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ANOTHER BALLS UP
Department for Transport (DfT) has published new rules for speed camera partnerships.
Unbelievably, sites where it is 'dangerous to speed' are still excluded.
Safe Speed first revealed this 'rules blunder' in January 2004!
The rules only select sites where responsible motorists/riders are more likely to exceed the speed restriction and exclude sites where any responsible motorists/rider would not speed.
Which is why you do not get a camera in narrow village high streets, where they would catch the occasional ejit.
They ONLY enforce in places where driving in excess of the speed limit is safe and; usually, appropriate.
It is this serial ballsing-up that causes the widespread perception that speed cameras are in the wrong places.
The incompetence and mismanagement of the DfT and of the speed camera programme is incredible. They have been so misused that there is little or no public confidence in them.
The 'blunder' ensures that the misuse will continue. Cameras can only be placed where routine speeding is safe.
The continual confusion engendered between what is safe behaviour and legal behaviour is misdirects everyone's road safety efforts.
We have to encourage safe behaviours not those that are merely legal.
The speed camera programme is to road safety what a hammer is to clock repair -it's blunt and heavy and does far more harm than good.
The only answer now is to remove all speed cameras from UK roads, and rebuild road safety based on psychologically effective policies.
Appendix H of the 4th year report (published December 15th 2005 by DfT) suggests that speed camera effectiveness has been overestimated by 400%,
and even that has not considered the wide ranging deadly side effects.
When the side effects are eventually evaluated it will becomes clear the many people dying due to this fatally flawed policy.
DfT's New handbook can be seen at:
www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_611087.pdf
Safe Speed page giving details of the 'rules blunder': www.safespeed.org.uk/rules.html
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