously injured at sites where speed cameras are in use has fallen by 40% in three years, equating to 100 fewer deaths a year.
The results came from a survey carried out for the DIT by University College London and PA Consulting Group. This also indicated 79% of people support the use of speed cameras. It calculated the country saved £221m a year in terms of avoided casualties.