Speed cameras to slow you down?

I was quoted in the Evening Standard yesterday for my view on speed cameras to govern 20mph zones.

This is a long-running issue and my thoughts are two-fold.

Firstly, 20mph zones bring a variety of issues for road safety (and not all good). The roads should be self-governing anyway since various traffic calming measures are introduced.

Secondly, I'm really worried about TFL's 'mission creep'. It starts out with security cameras and then become an ANPR network. These 20mph cameras will come in and then they are monitoring who was where, doing what and for how long. In addition, it's a cinch to bring in road tolling with this kind of network.

We don't want tolls but Boris and the TFL might have different ideas.

Here's what I said:

The campaigner known as “Captain Gatso”, from Motorists Against Detection, said: “Twenty and 30mph zones should already be self-policing because of traffic-calming measures. Average speed cameras are just another idea to keep the gravy train running for TfL.”

Read the Evening Standard story.

Captain Gatso

The Motorists Friend
speedaholics.com

More common sense from Richard Littlejohn on motoring laws

Here at MAD we quite Richard Littlejohn - over the years he has remained true to the cause of exposing the horror on Nu Liebour laws aimed raising cash from motorists.

He at least has always understood that the previous Govt of inepts were only interested in criminalising and fining large sections of the population.

In this column he lambasts the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, Julie Spence.

Among her latest targets are middle-class motorists, whom she is accusing of hypocrisy for objecting to speed cameras and parking tickets while demanding vociferously that police enforce the law in other areas.

Mrs Spence completely misses the point. What people object to is the arbitrary nature of the road traffic laws, which take no account of safety or local conditions and appear designed simply to turn otherwise law-abiding taxpayers into criminals, while at the same time maximising revenue through fixed-penalty fines spewed out by computer.

We also resent the constant attempts by police chiefs such as Mrs Spence to equate the ‘crime’ of driving perfectly safely at 78 mph on a deserted M11 with burglary, mugging and anti-social behaviour.

She epitomises the new breed of chief constable who sees policing as a cross between social work and big business and is scathing about the paying public’s longing for a Dixon Of Dock Green utopia.

Read more.

So let us repeat: to make our roads as safe as they were (before Tony Bliar took charge) we need MORE police on our roads not more speed cameras.

Captain Gatso
The Motorists' Friend