Government should fund speed cameras (From The Oxford Times)

Government should fund speed cameras

6:10am Thursday 29th July 2010 in

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Sir – In 1993 Oxfordshire County Council engineers and Thames Valley Police officers pioneered the use of speed enforcement cameras outside London.

The council funded the capital cost of the installation of the cameras from its road safety budget and the police developed the computerised analysis of photographs and deployed civilian staff to operate the system. All fine revenue went to HM Treasury.

Traffic police could be redeployed to more productive duties and the programme had a dramatic impact on injuries as public attitudes to speeding changed.

Soon the system spread throughout the country.

Although previously the police had been able to recover their court costs, this was no longer available with the fixed penalty system. After an extended campaign, Government eventually conceded that part of the fine moneys could be used to reimburse some of the police costs and the myth grew that speed enforcement fines were a money-making milch cow for the councils as in the USA. However, it was never intended that the continuing cost of enforcing road traffic law should be a charge on local councils.

It is, therefore, understandable that the county council having pioneered this effective road safety measure so many years ago should now pass responsibility for funding back to central Government.

James Fletcher, Retired assistant county engineer and surveyor, Wootton, near Woodstock