Speed cameras are to reduce casualties not raise revenue
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NI by Cliff Caswell
Police have moved to allay the public's concern that speed cameras are being used to generate revenue, amid the looming prospect of hundreds more devices on British roads.
Senior officers insist that safety is the priority, and say that making cameras more conspicuous would be more effective than the penalty itself in making drivers slow down.
The comments follow a trial scheme, which allowed eight police forces to plough back some of the revenue from speeding fines into maintaining and providing new cameras.
A decision about whether the initiative, which is reported to have reduced casualties in some areas, will be rolled out nationally is due in the next few weeks. But some drivers are worried that cameras will be used as a means of generating cash.
However, police have issued assurances that this will not be the case. Supt John Baldwin, of Hampshire Police Traffic Division, says: 'The whole idea of cameras is to reduce the number of casualties we have on the roads.
'We must make the offence of breaking the speed limit socially unacceptable—the successful scheme is the one where we reduce both the speed and the casualty rate."
Baldwin believes some police forces may now start to look at painting cameras in more eyecatching colours—a scheme that is already being tried in Norfolk. But he points out that this would need to be agreed with local authorities, as there would be environmental issues to consider.
He adds: "The idea is not to detect speeding motorists but to deter them—a lot of forces now have their camera positions posted on the web, and the more conspicuous they are, the better."