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£655,000 - That’s figure drivers paid in speed fines over last 12 months

Anger: a motorist makes his feelings known on a Marlow speed camera
By Paul Leat


MORE than £655,000 has been raised by road safety bosses from speeding fines in the Wycombe district within the last year, it has been revealed.

Fourteen thousand motorists were caught by speed cameras in the area, with each paying at least £60 for the offence.

These revelations were made this week by the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP) in response to mounting pressure to publish figures on the controversial mobile camera site on Marlow Hill, High Wycombe.

But the partnership is still steadily refusing to release specific figures for the hill, and would only give combined statistics for all sites in the district, which includes the nine High Wycombe camera sites, plus the ones in Marlow and Princes Risborough. If every motorist caught speeding paid a fine, it would mean £840,000 was collected in the last 12 months from last August to July 2005. However, the TVSRP says only around 78 per cent of drivers pay fines, while the others are sent on safety courses.

Motorists have clamoured to find out figures for Marlow Hill because of the controversial siting of the mobile camera, just before the speed limit changes from 30mph to 40mph.

But, in a statement issued last week, the TVSRP said: "Speed enforcement will continue on Marlow Hill and other sites in High Wycombe in a drive to reduce the numbers of people killed or injured on roads in the town."

In the three years before the mobile camera site was installed there were 20 crashes, a quarter caused by excessive speed. In the three years after the camera was installed there were 12 crashes, two caused by excessive speed.

Malcolm Collis, manager of roads policing specialist units, said: "This particular spot in High Wycombe has been proved to be dangerous and many children and pedestrians use the road to get to Wycombe Hospital, Wycombe Abbey School or the bus stop, a main collecting point for school children."

However, Paul Smith, from the Safe Speed road safety campaign, said the figures indicate a relatively high number of fines for the area.

The TVSRP says all revenue from fines goes to the Government and that no profit is made. Local safety bosses then have to make bids for funding to pay for enforcement schemes.

The Midweek's sister paper, the Free Press has twice written to road safety bosses asking for them to divulge the number of fines issued and the amount of revenue raised on Marlow Hill under the Freedom of Information Act.

But the TVSRP has refused to disclose this information, stating that to reveal figures for individual camera sites would compromise road safety.