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LINCOLNSHIRE SPENDS LESS ON CAMERAS YET REDUCES ROAD DEATHS
BY BEN WEBSTER, TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT The Times November 05, 2005
LINCOLNSHIRE’s road safety team is to be the model for the Government’s new approach to speed enforcement after exploding the myth that the only way to cut road deaths is to put up more cameras.
The county has one the best records for reducing casualties, despite freezing the number of cameras. Road deaths and serious injuries fell by 18 per cent in Lincolnshire last year, more than double the national rate of improvement.
The fall coincided with a drop in camera penalties to the lowest number for four years.
The Lincolnshire camera partnership is one of the few that is spending less on camera enforcement this year than it did last year. Motoring groups have criticised the camera partnerships for setting themselves ever-larger budgets that they then need to fund by catching thousands more motorists.
In the spring the Government blocked proposals by 39 partnerships for more than 500 additional cameras. Lincolnshire was one of only four partnerships that decided not to apply for any more cameras.
Ministers want all partnerships to follow Lincolnshire’s policy of having camera officials, highway engineers and police road safety officers all working in the same building.
When a road is identified as having a high casualty rate, a member of each group inspects the site.
This ensures that all the alternatives are fully considered before any decision is made to install a camera.
A spokesman for the partnership said: "Having everyone sat together reinforces the attitude that cameras are only one of many solutions to the problem of speeding.
In most other regions these people work in completely different offices.
"We also believe that the camera partnership doesn’t need to spend more to reduce casualties."
Lincolnshire makes widespread use of speed indicator devices, which detect a vehicle’s speed and flash it up on a screen.
These devices do not make any money but research has shown they can be more effective than cameras.
Motorists who receive community service orders for the most serious offences are ordered to visit villages blighted by speed and to help officials to erect signs highlighting the dangers of breaking the limit.
Lincolnshire’s six camera vans are used only in places where they can be seen well in advance.
"We park vans in prominent positions so people have an opportunity to slow down," the spokesman said.
www.timesonline.co.uk/driving
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