Speed cameras that debate continues

Over at TorqueCars the great debate for and against speed cameras continues. Thinking about it there's not many people for speed cameras road safety groups insist that the roads would be safer if the average speed was reduced by one MPH. The fact of the matter though, is the reckless minority in are the ones that cause the accidents therefore rather than targeting all motorists, efforts should be putting to targeting those that insist on exceeding the speed limits by a fair margin.

The most annoying thing about speed cameras, when speaking with our members is the fact that other cars travelling at the correct speed will reduce their speed while passing a camera for fear of being photographed. This causes dangerous bunching of slow moving cars and disrupts the traffic flow. This deceleration and then acceleration causes fuel to be wasted and increases the pollution from cars.

Torquecars certainly do not endorse speeding on the roads, and we actively encourage our members to improve their driving skills, awareness of other drivers, and practice in anticipation of the road ahead. There are surely enough hazards and obstructions for driver to concentrate on without the addition of speed cameras.

The time will come when cars are fitted with a GPS tracking systems which monitor a driver's speed and match this to the driver's location and automatic fines can be sent should the driver exceed the speed limit of the road he is on. This move will be very controversial, but cars are already being fitted with tracking devices for insurance purposes whereby the driver agrees not to use the car during certain hours in return for a lower premium. Luxury cars have essentially what amounts to a black box recorder and police have prosecuted drivers after an accident based on the evidence in a of the black box.

I've never really got the speed cameras as a safety thing. I can't help but think that most people are missing the point of the accident statistics. The fact is that there are so many accidents on a certain road is because there are so many cars on the road. Simple law of averages. If you compared the number of cars and accidents today and obtained a ratio then compared this with to say at 20 years ago I'm sure that the accident rate would be substantially reduced. Our cars today are safer both for the occupants and for pedestrians and due to congestion road speeds are reduced inner urban areas and due to congestion.