Supression des radars

[Nick de Cusa]

Rassurez vous, nous ne verrons pas ça chez nous.

  Citation

More councils expected to ban speed camerasLocal authorities to follow in footsteps of Swindon after concerns government uses cameras to raise cashMatthew Weaver guardian.co.uk, Thursday October 23 2008 11.14 BST

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Matthew Weaver

Several more local authorities are expected to ban speed cameras over the next year, following the lead of Swindon council, which announced it was scrapping them last night.

To the alarm of road safety campaigners, Swindon became the first council in the UK to scrap fixed speed cameras over concerns that the government is using them to raise money.

The nine-member cabinet of the Tory council voted unanimously in favour of withdrawing from the partnership that operates local safety cameras.

The AA motorists' group predicted other councils would use a recent relaxation in transport funding rules to ditch speed cameras in favour of other traffic calming measures. Councils in Portsmouth and North Somerset are known to be considering it.

Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said: "Other councils will now know they won't be the first, which will make life easier for them if they are thinking about it."

Asked how many others would follow, he said: "It's horribly difficult to say, but I would say six or seven."

Howard welcomed Swindon's decision. "We are very glad to see there's flexibility in the system and that road safety grant is not only camera money. Cameras are not the only way to skin the road safety problem."

Brake, the national road safety charity, said it was "appalled" at what it called a "reckless decision".

Its spokeswoman, Jane Whitham, said: "Swindon Borough Council is entering into a very dangerous experiment with people's lives. Staying well within speed limits is essential for everyone's safety and speed cameras are an important tool in catching drivers who insist on breaking the law and putting lives in danger."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today they would be "monitoring the results" in Swindon.

"Speed cameras have been shown to reduce casualties," said a royal society spokesman.

Ditching cameras was championed by Peter Greenhalgh, Swindon's highways councillor, as a way of improving road safety.

"I have never said that speed cameras don't work — of course they do," he told the Swindon Advertiser. "They are effective in stopping people speeding in a particular spot but they are not effective in stopping people being killed or seriously injured on our roads."

Greenhalgh's initiative was praised by the Top Gear presenter and pro-motorist columnist Jeremy Clarkson.

But Greenhalgh said: "I did not become a councillor to be hailed as a hero on Top Gear."

He said police would still use handheld speed cameras in the town and alternative speed-reducing measures were being considered by the council, including education and training for motorists and reduced speed limits in problem areas.

David Ainsworth, Wiltshire's deputy chief constable, said police were urging the council to consult them before they "physically remove any camera".

Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove said: "I am on the side of Wiltshire police in this debate — they know more about road safety than Swindon's Conservative councillors."

Swindon council leader Rod Bluh said: "Politics is about making policies and it is also about challenging policies if you do not believe they are working. If you think the status quo isn't working then you need to challenge that, however difficult that challenge is."

Bluh admitted once being banned from driving for speeding. "I was caught three or four years ago. But I'm a reformed character. I have not speeded since."

The Department for Transport denied the government was using cameras to raise funds. "Safety cameras are there to save lives, not make money. To ensure that local partnerships have no incentive to try to raise money from cameras, fines are paid into a central fund rather than directly to those partnerships," a spokesman said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oc…rnment-motoring