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Just the ticket...

10th March 2005, Page 30
10th March 2005
Page 30
Page 31
Page 30, 10th March 2005 — Just the ticket...
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Everybody hates being done for speeding, but a team of enforcers in the South-West aim to change drivers' behaviour without penalty points. A CM reader shares his experience of this radical scheme.

1t was just before Christmas when! received the letter. It came in a blank envelope that I assumed was another kind offer from my bank for a loan or a mortgage or some such. However, on tearing it open I noticed the logo for the Avon & Somerset Safety Camera Partnership (ASSCP), which immediately grabbed my attention. Further down it said that Avon & Somerset Constabulary were considering prosecuting me for excessive speed38mph in a 30 zone with camera evidence to back them up.

Ah. Looking at the date and time of the offence I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I had been driving and could even picture the camera in question, although to be perfectly honest 1 hadn't noticed it going off.

Looking back I wasn't even aware that the road had a 30rnph limit on it which probably explains why I was caught. Simple inattention. Anyway, they had me, as they say, bang to rights. I filled in the form admitting my guilt and awaited details of where to send my cheque and driving licence, all the while kicking myself for my stupidity particularly as this was the second time I'd fallen foul of a camera through not paying attention.

A surprising lifeline

When the next letter from the ASSCP arrived I opened it with a marked lack of enthusiasm. However, rather than asking for my bank details the letter offered me a lifeline:if I agreed to attend a seminar where the whole issue of speeding would be discussed I could avoid those pesky points on my licence (and a consequent rise in the cost of insurance).

So I chose that option and so I found myself at the start of February making a mid-week trek to Bristol to receive my re-education at the SpeedChoice seminar.

There are a dozen of us in the room, all of whom have been caught in a 30mph zone breaking the speed limit but not exceeding 40mph. Mick. one of our two instructors, explains that anyone caught doing over 40 "is not thought to be receptive to what we are doing here today".

He used to be a motor cycle courier and was then a driving instructor, before opting to work for the Safety Camera Partnership. "I decided that I had to change my driving before I lost my licence or killed someone," he explains. "While I was a courier I lost several friends through crashes."

Our other instructor, Fiona, used to be a police officer. She says: "I left the police force because I had to deal with the aftermath of a road accident where a seven-year-old boy had been killed."

The aim of the two-hour session is to "develop your existing knowledge and understanding of the consequences of speeding".

As an ice breaker we break off into teams and discuss issues like whether we were aware of the speed limit and why we were breaking it, and how we felt when we got the notice. We then present our thoughts to the rest of the group. It's a pretty representative and seemingly honest range of reasons-many of us admit that we either weren't concentrating, weren't aware of the limit, or were but thought we wouldn't get caught.

Dave,for instance, had been battling through snow and ice on the motorway, crawling along, and when he found a clear section of urban road he sped up with the inevitable consequences.

The group showed other reactions too: -I'm retired... £60 is a lot of money!" says Janet. "I was bloody livid to be honest," says Susan who, like me, has trekked all the way from Surrey to be here. "I was cross with myself and with you lot for having the camera there."

Most people are annoyed with themselves that they'd been caught, but also accept that they'd broken the law. Only Susan seems at all hostile, mainly because of the distance she's had to travel.

A government commitment

Our instructors explain why the cameras are there (aside from the £20m profit they brought the government last year) and it hinges partly on the government's 1998 commitment to reduce deaths on the roads by 2010.

In a pilot scheme eight Safety Partnerships were set up comprising representatives from various local agencies including the Crown Prosecution Service, local authorities, police and Highways Agency; then cameras were set up near accident black spots. This was deemed such a success that the pilot was halted and the scheme went nationwide: there are now 42 safety camera partnerships.

According to Department for Transport figures the use of cameras has cut Killed and Serious Injuries (KSIs) in camera locations by 35% with a 14% reduction in personal injury collisions. The average speed at all camera sites has fallen by 10% (3.5mph). But in urban zones "the killing zones" as they put it (the majority of accidents happen in 30mph zones) it fell by 12-14%.

Mick and Fiona argue that the cameras aren't about money, adding:"If we get the positioning right then no-one would be here.The best cameras are the ones that don't take photographs."

We're also told that the camera partnership isn't trying to hide anything: the ASSCP publishes the details of all its loaded cameras on its website, www.safecam.org.uk. Mick adds: "We give out the infoimation because we want people to see the cameras and slow down."

Next we're told the financial cost of collisions to societyA slight accident is £17500; a serious accident is 1174,530:and a fatal crash costs no less than £1.5m. In Avon & Somerset alone the total cost of KSI accidents in 2003 was £310m. Every day nine people die in the UK and there are 586 KSI crashes,making a daily total of £115m.

We then look at national speed limits and rather pleasingly they point out the 40rriph problem for HGVs on single carriageways we're advised to"cut them some slack -.When I point out that the speed limits have been in place since the 1960s I'm told that they are "reviewed all the time-. Linder the circumstances it seems wise not to press the point.

An unsettling suggestion

The next topic is introduced with the rather unsettling suggestion: "Let's talk about blood loss."And indeed we do.Apparently just breaking a wrist will cost you 5% of your blood and after 30% of it has dribbled away sustaining life becomes tricky. Let's just say that you really don't want to break a hip (80%). To hammer home the point some more we're led through what happens if you were to hit a child.

Senses reeling from this bombshell we're given tips to help our driving: concentration, observation,space and time.

Before we're let back onto the roads and the Bristol rush hour we're given some parting advice from Mick: -Each time you get behind the wheel think about your responsibilities. Think about the speed limit, and the appropriate speed, which might be different things. Remember that most people have a crash or are caught speeding within 10 miles of home.

"We don't think you are going to go out of here and keep to every speed limit, that's unrealistic. But if you think more about what you are doing because of it, then this course has done its job."


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