BMF welcomes speed camera re-think

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Eamonn
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BMF welcomes speed camera re-think

Post by Eamonn »

The British Motorcyclists Federation has welcomed the announcement by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling that there is going to be more flexibility over speed camera policy.

Over-hyped by the over-zealous, speed cameras, sited sensibly, can nevertheless reduce speed-related accidents say the BMF, but news that cameras will now be seen as only part of local road safety schemes and not treated as the automatic panacea to road casualty reduction, is a welcome change in policy.

So-called 'safety camera's are no substitute for proper policing say the BMF. Speed in itself is rarely the primary cause of an accident, but inappropriate speed is. What cameras have done is to allow police road traffic patrols to be reduced, hence the drop in drink-driving and careless driving cases - not because drivers are better, simply that the police are no longer around to see such offences committed.

Research by the DfT has shown that the effect of cameras has also been over estimated. It has been accepted that in some cases, 'Regression to Mean' has indicated that camera's, sited after a short spate of accidents (a peak that would not necessarily have been repeated), have been credited with accident reduction when accidents would have dropped to a lower 'mean' - even without the camera. To then claim it was solely responsible for accident reduction is disingenuous to say the least. All such instances have done is annoy even the most responsible motorcyclist or motorist.

BMF spokesman Jeff Stone, said: "We welcome sensible road safety measures. The proposal to improve speed limit signing at camera sites is such a case. It's in no-one's interests to 'catch people out'. Road safety is not a game; we want to see proper enforcement of the laws we have but by the police, not by machines. Drivers ignore the law on mobile phone use because they know there is little chance of being caught. It's this sort of cavalier attitude that needs addressing, not inadvertent speeding."

"We know from our surveys that the responsible rider and driver is not afraid of better policing. Motorcyclists invariably come off worse in car-bike crashes, we want to see driving standards improve and the best way is to make road policing more visible."

The BMF will be writing to Alistair Darling in response to the announcement, including a request that a substantial part of the additional road safety funding now announced will be spent on police road patrols.
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