(Councils are obliged to pay for camera upkeep but the money from the fines goes to the Government)
Road safety groups have accused Swindon council of experimenting with people’s lives today after the town became the first in the UK to abolish speed cameras.
The Conservative-run council voted unanimously to withdraw funding from fixed-point speed cameras last night claiming that the money would be spent on alternative speed-calming measures. Safety campaigners, academics, politicians and the local police raised concerns over the move today.
Jane Whitham, a spokeswoman for Brake, the national road safety charity, said that the controversial choice could result in more deaths in the area.
“Brake wholeheartedly opposes this reckless decision,” she said. “In removing its speed cameras, Swindon Borough Council is entering into a very dangerous experiment with people’s lives.”
The council said that they wanted to scrap the unpopular cameras because they were forced to pay for their upkeep while the Government collected the revenue from speeding fines.
The Department for Transport receives £104 million per year from the fines and gives councils £110 million to pay for their own road safety measures. That money is allocated according to traffic accident statistics leaving some councils with bigger handouts than others.
Peter Greenhalgh, councillor for highways in Swindon, had led the campaign to remove speed cameras after branding them a “blatant tax on motorists”. After hiis populist rallying-cry he was hailed as a hero on Top Gear, the BBC motoring programme.
“We will be working very closely with our partners, including police in the road safety partnership to deliver a plan that reduced the number of people being killed on the roads in Swindon,” he said last night.
The councillor claimed that 70 people were killed in 2007/08 on the streets of Swindon, which proved that speed cameras were not making roads safer.
There are currently eight fixed-point cameras in Swindon — six speed cameras and two red light cameras. The speed cameras are expected to be taken down in six months' time when the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership deal ends.
David Ainsworth, Wiltshire’s deputy chief constable, said that police were urging the council to hold further consultation with them before they “physically remove any camera”.
“Police will not compromise on public safety. Together with other partners in the road safety partnership Wiltshire Police remain committed to the support of a variety of methods, including the use of cameras in speed enforcement.”
New road safety measures being considered by the council include education and training for motorists, better street lighting and reduced speed limits in problem areas.
Despite the end of speed traps in the town, police will continue to use mobile speed-measuring devices.
Neil Greig, research and policy director at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, claimed that Swindon’s decision could diminish the reputation of speed cameras.
“This move by one local authority smacks of tokenism, and may fuel public cynicism that the priority is saving cash rather than saving lives. To describe revenue from safety cameras as a ’tax’ is emotive, but not true,” he said.
“Properly placed fixed safety cameras are just one road safety tool, not a substitute for active road policing or long-term engineering improvements. They should be in addition to cops in cars, not scrapped.”
Some motorists have welcomed the abolition of speed cameras but Edmund King, the AA president, reacted with caution.
He said: “It is fine to remove cameras if they are replaced by cops in cars and interactive slow down signs. However, we do not want to see a road safety void in Swindon. Saving lives on the road is more important than party political wrangles over camera funding.”
Money Central: the 10 craziest parking tickets of all time
Breaking News - Australia
Speed Camera Photos Now Downloadable
The New South Wales Government has opened a website to allow the public to download and view their speeding ticket photos via the Internet.
View your speed camera photo - NSW
I guess that the government is trying to reduce the workload on its speed camera staff and help automate the process to save money.
What I would like to see is Autralian states using a double photo system with a road grid so you can work out the speed from the photos as a double check. Radar reflections from guard rails as seen in this speed camera photo are a real menace to road users. The police make an effort to keep this type of information secret. Take a hint from me, get educated! Request your own speed camera police manual for the operation of speed cameras in your state.
Remember speed cameras use nothing more than a spray of a radar signal. The return signal that gets you a ticket, could come from any reflected metal object in the photo. The real target for court action by drivers should be directed at the speed camera software and its deficiencies in descriminating between objects and reflections. - Editor
Suspended? - Check Your Licence Online
West Australian
With the explosion of speed camera use and the ridiculously low enforcement limits in Australia, has come the inevitable growing wave of disqualified drivers and Extraordinary licence applications. Over the next few years WA will see an explosion in camera use.
Check your drivers licence online at
WA - Check Your Licence Supension online
What I don't like about this system is that anyone can check on your licence status, even your boss at work. All they need is a licence number and and your date of birth. So much for privacy legislation and protecting private information. I would have
expected something more substantial that this poor effort.
Need your licence for work?
Going to loose your licence due to points or disqualification? Apply for an Extraordinary Motor Driver's Licence
Axe attack on speed camera operator
ABC News June 20th - Police in Victoria hope speed camera footage will lead them to a man who confronted a camera operator with an axe in Melbourne's south-east last night.
The operator was sitting in a car on Wedge Road in Carrum Downs at around 10.30pm when a man smashed the car's window with an axe.
He fled when an alarm went off.
Acting Sergeant Cam Hunt says the man may have been upset about being photographed.
"We are urgently down-loading all the camera files of that particular vehicle in the hope that one of those cameras may lead us to the offender," he said. Read more...
A speed camera operator with a criminal record used violence to end a peaceful protest in Tempe, Arizona earlier this month. Corey Fleetwood, 35, is an employee of Australia-based Redflex Traffic Systems. On the evening of October 3, Fleetwood had set up an automated speed trap on Priest Drive just south of 14th Place.At around 11pm, D.T. Arneson, a volunteer for the group 
three were encouraged by the honks and acknowledgments of passing motorists, which enraged Fleetwood. The six-foot-five, 265 pound operator rushed out of the van. Arneson, a much smaller man, began to back away. Fleetwood yanked the sign out of Arneson's hands and threw it to the ground.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show 40,437 NSW motorists had their licences suspended last year, up from 33,778 in 2006 and a big jump from 16,805 in 2003. 
