Adrian F

Essex Police have just sent out a county wide news letter telling us tax payers how they have the support of 84% of people surveyed for speed camera's and proudly announcing that the clear up rate for Burglary is 17% and vehicle crime 10.3%

But every thing is alright as they issued 85000 speeding tickets last year. and are now training school children how to use laser guns to measure speed outside their schools. (wonder if the school gets a share of the fines?)

MattW

Yes but just think how many MORE people would have died if they had'nt issued those tickets


Seriously though 84% is probably right as the survey would have a loaded question such as:

Do you support the use of speed cameras in order to slow drivers down where there is a proven death\ksi rate or outside schools or hospitals.

You'd look a prat if you said no.

However if the question was:

Do you approve of speed cameras purely to rais a big fat wad of cash for the local scamera partnerhip, you'd be a fool to say yes. Simple really.

hades

"84% of people surveyed". Let me guess, the survey took place at the head office of Essex Safety Camera Partnership. 5 of the 6 people there said they thought cameras were a good idea.

It's a bit like saying Blair isn't lying 84% of the time . . . without mentioning that he's asleep, eating or generally not talking 83.9% of the time. To use a purely hypothetical example, of course.

Statistics - got to love 'em.

ariel

Blair a liar! Shock!!!!

Only sometimes!?
That's a shock!!!

hedgehog

The general policeman on the ground must be getting pretty fed up with spending his life skulking in hedges and behind walls in order to get photos of people going about their business in a generally safe and sensible manner while burglars are free to act at will.

In my local area the clearup rate for burglary is about 2% and the government produced a document to say that even they believed this was at least 50% too high due to the way the data was collected!

However, to balance this nearly every hedge and wall has seen a policeman skulking behind it awaiting any motorist who may drift slightly over the limit. That road deaths rise as speed enforcement increases and that motorways are the UKs safest roads are 2 among many indicators that speed does not kill.

In the past it was those on the fringes of society who hated the police and tried to make their jobs difficult. Now it is the law abiding majority who hate the police. We no longer have policing by consent and so police have had to resort to policing by stealth; hiding vans in undergrowth and cameras behind road signs to take £60 off the passing motorist.

I guess this is what happens when you have policing policy dictated by politicians. Only Durham has no cameras and it's Chief Constable rejects them based upon good reasoning. Durham has about 35% fewer accidents and over 40% fewer fatalities per mile driven than the UK average. Says it all really.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

If you talk to people who aren't petrol-heads, you'll find that a lot of them DO support cameras. Had loads of arguments at work about it.


M

hedgehog

It is interesting to note the number of people who will support cameras based upon emotional arguments and that fact that the "speed kills" claim has somehow become ingrained in our minds.

Many people are also fooled into thinking that cameras are OK in the "right places." In truth there is no right place as research has shown that when you put a camera at a junction the average motorist spends 5 out of the 8 seconds it takes to approach and cross the junction looking at the speedo. Based upon this information would you really want a camera at a school? Do we really believe it makes good road safety sense to encourage motorists to focus their attention inside the car when approaching schools, hospitals and junctions?

Little wonder then that accidents increased at 743 camera sites across the UK last year, though the government still claim that all cameras are properly sited! I am also willing to bet, though there are no figures available, that the sites where accidents were most likely to be increased by cameras were outside schools, hospitals and at junctions.

At present the emotional arguments might currently be winning people over but in the end the raw figures will start to have their impact. It's not speed that kills, it is speed cameras that kill.

r32

A recent report by the Department for Transport shows the causes for accidents in order.
1, Inattention
2, Failure to judge other persons speed/path
3, Looked but did not see
4, Behaviour - careless/thoughtless/reckless
5, Failed to look
6, Lack of judgement of own path
7, Excessive speed
8, Slippery road
9, Impairment - alcohol
10, Behaviour - in a hurry.

These are from the DfT, however if none of the cars were moving then no accidents would have occured, so it has to be speed right?

DanTheMan

85,000 speeding tickets = £5MILLION

Looks to me like a moneymaking scam, unfortunately here they are dropping limits for no apparent reason, not erecting signs saying "new speed limit" but funnily enough remembering to park the scamera van on the side of the road to con unsuspecting motorists.

Its got absolutely **** all to do with saving lives