20mph limit has not made roads safer

Why does no-one listen to Motorists Against Detection? We told people years ago - even when Auto Express reported on the expansion of these schemes that making the roads 20mph doesn't work.

Because our views are unpalatable doesn't make us wrong.

There has to be an open and honest debate about bringing down the accident figures.

I say this is an easy process - and you only need to do things.

1. Put more police on the roads.

2. Improve driver education.

This is what today's Telegraph is saying:

Controversial 20mph speed limits in residential streets may not bring any significant improvement in road safety, a report published by the Department for Transport has found.

The number of people killed or seriously injured on affected roads actually went up, not down, after the limit was lowered claiming that they will cut the toll of deaths on the road.

However, an analysis of the UK's first city-wide scheme - in which the limit was lowered from 30mph to 20mph on all residential streets in Portsmouth, at a cost of £500,000 - found that it has not brought any significant reduction in the number of accidents.

Paul Watters, head of public affairs at the AA, said: "By just whacking up signs everywhere you are not going to change things dramatically.

"We support targeted and tailored 20mph zones where they are really needed, not a blanket implementation across a whole city.

"Sometimes the limits can be problematic because bus journey times are affected, and also there is an impact for delivery firms and everyone else driving in the city."

Read more

We despair! Stop taxing and harrassing motorists if you want road safety to improve. Focus on what made the UK's road the safest in the world - before the introduction of speed cameras and 20mph zones.

Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend

'Dangerous' speed camera rakes in £500,000 a year

Well done to Paul Pearson for persisting in find out about this camera - remeber the vast majority of speed cameras are all about the money!

We have flagged up this particular camera before and it should be removed.

And it's nice to see a FoI request being refused by these people and then overturned. They had no right to refuse.

£500k a year. Blimey! Do you think they will remove this camera?

There's absolutely no chance whatsoever.

Captain Gatso

Read the story in the Telegraph

A motorway speed camera blamed for causing accidents generates up to half a million pounds a year in fines.

Crashes have risen by almost a quarter and casualties have almost doubled since the camera was installed on a busy stretch of the M11 in Essex, in 2000.

Now, details revealed under Freedom of Information legislation, show that the device results in up to 9,000 speeding tickets a year, enough to raise around £500,000.

Campaigners have accused the authorities of refusing to remove the camera, despite it being linked to accidents, because of the revenue it brings them.

Paul Pearson, who runs motoring website penaltychargenotice.co.uk, said: "No wonder they haven't removed the camera that is causing these accidents. It is just raising too much money and they clearly want to keep it there."

Essex Police, which runs the camera together with Essex Council and the Highways Agency, had initially refused a Freedom of Information request by Mr Pearson for details about the speeding tickets issued by the machine.

But after a ruling by the Information Commissioner, the police have been forced to disclose that in 2003 alone the M11 camera was responsible for 9,639 fines and a further 8,451 in 2004. The following year 9,047 motorists were caught by the camera and in 2006 a total of 7,801 were sent fines. In 2007, the number fell to 3,305. There are no complete figures for 2008, but in the year up to May 2009, the number of fines had risen to 6,445.

British motorists pay £250m tax every week

People wonder why I get so angry with the antics of politicians - this story in the Telegraph illustrates why.
British motorists cough up over a BILLION pounds a WEEK and get a fraction back to help maintain roads which would shame a third world nation.
This is a political issue. Zanu Labour have used us as a cash cow to be milked regularly - without any say on where the cash goes. Stand up for your 'rights' and they destroy you or legislate your silence. Try contending a parking or speeding ticket and see how far you get. The authorities don't make mistakes and they don't answer questions.
So now we have millions of overtaxed, disgruntled voters who are really pissed off with the state of the nation.
As the writer says:
So what do we get for the £250m we spend each week on motoring taxation? A slower, more congested, less enjoyable road network that is undoubtedly getting worse, not better, as maintenance and repair standards are allowed to deteriorate.

Read more and weep.

Captain Gatso for motoring news and views