Fast on the heels of the number of speeding tickets rocketing comes this one. I've been telling the media that the mad mullah in North Wales is a first class idiot. Speed cameras DO NOT make the roads safer. Even the government's own statistics prove this.
However, more traffic police on the roads do make the roads safer. Sadly, the cost money while cameras earn money. Go figgure why we don't see more traffic cops on our roads.
It's a crazy situtaion it really is.
Story is from the Western Mail
Serious road accidents rise despite measures
A WELSH police force that prides itself on its firm approach to road safety and traffic policing has seen the numbers of people seriously injured in collisions rocket by almost a third.
The numbers of people seriously injured on North Wales’ roads between April and December of last year was 345, compared with 268 over the same period in 2007 – an increase of 29%.
The figures on fatalities in North Wales have fluctuated very little, with one person less being killed over the same period in 2008 than in 2007.
Politicians and motoring organisations yesterday said the serious injury statistics show the force’s reliance on speed cameras as a major weapon in its road safety arsenal is flawed. They called for a change of approach with more police officers patrolling roads to spot errant drivers instead of what they regard as a preoccupation with cameras.
Conservative AM Mark Isherwood said North Wales Police – headed by the so-called “Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban”, Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom – has issued more speeding fines per head of population than any other UK force. Fines rose eight-fold in less than a decade between 1997 and 2005, while during the same period police in Gwent reported a fall from 5,263 to just 506.
North Wales AM Mr Isherwood said focusing very heavily on speed can be “unsafe and inappropriate”.
“These statistics reinforce the need for a proportionate and intelligent approach to motoring laws rather than a one size fits all policy. The policy has lost public confidence and alienated a lot of people who have otherwise never been in trouble with the law and have looked to the police as trusted public servants.”
The Association of British Drivers (ABD) said the numbers of seriously injured people have risen while traffic levels have fallen due to the recession.
Department for Transport (DfT) figures showed a 2.2% decrease between July and September of 2008 in traffic levels. This followed a 0.5% decrease between April and June.
Friday, 30 January 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Motorists - brace yourselves!
So the country is skint and, according to the IMF, needs to raise £20billion in taxes - or make the same amount in savings.
Well, as the most taxed nation in Europe I'm hoping against hope that it's the tax cuts route wee Gordon takes.
If not the only route open is to milk motorists. Again.
On top of this has anyone noticed how bad the roads are getting? Supposedly one fifth of road tax actually goes into repairing the roads. I don't think so. The roads are literally crumbling under our feet. The damages claim for pothole damage must be huge.
We have the roads of a second or third world country - not ones which represent the world's fourth richest country.
The whole Labour government is a shambles. And the end can't come soon enough but I fear we may be lumbered with these losers for another two years.
Well, as the most taxed nation in Europe I'm hoping against hope that it's the tax cuts route wee Gordon takes.
If not the only route open is to milk motorists. Again.
On top of this has anyone noticed how bad the roads are getting? Supposedly one fifth of road tax actually goes into repairing the roads. I don't think so. The roads are literally crumbling under our feet. The damages claim for pothole damage must be huge.
We have the roads of a second or third world country - not ones which represent the world's fourth richest country.
The whole Labour government is a shambles. And the end can't come soon enough but I fear we may be lumbered with these losers for another two years.
Monday, 26 January 2009
Losing a passport - classic 'mission creep'
News that Zanu Labour is planning to hit dads who don't pay maintenance for their children is a prime example of mission creep.
It's also littered with loads of pitfalls. The main one being it isn't a judge who decides whether the errant dad loses his driving licence and/or passport. It's a civil servant. Would you trust the cretins who man the government's turkey army?
No, me neither.
But the big worry is that when this becomes law I will lay money now that there's a clause which enables the government to hit drivers for other issues.
Drove too fast in a built up area? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Not paid a speeding fine? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Late paying your road tax? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Honestly, this shower only think in draconian terms. I highlighted at the time of the introduction of the Terrorism Act that there was no definition of terrorism or a terrorist. It could include someone damaging a speed camera, for instance.
And that's why people who try to get their children into schools are being hit with the Terrorism Act. It's barmy.
The country is already a police state and here we are cranking up authoritarian powers. It's beyond belief.
It's also littered with loads of pitfalls. The main one being it isn't a judge who decides whether the errant dad loses his driving licence and/or passport. It's a civil servant. Would you trust the cretins who man the government's turkey army?
No, me neither.
But the big worry is that when this becomes law I will lay money now that there's a clause which enables the government to hit drivers for other issues.
Drove too fast in a built up area? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Not paid a speeding fine? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Late paying your road tax? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Honestly, this shower only think in draconian terms. I highlighted at the time of the introduction of the Terrorism Act that there was no definition of terrorism or a terrorist. It could include someone damaging a speed camera, for instance.
And that's why people who try to get their children into schools are being hit with the Terrorism Act. It's barmy.
The country is already a police state and here we are cranking up authoritarian powers. It's beyond belief.
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