Fixed speed cameras in Bristol could be axed due to cash cuts
FIXED speed cameras in and around Bristol could be abandoned as police and councils struggle to find the money to operate them.
Safecam, the partnership which operates 37 roadside cameras in the region, is being disbanded, with a number of redundancies.
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Now Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils are in talks with police over possible sources of funding to keep fixed speed cameras switched on.
All local authorities have had their road safety grants from the Government slashed from April. Neighbouring North Somerset and Somerset county councils have already axed funding for fixed cameras.
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The remaining three councils are hoping Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which has pledged to continue using mobile cameras to catch speeding drivers, can also pay for fixed roadside cameras.
It is understood the force may have enough spare cash from the Driver Education Training Programme – funded from fees paid by drivers who have been offered a training course instead of paying a fine after being caught travelling marginally over the limit – to pay to run the cameras from April.
But the force has stopped short of committing money to fixed cameras, saying only it will "support" councils that want to promote them after it takes over from Safecam.
North Somerset Council has not funded fixed speed cameras for the last three years and has instead used its road safety grant for measures such as road improvements, vehicle-activated signs and some mobile cameras.
Elfan Ap Rees, the authority's executive member for highways, said fixed cameras were "only revenue-raising" devices.
From March 31, Somerset County Council will turn off its fixed cameras.
Due to the shortage in funding, the Safecam management team will be disbanded and some staff will be made redundant while others will be transferred to the police.
Jobs in the Bristol unit which processes fines will be cut as well as three jobs based in Taunton.
Police spokesman Simon Whitby said: "The police have pledged to continue running – and may increase use of – mobile cameras, particularly on roads where there have been fatalities and injuries or at locations which are causing community concern. We will continue to support councils who wish to promote fixed cameras as part of the campaign to make the roads safer.
"Local authorities are considering their own responsibilities and whether they then wish to continue running fixed cameras."
Hundreds of fixed speed cameras have already been switched off in other parts of the country and the Bristol area has 30 fewer now than it did two years ago.
South Gloucestershire Council spokeswoman Sarah Hudspith indicated the authority, which contributed about £142,000 to road safety schemes including Safecam last year, did not expect to subsidise speed cameras in the coming year. She said: "The operation should be self-funding.
"The council is committed to road safety and cameras are just one element of a wider strategy."
City council spokesman Peter Wood said: "Talks are ongoing with the police over the size of the non-police contribution."
Comments
by Dog Walker, Bristol
Tuesday, February 08 2011, 1:57PM
“Speed doesn't kill, inappropriate speed kills along with poor standards of defensive driving and an inability to anticipate the actions of others and the effects of your own actions.
Sometimes it is complete lunacy to drive at the speed limit eg driving past a school at 30 mph at "home time" or 70mph on a snowy motorway. By the same token there are times when it is safe to drive well over the speed limit if it is within your capabilities.
Lets remember that since speed limits were introduced, technology has improved massively so, for example, the stopping distances in the highway code are nonsense.
Kelly, I speak as an advanced police trained driver who drives in excess of 50k a year, has never been involved in an "at fault" accident and has 3 points on his license from a static camera rather than from a police officer that deemed my speed to be inappropriate. Therefore I feel qualified to comment.
Bad driving kills but often bad driving involves travelling too fast for the condition.”
by Kelly, sth glos
Tuesday, February 08 2011, 12:45PM
“Graham OMG, lets see you say speed dosn't kill, when some muppett cuts in front of you when you are doing 100mph, what world do you live in the dessert, work for the Police for a few years then you will see what kills, i can assure you SPEED KILLS.”
by The Beef, The Ponds
Monday, February 07 2011, 2:35PM
“There is nothing wrong with driving 100+ mph up the motorway...If the conditions warrant it !!
The 70mph limit was originally introduced to save petrol.
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That's simply not true. The 50mph limit was imposed in the 1970s when the fuel crisis was on, but 70mph was imposed after some nutjob in an AC Cobra was caught doing some obscene speed.
100mph may sound safe until something goes wrong - and it's fine to say "if conditions warrant it" but that doesn't help if suddenly there is a jam ahead and you find you cannot stop.
I think its about time people stopped being in so much of a hurry and thought more about what they were doing. Time should be spent not saved.”
by Dismayed, Horfield
Monday, February 07 2011, 10:20AM
“Forget about speed cameras, we need a lot more RED LIGHT cameras, it's nothing these days especially in rush hour to see two or three cars come through after the red light and people speeding up rather than stopping, it's crazy. Half the time all they do is block the junction anyway. quite often my light has been green for a few second when a car still shoots through on a red.
This is much more dangerous than speeding!”
by nerdsunited, Bristol
Sunday, February 06 2011, 4:08PM
“I do not like the idea of people being made redundant, but I do hope the people made redundant from Safecam (better known as Cashcam) will reflect on the misery they have caused people while watching the Jeremy Kyle show.
Speed cameras DO NOT save lives. Road traffic management, speed signs etc will only ever get drivers to stay within the speed limit. I recently found out from a freedom of information request that NONE of the revenue collected from speeding fines goes into making roads safer.
Of course, drivers may be delighted to see the end of fixed speed cameras, but I am sure there will be a massive increase in the number of mobile cameras to make up for the revenue lost to the treasury”
by Graham, Warmley
Sunday, February 06 2011, 3:46PM
“Speed doesn't Kill ! People that cannot drive can though !
There is nothing wrong with driving 100+ mph up the motorway...If the conditions warrant it !!
The 70mph limit was originally introduced to save petrol..nothing to do with Road safety which, in itself is getting as far out of hand as the dreaded Health and Safety !!!!”
by The Hedgehog, Horfield
Sunday, February 06 2011, 12:15PM
“I hadn't realised that, Dog. In that case why not scrap the speeed cameras and add a couple of quid to the Vehicle Excise Duty?
Everybody wins - drivers as a group pay less, we don't pay for speed cameras and their monitoring, the Exchequer gets more, and no-one loses their licence for going 1mph over the limit.
Mallards (ducks rapidly)”
by Dog Walker, Bristol
Saturday, February 05 2011, 7:23PM
“@Trucks, the money raised from speed cameras goes straight into the treasury I'm afraid who then pay a grant out to the camera partnerships.”
by trucks79, bristol
Saturday, February 05 2011, 6:59PM
“Can someone please explain this to me, as far as I knew the police get to keep the money raised from the fines? Is that not the case? If it is then the cameras are self-funding and should not require any additional funding. If the police do not get to keep the income then where does it go?
Speed cameras generate a massive amount of revenue and this alone should be more than enough to cover the costs of purchasing and running speed cameras. I also agree that mobile ones work much better and should be increased more.
Swindon stopped using them a couple of years back and it has done no harm¿”
by randy,, noel
Saturday, February 05 2011, 2:38PM
“in the future you will not be able to start the engine without passing an in car drink and drugs test but this technology is a long way off.”