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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 19:50 
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 02:17
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Location: Highlands
Birmingham Mail here
Edward Stephens, Birmingham Mail wrote:
Top ten money-earning speed cameras include one in Birmingham
by Edward Stephens, Birmingham Mail Nov 1 2011

Raking it in: The highest-grossing Gatso speed camera on the A34 Birmingham Road near to the M6 Junction 7.

BIRMINGHAM drivers being hit in the pocket by soaring fuel costs are facing another threat – from one of Britain’s most lucrative speed cameras.

The camera, on the A34 Birmingham Road at Great Barr, has caught out an average of 375 motorists every month, potentially raising up to £270,000 in £60 fixed penalty fines in a year and earning it sixth place on the nationwide top ten.

The revelation – which arose from a Freedom of Information request – came after West Midlands Police pledged £1 million to keep speed cameras on the region’s streets after councils withdrew funding.

The ten cameras reportedly raked in £3 million in fines a year.

Paul Biggs, aged 53, who grew up in Great Barr and still uses the road regularly, said unsuitable speed limits were to blame for the number of drivers snared by the speed trap.
He said: “The more money cameras raise the less effective they are at doing their jobs.
“The big problem is not having an appropriate speed limit. If they don’t make sense, a lot of people will ignore them.”Another motorist snared by another camera on the same stretch of road attended a speed awareness course where six other people had been snapped by the same camera.

And speed cameras were condemned as little more than cash cows by motoring group The Drivers’ Alliance. A spokesman said: “Cameras don’t improve safety. They’re often placed to generate maximum revenue.”

But road safety charity Brake said: “They are an extremely effective way of enforcing the law, reducing speeds and preventing tragedies.”

The figures revealed the country’s biggest-earning camera was a temporary site on the A1(M) southbound, between junctions four and three in Hertfordshire.

That caught an average of 789 speeders a month, notching up an estimated £568,000 in a year.

In second place was a fixed camera on the A3 on Anglesea Road in Portsmouth, which caught an average of 537 motorists a month amounting to £387,000 a year. The worst-performing camera was on the A348 in Ferndown, Dorset, which caught no speeders in three years.

Do you think that speed cameras are an effective way of curbing drivers’ speed or just another fundraiser? Have your say below!
(The main UK thread on this story is here).
Another part of this story can be found here

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