It’s time to switch off the speed camera ‘cash machines’!

[WiseOwl]

UKIP Transport spokesman Jill Seymour has called for a major review of Britain's speed camera network, on the 23rd anniversary of their launch. She said it was time to differentiate between cameras which were genuinely helping to save lives, and those which are nothing more than revenue-raising cash-machines.

"I am all in favour of speed cameras, where there is clear evidence that they are in accident blackspots and are helping to make our roads safer, both for the motorist and the pedestrian," she said.

"But thousands of these cameras are just being cynically used to raise money from drivers, instead of saving lives.

"We need complete transparency about their effectiveness – let us see the number of accidents and casualties at each camera site, both before and after they were installed.

"And any cameras which are proved to be simply victimising motorists without making any difference to road safety should be scrapped."

According to the website speedcamerasuk.com, there are now around 6,000 speed cameras on Britain's roads, including some 2,500 mobile cameras.

Yet figures from the Department of Transport have shown that less than five per cent of accidents on UK roads are caused by speeding drivers.

And The Taxpayers' Alliance published a report which showed that, since the first speed cameras were switched on in 1992, the decline in road casualty rates has actually slowed down.

Mrs Seymour, an MEP for the West Midlands, added: "In far too many instances, speed cameras don't improve safety. They have been cynically placed to generate the maximum revenue."