The Transport Secretary Alistair Darling says that there is going to be more flexibility over speed camera policy. The (BMF) British Motorcyclists Federation has welcomed the announcement. The BMF say, over-hyped by the over-zealous, speed cameras, sited sensibly, can nevertheless reduce speed-related accidents. But news that cameras will now be seen as only part of local road safety schemes and not treated as the automatic panacea to road casualty reduction, is a welcome change in policy. These so-called ‘safety cameras' are no substitute for proper policing say the BMF. Speed in itself is rarely the primary cause of an accident, but inappropriate speed is. What cameras have done is to allow police road traffic patrols to be reduced, hence the drop in drink-driving and careless driving cases, not because drivers are better, simply that the police are no longer around to see such offences committed.
The effect of cameras has also been over estimated, research by the DfT has shown that. It has been accepted that in some cases, ‘Regression to Mean’ has indicated that camera’s, sited after a short spate of accidents, have been credited with accident reduction when accidents would have dropped to a lower ‘mean’, even without the camera. To then claim it was solely responsible for accident reduction is disingenuous to say the least. All such instances have done, is irritate even the most careful, responsible motorcyclist or motorist.
BMF spokesman Jeff Stone, said: “We welcome sensible road safety measures. The proposal to improve speed limit signing at camera sites is such a case. It’s in no-one’s interests to ‘catch people out’. Road safety is not a game; we want to see proper enforcement of the laws we have but by the police, not by machines. Drivers ignore the law on mobile phone use because they know there is little chance of being caught. It’s this sort of cavalier attitude that needs addressing, not inadvertent speeding.” He also added, “We know from our surveys that the responsible rider and driver is not afraid of better policing. Motorcyclists invariably come off worse in car-bike crashes, we want to see driving standards improve and the best way is to make road policing more visible.”
The BMF will be writing to Alistair Darling in full response to the announcement, including a request that a substantial part of the additional road safety now announced will be spent on funding police road patrols.
Related Linkswww.bmf.co.uk
