speed cameras not saving lives

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Speed cameras 'not saving lives'

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SPEED cameras are failing to make roads safer or saving lives, according to new university research.

Sociology lecturer Alan Buckingham of Bath Spa University College analysed UK and Australian government data to see if there was a correlation between the number of road fatalities and speed cameras.

He found a reduction in fatal accidents in the UK until the early 1990s, due largely to driver education, stalled when speed cameras were introduced.

The lecturer claimed police are failing to tackle dangerous and drink drivers and are targeting the vast majority of drivers who break the speed limit by a fraction.

He said the introduction of speed cameras had changed the behaviour of police, drivers and government. He is to present his work in Australia, which is thinking of introducing a big anti-speeding project.

* Autocar magazine says growth in cameras has desensitised drivers to speeding convictions.

It has discovered that one-in-six drivers now has points on their licence, compared with only one-in-10 five years ago.

Eddie Cunningham