NUMBER OF SPEEDING TICKETS ROCKETS

You don't need to me to tell me that this story comes as no surprise. At least some politicians are beginning to ask why we have so many cameras.

Read this from the Daily Express:

SPEEDING fines and prosecutions in Britain have increased sevenfold and the number of speed cameras has rocketed, according to latest figures.

Speed camera offences rose from 262,000 in 1996 to 1,865,000 in 2006 and Tory MP Mark Field says it is time that the “pendulum turned back to the long-suffering motorist”.

There are at least 3,500 more cameras than in 2000 and the MP for Westminster called yesterday for an end to their “excessive use” and the “overzealous penalising of drivers”.

Mr Field obtained the speed camera figures under the Freedom of Information Act, revealing that in 2000 there were 2,000 cameras on the roads but by 2006 this had shot up to 5,500.

Despite the massive increase in fines, roads are still blighted by dangerous drivers, and according to the MP disqualifying motorists has turned into little more than a game.

He said: “The use of speed cameras transformed the disqualification system into one of Russian roulette.”

The chaos on the UK’s roads is further compounded by a lack of traffic police, according to motoring organisations, with the number of officers on duty having fallen by 20 per cent in a decade.