1:19pm Friday 18th July 2008
SWINDON Council must not go "cold turkey" with speed cameras.
That is the opinion of road safety campaigner Andrew McGavin, the founder of website BetterDrivingPlease.com.
Andrew believes that Swindon Council has an opportunity to give the town some of the safest roads in the UK.
But only if it does not drop funding for speed cameras.
His comments came in response to news that the council could become the first in the country to stop funding for speed cameras in the town.
Instead, Andrews feels the council should move funding from speed cameras to human policing over a number of years, and target the minority of persistent offenders.
Andrew said: "Scrapping all speed cameras is not the answer.
"Yes, it would be a popular thing to do as the public see them as Government cash generators.
"But there is a place for speed cameras in keeping roads safe.
"They need to be used correctly to target the most dangerous drivers, rather than those doing a few miles per hour over the speed limit.
"Then the public will see them as the valuable tools they are."
Andrew points to an example in Europe where public attitudes to speed cameras have been transformed.
In Sweden the authorities have used them to alter driving rather than being perceived as a source of revenue.
He added: "While scaling down some of the worst excesses of speed cameras Swindon Council should invest in more human traffic policing to support the police, similar to the way community support officers are used on the streets.
"Indiscriminate use of speed cameras with low police visibility has alienated the public.
"But the council is thinking differently and Swindon has the opportunity to have the safest roads in the UK in a few years."
BetterDrivingPlease.com has had more than 1.5 million visitors who have reported sightings of bad driving or searched through the 15,000 available.
Anyone who spots any form of bad driving can report the number plate of the offending vehicle, what happened and where for public viewing.
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