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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:34 
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http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/9276158.Speeding_motorists_increasing/

Westmorland Gazette wrote:
Speeding motorists increasing
Wednesday 28th September 2011

MORE drivers are being caught speeding in Cumbria after road chiefs stopped publicising where cameras are operating. (Back in 2007, but they are only just having an effect?)

A surge in offences on some roads is being put down to more ‘random’ operations with the Cumbria Road Safety Partnership’s four mobile vans being deployed more flexibly.

Figures show that 4,596 motorists were clocked flouting the limit on the A591 – from Kendal to Bassenthwaite – in 2009/10 but that rose to 7,014 during 2010/11.

Kevin Tea, who is in charge of safety camera operations in the county, said there had been an increase on the A591, particularly near Bassenthwaite, after residents requested it.

He also said the partnership had become ‘free’ to go wherever it liked after an obligation to publish where its mobile vans were located was scrapped.

“When we were governed by the Department for Transport, we had to notify everybody where we were operating and people were able to manipulate the system,” said Mr Tea.

“We got free from those rules and regulations and introduced Random Road Watch, where we didn’t notify everybody where we were.” Elsewhere, 2,035 motorists caught speeding on the M6 south of Tebay in 2009/10 jumped to 2,820 in 2010/11, a rise of 785.

But on the A65, cameras have recorded 2,340 speeders so far between 2010/11, down on 3,218 from 2009/10.

The number of offences has also dropped marginally on the A590, with 2,335 cases in 2009/10 down to 2,309 so far between 2010/11.

Statistics are measured between January and December, meaning the final number for 2011 could be higher.

Mr Tea said the focus of speed cameras had switched from punishment to education. Instead of being fined or given penalty points, drivers are now invited to attend a four-hour speed awareness course.

Collected fines are split between the partnership’s administration costs, education initiatives and the government.

“The whole point of safety cameras isn’t to make money, it’s to change people’s attitudes to driving,” he said. “We used to issue fines and that was it but there’s been a shift in the way we look at things.

“People used to ring us up and say we have got a speeding problem in our village but we had to wait until someone died to do something about it. We are now proactive in reducing the number of people dying.” [my emboldening]

The number of people killed on Cumbria’s roads has fallen from 53 in 2000 to 30 last year.


Despite the speeding going UP in 2010, the CSCP are still claiming that they are reducing casualties by stopping speeding... I believe this is generally referred to as "having your cake, AND eating it". :popcorn:

Either they are stopping speeding AND casualties, or something else is reducing casualties, and they are simply prosecuting speeding, which is increasing, but NOT causing accidents! :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:23 
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Figures show that 4,596 motorists were clocked flouting the limit on the A591 – from Kendal to Bassenthwaite – in 2009/10 but that rose to 7,014 during 2010/11.


This is meaningless. I could reduce those "clocked" for speeding on any road to zero by simply not placing my detection van on that road. Would that make the road any safer?

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 16:23 
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Perhaps the speed limit needs reviewing and they should do surveys of mean and 85percentile speeds...but that might be a bit technical.....?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 18:03 
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I shall look forward to seeing the corresponding decrease in KSIs in the next few months then...

...should be pretty obvious... :roll:


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:54 
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Be interesting to see that data. Will it be published or can it be obtained? If there is no discernable drop in KSIs then surely said enforcement would be shown up for what it is, futile and have had no other purpose other than raising money from motorists.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 19:50 
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graball wrote:
Perhaps the speed limit needs reviewing and they should do surveys of mean and 85percentile speeds...but that might be a bit technical.....?


OR -provide a system of stopping & educating those providing the problem -perhaps with police officers dedicated to the job - we could call them Traffic Police ,perhaps :bluelight: :idea: :idea:

I could draw some similarity between the spokes person , a tasty brew and some cockney ryming slang and my personal opinion of the speed enforcement organisations ,but no doubt SS would get another letter on headed paper and I'd be accusedof droping to their level ,so I won't .

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 23:55 
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DoktorMandrake wrote:
Be interesting to see that data. Will it be published or can it be obtained? If there is no discernable drop in KSIs then surely said enforcement would be shown up for what it is, futile and have had no other purpose other than raising money from motorists.


They publish them here:

http://www.cumbriasafetycameras.org/fac ... play=block

They were really quite smug the year before last. Not so smug last year though :wink: To me, the figures show no discernible improvements that can be down to cameras. They quadrupled the number of cameras at one point. See if you can guess when that was? :wink: Similarly, can you geuss when they stopped publishing the camera locations and when they stopped publishing the rotas?

Mind you, you might be able to spot when the Foot & Mouth epidemic decimated visitor numbers and when the infamous "Cumberland Gap" (the bit of dual carriageway at the top of the M6 just before the Scottish border) was upgraded to proper 3-lane motorway!


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