Our Methods Work

Aug 13 2004

By Daniel Cochlin, The Journal

He has called them pointless and unhelpful in the past. Now, in the latest part of The Journal's Safety First investigation into speed cameras, Durham Police Chief Constable Paul Garvin tells Daniel Cochlin why speed cameras are not the answer.

Chief Constable Paul Garvin has attracted national attention because of his controversial stance that speed cameras are not the easy solution to road deaths claimed by the Government.

The police chief has attracted strong criticism for his views, but he claims Durham's improved road safety record backs up the way his force operates.

At his headquarters in Aykley Heads, Mr Garvin said: "You have to be very clear of your objective - if it is to reduce casualties then everybody knows that 3pc to 6pc of road collisions causing death or serious injury involve vehicles exceeding the speed limit.

"So if you follow the camera logic, they are putting 100pc of effort and resources into 4pc of the problem.

"We have mobile speed cameras and issue about 7,000 tickets a year for speeding - we're not soft on speed.

"But so many accidents are caused by drink-drivers, people without insurance and disqualified drivers - a lot involve people turning right and misjudging it.

"If your objective is to have zero tolerance to breaking the speed limit then cameras work.

"But I'm not in the business of doing that - casualty avoidance is much more important.

"Sure, the faster the vehicle is going the greater the damage is likely to be. But we need to try to ensure we don't have the collisions in the first place.

"I believe in problem solving but the camera doesn't stop the problem - and they can cause more problems than they are there to solve.

"The vast majority of people who exceed the speed limit do so by momentary inattention - creeping over the limit.

"You find people don't concentrate because they are watching the speedometer, or they see the camera and brake sharply before speeding up again afterwards.

"What we find works really well is the speed information devices which flash up your speed as you go by.

"We double up these sites with a patrol car further along - if you are still speeding then you deserve to be done.

"We try to work with the Highways Agency to find out where the problem spots are - simply dishing out tickets isn't the answer.

"In some circumstances a fixed camera does work - for example on a dual carriageway with a 90 degree bend - so I'm not saying they never work.

"But it's not tackling the problem. I don't believe Alastair Darling when he says the best speed camera is the one that doesn't make any money.

"The fact is they have to go from 6,000 to 36,000 prosecutions just to break even.

"That doesn't lend itself to the idea that they don't want any tickets to be given."

Durham Police force, like every other one in the country, has been set a target of a 40pc reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2010 - and is likely to reach that target by 2006, according to the chief constable. "There are at least 20 areas in the country which are getting worse - many of which have cameras.

"Education is the most important thing. Not just about speed but about responsible driving........

......." Mr Garvin believes it is double standards that people hate about mobile cameras - when they are parked on yellow lines or behind a tree.

He said: "Some police officers operate in a sneaky way and just say people shouldn't be speeding full stop. We don't operate like that.

"We have one mobile camera at the moment but that is enough because it is deployed in the best and fairest places.

"Our accident rate has steadily gone down in the last few years.

"There was a blip in 2001/2 the year after foot-and-mouth as there was much less traffic on the roads.

"We are going the right way and unless something drastic happens we will be hitting the target in a couple of years and carrying on. This shows our methods are working very well - and not a speed camera in sight."
 
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/thejournal/tm_objectid=14526856%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=our%2dmethods%2dwork-name_page.html

My emphasis.

 

More sense, as usual, from Garvin!

 

Aug 13 2004

By The Journal

In the latest voting on speed cameras in the North-East, Journal readers have once again criticised cameras in their area. The A695 in Prudhoe did not receive one single vote in favour of it and critics of the wide 30mph road, which the AA said needed regular review, voted strongly against it. Similarly, the camera on the B1318 Great North Road in Gosforth, where neurosurgery theatre nurse Anne-Marie Warner was caught six times in six days this year, had 75pc of voters against it..... From: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/safetyfirst/tm_objectid=14526880%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=voters%2dgive%2dthe%2dthumbs%2ddown-name_page.html

Aug 12 2004

By The Journal

Angry drivers are refusing to pay speeding fines after they were caught by a mobile camera on a road they say had no adequate warning signs..........

From:

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/safetyfirst/tm_objectid=14523121%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=signs%2dof%2danger%2das%2ddrivers%2drefuse%2dto%2dpay-name_page.html

 

But that's Northumbria Police and the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership!

 

Aug 13 2004

By The Journal

Reading about The Journal's Safety First examination of fixed cameras in Northumbria prompted reader Malcolm Clasper to call in and give his views. Malcolm first got behind the wheel in 1955 and six years later became the first in the North-East to pass the advanced driving test. Malcolm, 66, of The Orchard in Hepscott near Morpeth, says of the West Mains fixed speed camera on the A1: "Travelling south on the A1 only a third of the camera is showing, it is a joke. "I travel up to Berwick a lot and I just can't believe they can get away with this camera. "I am not against cameras but I don't like the way they are hidden to catch drivers." As a former regional manager for a pharmaceutical company, Malcolm says he has clocked up over three million driving miles in his lifetime. Driving is his passion, he owns a Jaguar XK8 convertible, and believes the standard of driving, not speed, is the biggest problem on the road. He said: "I think speed cameras can do a good job in the right places but too many of them are in the wrong places. "Cameras are an easy option to pull in huge revenues that then disappear into a black hole. "In Durham they don't have any cameras and they don't seem to have a worse accident record."........... From: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/safetyfirst/tm_objectid=14526878%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=million%2dmile%2ddriver%2dcalls%2dfor%2d10%2dyearly%2dtests-name_page.html

Aug 11 2004

By Daniel Cochlin, The Journal

Thousands of motorists fined for speeding on one of the North's busiest roads should have their money refunded because of an illegal warning sign, a leading motoring organisation said last night.

The RAC Foundation says a mobile speed camera unit which was catching more than 60 drivers an hour at peak times for more than a year should not have been allowed to issue tickets because a 30mph sign had been sited illegally.

The sign, on the A1058 Coast Road near the Cradlewell tunnel, Jesmond, Newcastle, was a small, "repeater" sign which should only be used to remind drivers of a speed limit, not to mark a change of the limit, the foundation said.....

.......The sign, put up in July 2003 when the road was changed from 40 to 30mph, was replaced just over a month ago by a larger sign.......

........."The local authority or Camera Partnership may have to refund the fines and take points back off licences............

.............A spokeswoman for the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership accepted that the sign had been smaller than it should have been but refused to consider refunds.............

From:

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/safetyfirst/tm_objectid=14518775%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=speed%2dtrap%2d%2dillegal%2d-name_page.html

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:

Northumbria "Safety" Camera Partnership again!

 

My emphasis, as ever.

 

This is a different scamera from the one further up!

 

'You go at the speed of the traffic'

Aug 11 2004

By The Journal

Mother-of-four Diane Buggy is against drivers who speed - and could not believe it when she fell foul of the Cradlewell camera. The midwife and mature student has just been issued with a fixed penalty ticket and three points on her licence for travelling 11 miles over the limit at Cradlewell in July. Diane, 36, of East View, Wideopen, was shocked when she saw a flash from the mobile van because she hadn't noticed any warning signs. She said: "On that road you go at the speed of the traffic so you are not always aware of speed. I was just going along normally. The mobile camera is always hiding in the lay-by, but I didn't realise it could catch me at that speed. I will drive back along there now to see if I can see the signs."............ From: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/safetyfirst/tm_objectid=14518777%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=%2dyou%2dgo%2dat%2dthe%2dspeed%2dof%2dthe%2dtraffic%2d-name_page.html

Now, where's Cradlewell?

 

It's in Newcastle.

Which is in Tyne and Wear.

Which is part of the, errmmmmmmmmmmmm...........

Northumbria "Safety" Scamera Pratnership.

 

Well, who would have guessed!

 

Re:
Angry drivers are refusing to pay speeding fines.

Let's have millions more doing this!

It's the only way to crush the partnerships.