A speed camera on every corner to enforce new 20mph limit

 

By RAY MASSEY - More by this author » Last updated at 08:07am on 16th October 2007 Comments (20)

Speed blitz: Limits could be reduced to 20mph in urban areas

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of speed cameras should be put up to enforce a reduced urban limit of 20mph, says an influential road safety group.

It also calls for a blitz on motorists more likely to cause accidents - such as fat drivers who are prone to dozing off and elderly drivers who may no longer be safe behind the wheel.

The report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety - which advises MPs and the Government - says local authorities want to introduce digital cameras which measure speed over a set distance to enforce the 20mph limit.

Such cameras - as opposed to those which log a cars speed at a single point - regularly catch out thousands of drivers at roadworks on motorways.

However, the type requires Home Office approval to be operated at lower speeds. The report says the Government should make it a priority to grant it.

The speed camera measure is one of a number aimed at ensuring the annual number of road casualties starts falling again.

The advisory council argues for more 20mph zones in built-up areas and the setting of a target to reduce deaths on the roads to half the present level - about 3,200 a year - over the next decade.

"One significant impediment to lowering speed limits and expanding the 20mph network is that, at present, standard cameras are not type-approved to enforce limits below 30mph," it says.

Traffic humps and chicanes are used instead but are unpopular, expensive, cause problems for emergency vehicles and add to emissions.

"Time-over-distance cameras offer an effective alternative enforcement tool," it concludes.

"Many local authorities, and Transport for London in particular, are keen to explore the possibilities of using time-over-distance cameras."

The Department of Transport said it was up to local councils to make decisions on cameras and 20mph zones, and up to the Home Office to grant typeapproval for camera equipment.

A camera blitz on speeding must be accompanied by a war on motorists' dangerous lifestyles - with the very fat, the very old, and the very young to be targeted, adds the report.

It says the Government must even tackle poverty in its efforts to reduce road deaths - pointing out that children in the poorest areas are five times more likely to be killed in a road accident than those in the wealthiest areas.

The report says "sedentary lifestyles" make drivers more prone to an accident.

On the problem of older drivers it notes: "The UK population is ageing and likely to keep driving further, in larger numbers and for longer than previous generations.

"With the increased frailty and potentially declining capabilities, an older population poses a significant challenge to the road safety profession."

The report, called Beyond 2010 - a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain, says all new residential developments must pass a "pint of milk test" - whether a resident can reach a shop to buy a pint of milk in under ten minutes without using a vehicle.

Edmund King, of the RAC Foundation, said: "Motorists will accept 20mph limits where they make sense - but they don't want them everywhere."

The AA Motoring Trust said: "The question drivers have to ask themselves is this - are they prepared to meet some pretty draconian measures and loss of freedom to achieve these extremely tough road safety targets."

I have a better idea, why don't they bring back the red flag law for urban driving :P

H&S wouldn't allow it, far too many deaths at work to red flag carriers