· Speed Cameras: Just making a fast buck?

At first glance the case against speed cameras seems overwhelming. Drivers loathe them. Motoring organisations accuse them of being yet another stealth tax on motorists. And leader writers become positively agitated at the idea of them. Speed cameras, it seems, are a very bad thing.
At one level at least, speed cameras work. They do raise money. A lot of money. The Sunday Times newspaper recently claimed that one cameras alone raised £25,000 in a single week. But they are needed as speeding is a serious problem, with the number of officially recorded incidents continuing to rise. In 1995, 690,000 driving offences were caught on camera; by 2001 the number was 1.3 million.

Nice and Easy does it

According to the department for Transport, speed cameras do save lives. They have released figures suggesting speeding related deaths and injuries have fallen by 35%, which means over 280 accidents have been prevented, saving tax payers about 112 million. (And before you reach for your calculator, yes, that does mean that every accident costs on average £400,000 to respond and clear up.) Plus, of course, 280 sets of family and friends haven’t suddenly had to deal wit what can all too often be tragic news following each accident.

Think Slow

Whatever you think about speed cameras, they’re here to stay. And there are strategies that you can adopt to make sure you don’t fall foul of their flashguns. First of all, remember that a speed limit is a maximum speed. You are not obliged to drive at the speed indicated. Secondly, don’t feel you need to go faster because someone else is up your exhaust pipe. Their impatience shouldn’t be your problem. And make checking your Speedo part of your routine when you check your mirrors.

Watch Yourself

Do watch out for speed limit signs. If you don’t see any and you are driving in a built up area with street lighting, presume you are in a 30mph limit zone until you see signs telling you otherwise.
Finally, if you are towing a trailer, or driving a commercial vehicle, you may be subject to a lower limit. Ensure you know what that limit is before you set off.

Shell Customer News Letter
Issue 14 – April 2004