Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/06/18/speed_cameras/

Speed cameras slide out of LibCon budget

Annoying motorists is a luxury In These Troubled Times

By Robert Blincoe

Posted in Legal, 18th June 2010 13:13 GMT

Jeremy Clarkson can start pressing his itchy accelerator pedal back to the metal - the new LibCon Government isn't going to fund more speed cameras.

It's acknowledging the suspicion that the devices are being used as revenue generators, and is encouraging local councils to “use other methods and effective safety measures” to handle road safety.

Mike Penning, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, said. "The Government will not provide any more money to local authorities for new fixed speed cameras. If authorities want to put up new fixed cameras, they are free to do so using their own resources.

“There are now three times as many speed cameras in this country as there were in 2000, and the public must be confident that speed cameras are there for road safety, not as a cash cow. Under this Government, they will be."

He even questioned speeding's contribution to traffic accidents. “I know that speed has been part of the reason for many road traffic accidents, but not the sole reason for them. The growth of speed cameras has been so great that the public are concerned." ®