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Money for nothing
Page 9
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ANPR cameras are great revenue earners for the government, but Mr X seriously doubts whether they are an effective way to enforce the Road Safety Bill.
So the long-awaited Road Safety Bill has had its second reading in Parliament. Make no mistake, this bill really will affect how we lead our lives. If you have some time to spare, visit www.dft.gov.uk, www.airso.org.uk or www.pacts.orguk for enlightenment. But it's not all bad news. At long last the issues that have been the subject of so many column inches in the press for the past decade are being tackled. Most significantly, the apparent desire of the bill to deal with foreign transgressors by means of on-the-spot fines will find favour with most UK-based operators.
I wonder, however, how our cash-strapped, underresourced enforcement agencies will make this happen. Inevitably, there is going to be a massive emphasis on camerabased evidence; we all know cameras are cheaper than policemen and tend not to ring in sick quite so often.
But tracing the perpetrator is where this initiative is fundamentally flawed. Since when have thieves or drug dealers, or even visitors from emerging markets, conveniently registered their cars at the DVLA for the benef ft of ANPR cameras? ANPR should be used as an aid to effective policing, not a revenue earner. Sadly, being policed by camera makes for good statistics, and anti-car campaigns make good headlines, Is there a real desire to reduce the 35,000 people killed or seriously injured on our roads each year? I hope so. Major accidents on busy routes cost us all huge amounts of time and money. But it would take a long and protracted campaign for the DfT to make a serious impression on that statistic — too long for this administration to reap any benefit. In comparison, the revenue collected from business and private motorists through minor transgressions is enormous and instantaneous.
Until all accountable, generally law-abiding citizens of this country are incarcerated because of this draconian legislation, I fear this administration will not rest. And then it won't have anyone left to pay the fines!
"Since when have thieves or drug dealers, or even visitors from emerging markets, registered their cars at the DULA?"