It’s not a brand new story, but I referred to it a couple of times as a result of a story in the Plymouth Herald. It seems the source was an article in Autoblog from January this year.
The RAC Foundation released a report claiming that speed cameras save lives. But it seems that the Association of British Drivers (ABD) disagrees. The RAC report can be found here. The ABD disagreement document can be found here.
You can link to the respective websites of these two organisations by clicking the appropriate logo. You can make up your own minds from your first impressions from each site. One looks professional and one doesn’t. One is a charity and one is a campaigning group for drivers. Both are independent – in spite of what one of them would like you to believe about the other. And one of them has a big issue with speed cameras and speed in general – the favicon it uses is even a national speed limit sign! And Jeremy Clarkson is a big fan of one of them.
This quote sums it up:
A survey carried out by Car Parts Direct has revealed that over 268,000 drivers are now banned from driving and millions of pounds are being paid out in speeding fines. Thousands of motorists are losing their jobs, freedom and ability to earn a living. 82% of speed camera victims thought they were driving safely at the time of their conviction and were just unfortunate to be doing a few miles over the limit. 65% thought their speeding ticket was totally unjustified and felt cheated.
Yes. They were banned because they were breaking the speed limit and, therefore, the law. And I’ve had pupils trot that one out. “My dad was caught speeding, but he was only a couple of miles per hour over the limit”.
As I explain, the speedometer on the car typically reads 10% less than the actual speed you are doing. If you’re in a 40mph zone and you are clocked speeding, you must have been doing at least 46mph (the police tend to go on 10% + 2mph, but it depends on the force in question) by their equipment – and that means nearly 50mph on your speedo. So you knew – or at least had all you needed in order to know – that you were way over the speed limit. There’s no excuse.
And just because someone thinks they were driving safely – no matter if it is 82% or 65% thinking it is unfair – is no guarantee that they were. Absolutely none whatsoever.
So you have to remember that one of these organisations is anxious to prove speed cameras are bad (and its report shows that clearly). The other one is truly objective.
Anyone who thinks that forcing people to slow down and stay slowed down when the speed limit in question is above 30mph doesn’t reduce accidents and deaths is crazy.