News over the weekend that Govt spending cuts will see roadside cameras switrched off is good news for ALL motorists.
Let's see the end of speed camera partnerships (forget the word 'safety' in their titles because they aren't interested in road safety) and then return to the days when the UK had the safest roads in the world.
Is that too much to ask for?
Here's how Sky News tell the story:
Thousands of speed cameras could be switched off after the Government slashed cash for road safety by 40%
According to The Sunday Times, the first county likely to abandon the devices is Oxfordshire, which may shut down its 79 cameras as early as next week.
Other counties could do the same, with camera networks in Devon and Cornwall, Somerset and Northamptonshire also under review, the paper said.
About 6,000 speed cameras across the UK cost motorists an estimated £100m in fines a year. Oxfordshire's network raised more than £1m in 2009.
But the money goes to the Treasury despite local authorities complaining they should be able to keep the proceeds for spending on road safety.
The reduction in Government cash for road safety has prompted Oxfordshire officials to recommend a £600,000 cut in Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership funding.
The body, which operates the county's fixed speed cameras, has reportedly said it will no longer be able to afford them, if funding is slashed.
All the cameras will be switched off if county councillors ratify the cutback on Tuesday, the Times continued.
The reviews of camera networks follow a Government decision to claw back £38m from English local authorities' 2010-11 £95m road safety budget.
Road safety minister Mike Penning told the paper: "In the coalition agreement, the Government made clear it would end central funding for fixed speed cameras.
"This is another example of this government delivering on its pledge to end the war on the motorist.
"I would hope that councils will use the funds available to put in place new measures to tackle road safety problems."
Road safety charity Brake's Ellen Booth feared Oxfordshire's decision could prompt other councils to scrap speed cameras.
She was quoted as saying: "We're incredibly concerned in case this is more than an isolated incident. That would be a disaster for road safety and the public."
NO THIS WOULD NOT BE A DISASTER.
Motorists Against Detection wants to see more police on the roads to enforce the laws of the land AND an increase in driver education.
This really is a time for celebration!
Captain Gatso
The Motorists' Friend
Sunday 25 July 2010
Friday 9 July 2010
Speeding fines race to £87m
So here we go AGAIN.
Everything in this report in today's Sun repeats what we have been saying for at least the last five years.
Have people not been listening?
Let me repeat: there is NO EVIDENCE that speed cameras make the roads any safer. In fact, the statistics show that the great improvements this country had been making slowed - or got worse - AFTER the introduction of speed cameras. (The Govt played a statistical quirk game in which they showed the opposite but had to ignore some very basic statistical rules).
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!
Anyway, let The Sun spell it out for you.
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
MOTORISTS were clobbered with more than £87million in fines last year after being nabbed by speed cameras.
But a new report today claims the explosion in the number of cameras has NOT made roads safer.
Instead, the steady drop in road casualties over the last 30 years SLOWED after they were introduced in 1991.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers were snapped speeding or jumping red lights last year.
They were fined a total of £87.4million, the report from the TaxPayers' Alliance shows.
London drivers paid nearly £6.3million - the highest in the country.
Read more
Everything in this report in today's Sun repeats what we have been saying for at least the last five years.
Have people not been listening?
Let me repeat: there is NO EVIDENCE that speed cameras make the roads any safer. In fact, the statistics show that the great improvements this country had been making slowed - or got worse - AFTER the introduction of speed cameras. (The Govt played a statistical quirk game in which they showed the opposite but had to ignore some very basic statistical rules).
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!
Anyway, let The Sun spell it out for you.
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
MOTORISTS were clobbered with more than £87million in fines last year after being nabbed by speed cameras.
But a new report today claims the explosion in the number of cameras has NOT made roads safer.
Instead, the steady drop in road casualties over the last 30 years SLOWED after they were introduced in 1991.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers were snapped speeding or jumping red lights last year.
They were fined a total of £87.4million, the report from the TaxPayers' Alliance shows.
London drivers paid nearly £6.3million - the highest in the country.
Read more
Thursday 8 July 2010
Greedy Gatso on safe road row
Just when people think the Gatso row has died away there pops up another example of the greed of the 'safety camera' partnerships.
You won't need me to spell out why this camera is so wrong (but it's on a road without any RTAs and is a dual carriageway with a 30mph. Go figure).
But, goodness me, to rack yp £1.3m a year in fines on what is suppoed to be a SAFE road? Come on!
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
A SPEED camera on a road with a sparkling safety record has sparked fury — as it nets £1.3MILLION a year in fines.
The controversial camera, one of the most lucrative in Britain, has been catching an average 1,843 motorists a month — hitting each with a £60 ticket.
But the dual carriageway it sits on has had only ONE serious injury in ELEVEN YEARS.
Motoring groups have slammed it as a move to "milk the motorist" — claiming the 30mph is far too low for the road.
Thousands of drivers have been fined for driving at a few miles over 30mph, not realising the limit is so low.
Read more of The Sun story
You won't need me to spell out why this camera is so wrong (but it's on a road without any RTAs and is a dual carriageway with a 30mph. Go figure).
But, goodness me, to rack yp £1.3m a year in fines on what is suppoed to be a SAFE road? Come on!
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
A SPEED camera on a road with a sparkling safety record has sparked fury — as it nets £1.3MILLION a year in fines.
The controversial camera, one of the most lucrative in Britain, has been catching an average 1,843 motorists a month — hitting each with a £60 ticket.
But the dual carriageway it sits on has had only ONE serious injury in ELEVEN YEARS.
Motoring groups have slammed it as a move to "milk the motorist" — claiming the 30mph is far too low for the road.
Thousands of drivers have been fined for driving at a few miles over 30mph, not realising the limit is so low.
Read more of The Sun story
Monday 5 July 2010
Crackdown on 'Big Brother' camera network for our roads after Home Secretary orders review
A review into the use of ANPR cameras is long overdue - and we don't expect them to be removed.
The police are now in charge and they don't want this to happen.
It's NOT about finding/tracking terrorists but about following ordinary people. NuLiebore just wanted control and the Coalition may think it's too good to give up.
Incredible that they were installed in the first place.
** I was going to comment on the decision to remove secret cameras which monitor the Muslim population of Birmingham. I've decided not to get embroiled in this one. Again, the cameras shouldn't have been put up and they are offensive. But they are offensive to all members of the population.
Read the ANPR story from the Daily Mail below.
Captain Gatso
Police face restrictions on the use of a 'Big Brother' network of thousands of cameras tracking up to 14million motorists a day.
The controversial Automatic Number Plate Recognition system takes photographs of car number plates, allowing officers to follow individual vehicles for hundreds of miles.
All details are logged on a central database, which has 7.6million records of the movements of motorists tracked by more than 4,000 cameras across the country.
Read more
The police are now in charge and they don't want this to happen.
It's NOT about finding/tracking terrorists but about following ordinary people. NuLiebore just wanted control and the Coalition may think it's too good to give up.
Incredible that they were installed in the first place.
** I was going to comment on the decision to remove secret cameras which monitor the Muslim population of Birmingham. I've decided not to get embroiled in this one. Again, the cameras shouldn't have been put up and they are offensive. But they are offensive to all members of the population.
Read the ANPR story from the Daily Mail below.
Captain Gatso
Police face restrictions on the use of a 'Big Brother' network of thousands of cameras tracking up to 14million motorists a day.
The controversial Automatic Number Plate Recognition system takes photographs of car number plates, allowing officers to follow individual vehicles for hundreds of miles.
All details are logged on a central database, which has 7.6million records of the movements of motorists tracked by more than 4,000 cameras across the country.
Read more
Thursday 1 July 2010
Why the Police in the UK do not respect freedom or democracy
People keep telling me that I'm wrong on the Police State UK.
But the evidence keeps piling up. The problem is that the rozzers either don't understand the law - or keep on making it up as they go along.
Here are two cases from this week alone which illustrate why these clowns can do what they do without EVER being sacked.
Democracy? Bring it - it should make for a nice change in this country.
Case number 1:
Read how the police overstep the mark and then push a 15-year-old down some steps because he - RIGHTLY - tries to tell them what the law is: Journalism and this Hackney news site.
Here's the best bit for me:
Director of Big Brother Watch Alex Deane told Journalism.co.uk it would support Mattsson in any future cases against the police.
"Some officers think that anti-terror legislation gives them blanket powers to hassle people whenever they want," he says. "This case is a very bad example of that. Confronted by bullying policemen, acting entirely outside their powers, this young man admirably stood up for himself and rightly maintained that he was entitled to take pictures in a public place. The police should apologise immediately and admit that they were in the wrong."
Case number 2:
Journalists win payout after police admit failing to respect press freedom - The Guardian
Watch this idiot in action. They really don't care about freedoms do they? Can they really believe it's always 'us and them'. At this rate it soon will be.
Captain Gatso
But the evidence keeps piling up. The problem is that the rozzers either don't understand the law - or keep on making it up as they go along.
Here are two cases from this week alone which illustrate why these clowns can do what they do without EVER being sacked.
Democracy? Bring it - it should make for a nice change in this country.
Case number 1:
Read how the police overstep the mark and then push a 15-year-old down some steps because he - RIGHTLY - tries to tell them what the law is: Journalism and this Hackney news site.
Here's the best bit for me:
Director of Big Brother Watch Alex Deane told Journalism.co.uk it would support Mattsson in any future cases against the police.
"Some officers think that anti-terror legislation gives them blanket powers to hassle people whenever they want," he says. "This case is a very bad example of that. Confronted by bullying policemen, acting entirely outside their powers, this young man admirably stood up for himself and rightly maintained that he was entitled to take pictures in a public place. The police should apologise immediately and admit that they were in the wrong."
Case number 2:
Journalists win payout after police admit failing to respect press freedom - The Guardian
Watch this idiot in action. They really don't care about freedoms do they? Can they really believe it's always 'us and them'. At this rate it soon will be.
Captain Gatso
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