Via the Englishman I see that the Swindon experiment is going well.
FOUR months on from the scrapping of speed cameras in Swindon no increase in accidents has been reported on the roads affected.
Well, bugger me sideways, I never saw that one coming. Of course there has been no increase in accidents reported – because there is no evidence whatsoever that speed cameras reduced them in the first place. What speed cameras do is cause a Mexican wave effect as drivers hit the brakes and then accelerate irrespective of whether they are within the posted limit or not.
Asked at Monday’s Scrutiny Committee meeting what impact there had been since the decision Coun Greenhalgh (Con, Freshbrook and Grange Park) said there had been no discernible effect on speed levels.
Again, to anyone with a modicum of common sense, this is a statement of the blindingly obvious. Speed cameras do not reduce speed – except within the immediate vicinity of the camera, when drivers hit the brakes and then accelerate irrespective of whether they are travelling within the posted limit or not. So, taking the damned things away has no effect on either speed or accident rates, because the cameras had no positive effect to start with. They are a revenue raising device beloved of the car hating brigade that have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with spite. Frankly, good riddance to bad rubbish.
Greenhalgh continues:
“There has been no increase in accidents at those locations. Speed is an issue but there’s no evidence speeds have increased on those roads. We often get people saying speeds are too fast on a certain road then, when we do some analysis, we don’t get any evidence of that.”
Well, ain’t that a surprise… People have perceptions about speed that bear no relationship to actual speed. For the most part, drivers are not seeking to drive maniacally fast. Yes, of course there are the idiots, but there will always be the idiots no matter what is done by moronic politicans to make us all safe. And the idiots will not merely be driving too fast for the conditions, they will also be tailgating, changing lanes without checking properly and failing to pay attention to the traffic cionditions. These are behaviours that a police traffic officer will be able to discern. They are not behaviours that a speed camera will pick up.
Coun Greenhalgh said the £320,000 road safety budget was now being directed to other areas.
He said: “We are now refocusing our resources on delivering elements such as proper accident investigation.
“We are also looking at things like signage and at road layout. We need to focus on methods that make it harder for people to speed in the first place.”
This sounds like pragmatic common sense to me. More power to Swindon’s elbow, say I.
There is, however, always one…
Scrutiny chairman Coun Derique Montaut (Lab, Central) pointed out that the council was still failing on its promise to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Swindon’s roads by 40 per cent from the 2005 figure.
And it is no surprise that he is Labour, is it? 40% is one hell of a target, frankly – and, besides, as Coun Greenhalgh points out:
“There are a number of things we can do to reduce the risk but we cannot prevent people from getting killed on our roads.”
Of course not.
“Road users have to take responsibility for their actions.”
Yes. Yes. Yes. A rare outbreak of common sense. Is this a recovery or merely green shoots I see? Am I being optimistic or will those green shoots be devoured by the slugs and snails?
As you say, quelle surprise. Cameras = spying
I’m a cyclist and personally, I’m all for the ‘naked streets’ initiative: no traffic lights and no pedestrian crossings. This means cars have to slow down at junctions and be extra aware for pedestrians. It’s been tried in other countries and worked really well (some even gave up pavements!).
I can testify it works: just recently two (busy) junctions near me had their traffic lights out of action. What happened? Carnage and pedestrian’s entrails spread across the road? Massive great pile ups like something out of ‘Lethal Weapon’? No, not at all. Cars (and me on my bike!) all slowed down as we went through the junction as we looked out for pedestrians and oncoming traffic. The traffic flowed much better, and I felt safer as there were no boy-racers revving their engines and screaming away from the lights.
Just to hammer home the point: I don’t stop at red lights, but cycle straight through them. Controversial, I know, but I’ve never once hit a pedestrian or on-coming car when I’ve run a red light as I’m extra careful. The only time I’ve hit a pedestrian was when the traffic lights were green for me. I sped through thinking I was ‘safe’ and the poor guy stepped into the road without looking. Result? He got hurt, I came off my bike and nearly got run over by a bus who was flying through the green light like me ’cause he also thought it was ‘safe’.
Absolutely. I am all in favour of shared space. It encourages personal responsibility.