Transport department delays approving new speed cameras |
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Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:35
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The Department for Transport (DfT) has said that it is not going to approve any new speed camera deployment sites until a review, which is being conducted by the University College London, submits its report.
The college was supposed to submit its report in June, but that had been delayed due to some unspecified reason, a spokeswoman for the Department clarified. "We are waiting for this independent review to be completed before approving any new sites. We are not blocking the use of new cameras. It's important that we get everything right in relation to the whole issue of cameras," she added.
Last year the review had found that there was a 40 percent fall in deaths and serious injuries, which could be attributed to the use of these cameras. This roughly equates to 870 less deaths or serious injuries sustained in road accidents. There was also a 33 percent fall in crashes in the areas that deployed these cameras.
This is what various organizations committed to road safety are pointing out, "If we are held back on placing speed cameras in communities where they are desperately needed then it's going to be costing lives," said Jools Townsend of Brake, the charitable road safety organization. But the department spokeswoman said that they had a huge pool of data from the camera sites, which needed to be analyzed, "We want to be sure that we have a much clearer picture of things before we proceed," she said.
But anti-speed camera organizations have welcomed this decision to freeze new camera deployment, Paul Smith the founder of Safe Speed said that the cameras posed a serious danger to drivers, police and local authorities. He attributed last year's fall in deaths to this decision to stop new camera placement, "In almost every case there's something else that's more important to road safety than strict speed limit compliance," he observed.
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