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Speed cameras 'must be turned back on'
11:38pm Sunday 13th July 2008
Comments (60)AN MP has joined the fight to stop drivers using a busy Swindon road as a racetrack.
South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove has backed residents' calls for the speed cameras in Queens Drive to be reinstated before someone is killed.
And Mrs Snelgrove has called on Swindon Council to resolve its dispute with the Wiltshire And Swindon Safety Camera Partnership, which runs speed cameras in the town.
At present many of the town's speed cameras are out of action because the council believes it should receive the revenue from speeding fines instead of the Government.
Mrs Snelgrove spent much of Friday handing out leaflets with a Hands Off Our Speed Cameras logo emblazoned on them.
The move comes after a campaign by residents on Queens Drive about the dangers of the road.
Residents say that there are no crossings on the road for children attempting to get to the other side and are angry that drivers are using the dual carriageway to drive at speeds of 70mph at night.
George Lewis, a 40-year-old father-of-four, who has lived on Queens Drive for 12 years, says the road is a racetrack for people driving upwards of 70mph after 10pm.
He said: "Many of us have written to the MP about this problem.
"The cameras need to be reinstated, that is the first step, although I am not even sure that will make a difference.
"There is a part of me that thinks the drivers will just slow down for the camera and then speed up again, but we have to do something.
"At the moment our kids don't even have a cross walk let alone people obeying speed limits.
"The people in this neighbourhood have been talking about this issue for more than a decade - at least now someone is doing something about it."
Mrs Snelgrove believes the council is playing politics with people's lives by keeping the cameras bagged up.
She said: "In the school holidays kids from Churchfields and across Swindon will be out and about in the town and we need them to be able to cross the road in safety.
"First of all I want the Queens Drive camera up and running, because I share the concerns of local people that there will be more fatalities there.
"Then I want the council to drop their plans to pull out of the Safety Camera Partnership to make way for a speed camera stealth tax.
"The best speed camera is the one that doesn't raise a penny, just save lives."
However, coun Peter Greenhalgh, the council's cabinet member for transport and planning, says the council's speed camera policy has not changed.
He said: "Speed cameras are a very small part of our overall road safety measures and there are much more important things we as a council should do instead of acting as a law enforcement arm of this Government."
There has been one fatality and 21 injuries on Queens Drive in the last 18 months.
Your Say YourSwindon
Tarot, Swindon says...
12:35am Mon 14 Jul 08
SpeakUp, Swindon says...
1:05am Mon 14 Jul 08
John, says...
5:21am Mon 14 Jul 08
Queens Drive has needed safe subways along it's length as long as it has been a dual carrigeway, not much chance of more of those huh? Cameras are a cheaper and more lucrative option. Stop paying lip service to road safety.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
7:04am Mon 14 Jul 08
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
7:06am Mon 14 Jul 08
Loft Conversions, Swindon says...
8:29am Mon 14 Jul 08
I wondered why the speed cameras were out of use. Might have guessed it was all down to money. There are two along the A420 which are also covered up.
As someone who runs my own transport business, I do 80,000 miles a year and still have a clean driving licence. It's not rocket scince - just obey the speed limit!
That 3 fatalities rule seems bizarre to me. Surely it's better to be proactive rather than reactive?
Meldrews Dad, Wroughton says...
8:29am Mon 14 Jul 08
I want the council to drop their plans to pull out of the Safety Camera Partnership to make way for a speed camera stealth tax
Are these the words of an MP actually admitting that spoeed cameras are just a "stealth" tax?
Come off it Ms Snelgrove your heads is only over the parapet because you know if you don't start work soon you wont have a cats hope of getting re-elected.
Speed cameras are always sited at easy targets and have absolutely nothing to do with road safetl.
Loft Conversions, Swindon says...
8:32am Mon 14 Jul 08
This could be enforced with cameras.
KJ, says...
8:51am Mon 14 Jul 08
Home Boy, says...
8:54am Mon 14 Jul 08
Loft Conversions wrote:More cameras, just what we need.
Also, much of Qieens Drive has a bus lane. Why not make it 24 hours, rather than 7 till 7, as many of the boy racers seem to use the bus lane for their idiotic antics.
This could be enforced with cameras.
I find the idea of a dual carriageway way having a 40mph limit very strange in any case, surely the whole point of dualing a road is to speed up the traffic flow. In this case it seems pretty obvious that the best solution would be to look at a way of keeping cars and pedestrians away from each other. Shouldn't be too difficult on a road with verges that wide. And, to put it bluntly, the majority of people that use that road are the motorists, not the residents who bought a house with a frontage onto a dual carriageway.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:54am Mon 14 Jul 08
MrOldTownRed, Swindon says...
8:58am Mon 14 Jul 08
I would have hoped that the local plod would have sussed this out by now and nick a few of them, but our plod don't seem the brightest.
KJ, says...
9:06am Mon 14 Jul 08
Parks and Proud, Swindon says...
9:13am Mon 14 Jul 08
Parks and Proud, Swindon says...
9:16am Mon 14 Jul 08
KJ, says...
9:18am Mon 14 Jul 08
?
Cllr. Peter Greenhalgh, West Swindon says...
9:20am Mon 14 Jul 08
I pointed out to him that the covered camera sites are an operational matter for the Swindon and Wiltshire Safety Camera Partnership - they have nothing whatsoever to do with Swindon Borough Council.
Far be it from me to suggest Anne Snelgrove MP actually check her fact before making pathetic political statements.
Might I also suggest to Anne that she spend more time trying to secure a better funding deal for Swindon as a whole instead of voting to keep the details of her expenses secret from her electorate !
When Anne Snelgrove MP starts working to the same level of transparency that local Councillors do, perhaps people may start listening to her.
Discussions are ongoing with regard to the funding Swindon Borough Council put into the partnership but we have no responsibility for the operation of the Cameras.
Jake, Stratton says...
9:37am Mon 14 Jul 08
Pav, Swindon says...
9:43am Mon 14 Jul 08
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10:03am Mon 14 Jul 08
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malkym, says...
10:09am Mon 14 Jul 08
Pav wrote:Pav I thuink you'll find that, that expression is her natural demeanour if past pictures are anything to go by?
Snelgrove looks so miserable. Maybe her expense payments were late last month.
swindon, swindon says...
10:24am Mon 14 Jul 08
KJ, says...
10:35am Mon 14 Jul 08
Nuddy, Swindon says...
11:12am Mon 14 Jul 08
Jake wrote:Good old councillor Montaut, he just cannot resist the chance to get his piccie in the paper, or to have a pop at the Tories.
I notice Councillor Montaut from Central ward is involved. What has happaned to the Parks ward Councillors??
I would hazard a guess that Park councillor Graham Cherry wasn't invited to the 'party' as he is a Tory councillor, as are the 2 Walcot Councillors.
Interestingly the 2 residents in the photo are not random members of the public, although of course they may very well live in the area, for Carol Heavens is not only the mother of long time Labour agitator and candidate Neil Heavens but she was also the Labour candidate for Walcot back in the May elections.
Sahar Gul on the other hand is an experienced Labour activist and can regularly be seen sporting his big red rosette when called to help the cause!
There is nothing wrong with them supporting the party of their choice of course, but this campaign is so obviously yet another sad attempt by Labour to knock the Tory led Council, instead of putting their effort into working for the best of the town.
I do not agree with everything our esteemed Tory Council Leaders do, but it's no good Labour slagging off and campaigning against every little thing the blues do (or in this case, are not even involved in).
The fact is Labour controlled the Council for a good ¼ of a century before the present administration took over, and look at the balls up they made of it. They had their chance and failed and now its up to a different colour to run the show.
If Labour want to run the Town once again, then the few Councillors and supporters they have should be working their backsides off in a positive light, representing what their constituents want, instead of wasting their precious time being bitter.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:20am Mon 14 Jul 08
Liden Lass, Swindon says...
11:48am Mon 14 Jul 08
KJ, says...
11:50am Mon 14 Jul 08
Cllr Peter Mallinson, Cllr Walcot says...
12:01pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Children can safely cross from Churchfield School and the New College at the Upham Road junction.
The photo reminds me of the recent Post Office saga.
yeti, swindon says...
1:08pm Mon 14 Jul 08
also it is dangerous with people pulling out of windsor road to turn right into queens drive,as idiots just pull out into the middle and cause an obstuction.
the same with the bit a bit further down the road where a van was recently hit by a motorcycle.those turns should be no longer allowed in my opinion.
i see the same car nearly every day weaving in and out of traffic along queens drive.the driver then stops at a bus stop to drop people off.then speeds up the inside and cuts back infront a bit further up driving at ridculous speeds.
this is aroud 2.40 -2.45 every week day the driver is a middle aged woman in a silver y reg toyota.
i hope the police increase their moblie camers in the area and nab some of the cretins who drive along the road at ridiculous speeds.and i agree that they should get the camera switched back on too
worz, Wootton Bassett says...
1:23pm Mon 14 Jul 08
swindon wrote:Unfortunately the emphasis is now all about speed, and not about safety. People now think that if they're doing less than the speed limit, then they cannot be doing anything unsafe or illegal, and that they won't be nicked for anything.
it is obvious to me that there are safe drivers and bad drivers, speed has little to do with it. I was cut up the other day by someone doing just 30mph. If you can not drive safely it doesn't matter how slow you go you will still hurt / kill someone. I would suggest more is done to regulate how people are allowed to learn to drive and more is done to enforce certain laws like not driving while using a phone! These things are not enforced as they should be.
The thing is limited by the technology: We have speed cameras which photograph and fine people who are driving above a certain speed, we have not yet invented stupid cameras which can photograph drivers who are too stupid to be allowed to drive. To catch dangerously stupid drivers still requires police to be out on the streets, watching. However, the police seem to see their role as purely reactive, and never proactive these days :-(
emmylou83, Stratton says...
1:27pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Cllr Peter Mallinson wrote:But they don't cross carefully, when playing taxi for my sister when she was at New College the amount of "young adults" I nearly ran over coming out of the college was unreal, scared of missing the bus they'd just run out and don't even getme started on the cyclists.
It is not true to say that there are no crossings on Queens Drive. I am aware of at least three that cross Queens Drive in my ward (Walcot) Children can safely cross from Churchfield School and the New College at the Upham Road junction. The photo reminds me of the recent Post Office saga.
I don't use this road as often as I used too but apart from the college side I have never seen any trouble and I've driven down there 10-11pm before now
Alfred, North Swindon says...
1:36pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
1:41pm Mon 14 Jul 08
I live along Queens Drive and have to cross at the crossing every morning, with at least six kids. Time and time again cars have been speeding through red lights and there have been near misses with the kids using the crossing.
The worst thing I ever saw, was just up from my house. A speeding motorcyclist who had been drinking, knocked an old boy over. I saw him scraped off the road and put into a plastic body bag. It was horrific. To add insult, this motorcyclist is now going through court and pleading NOT GUILTY. Some people are evil, have no conscience whatsoever.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
1:49pm Mon 14 Jul 08
If you see child(ren) travelling to or from school and crossing unsafely, please ring the school and report it (you can often tell by their uniform which school they attend)
A letter going out every time the school receives a report means the children will read it and many parents will remind their child to be safe on the road.
You never know, your phone call could just save a life.
emmylou83, Stratton says...
2:05pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Grumpy old man, Swindon says...
2:05pm Mon 14 Jul 08
MTW - playing devils advocate here, pleading not guilty to what though? Drink driving or hitting the guy, or being at fault for hitting the guy? If the gent in question was on the road when he shouldn't have been surely he's at least as much to blame?
He could have been drinking but below the limit? If that is the case (and I'm not saying it is because I don't know the details of the story), then surely that does not make him "evil"?
How much was he over the speed limit? Hitting someone at pretty much anything over about 20mph on a bike is likely to be "horrific".
If anything about the above is in question, you can't blame the bloke for using the UK legal system - blame the plethora of ill thought-out laws and lax magistrates, not the people taking advantage of them!
Jon, Old Walcot says...
2:07pm Mon 14 Jul 08
I have seen people doing some crazy speeds on Queens recently, last week I was heading towards Coate at 40mph when I was overtaken at such speed it was like I was stationary! I have also witnessed a really close shave outside the Bulldog when I was coming back from the garage, when the pedestrian lights went red, and a car sped through the red lights, it was only the presence of mind of a young Mum dragging back her child at the very last second that prevented something very serious.
Politics aside, whilst the majority of traffic seems to move along this road at sensible speeds, I have seen a number of people with a complete disregard for the posted limit, and, the faster people go, the longer that it takes them to stop as far as I'm concerned.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
2:28pm Mon 14 Jul 08
http://www.swindonad
vertiser.co.uk/news/
swindonnewsheadlines
/display.var.2381451
.0.biker_guilty_of_k
illing_oap.php
steve-o, Swindon says...
2:36pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
2:47pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Anyway enough or more than enough said on here.
Grumpy old man, Swindon says...
3:01pm Mon 14 Jul 08
I see nothing in that story that suggests a speed camera would have made the slightest difference, although it will no doubt be used as justification for having one. A bit like the woman jumping off a bridge being used as justification for having one on the M4, i.e. Ridiculous!
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
3:30pm Mon 14 Jul 08
If the speed camera was working, maybe getting a conviction would be a lot easier. Yes it may not of prevented this tragic death, but at least it would be easier to bang this man up and provide some justice for his family.
Pericles, Swindon says...
3:37pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
4:06pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Anyway, re your post Pericles, I agree. I think we need a combination of measures INCLUDING speed cameras, pedastrian crossings, police checks (at off peak times as well), good road safety education at school and at home and a large dose of common sense all round! What else do you think would help?
NIGE, PURTON says...
4:14pm Mon 14 Jul 08
I drove from the GWH past magic last week at about 8.00 in the evening. There were about 50 cars in the outside lane and just me in the inside, all of us doing about 39, because the dozy wotsits couldn't suss out that the bus lane restriction was not in force at that time.
quote
worz, Wootton Bassett says...
4:16pm Mon 14 Jul 08
The biker was riding along and the van pulled out without looking. The biker clipped the van, which sent the bike tumbling, which then hit the old man on the crossing. Presumably the old man had walked onto the crossing without looking for oncoming traffic.
I.E. the van driver caused the accident, but got away scot free, because, as we well know, all bikers are scum and deserve to die.
worz, Wootton Bassett says...
4:17pm Mon 14 Jul 08
co.uk/videoplay?doci
d=529235956513096809
4&q=think+bike+&ei=6
W17SP7TD4Gw2QK5spyxC
w&hl=en
prettynpink, London says...
4:42pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Also was a 22% reduction in personal at sites after cameras were introduced and overall 42% fewer people were killed or seriously injured. The less injuries and fatalies that occur as a result of implementing speed cameras the better.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
5:35pm Mon 14 Jul 08
If you read feedback (Thursday or Friday's Adver last week) they printed an apology The accident with the van driver was a separate incident which happened Park South end of Queens Drive not Walcot as was intially reported in the article I have linked. My neighbour was a witness. She was behind the bike in a taxi and she says that bike was travelling recklessly at one heck of a speed.
Insight, UK says...
8:38pm Mon 14 Jul 08
But as they've been abused and turned into a revenue gathering device following yet another Labour U-Turn on policy where all the revenue now goes to the treasury to prop up an incompetent and baddly in debt Labour party.
The scrapping of these devices that 'will' happily catch your granny at 36 mph in broad daylight, but 'won't' catch the 100mph headcase who knows how to 'surf' cameras and exploits the ensuing absence of qualified traffic police to drive drunk or under the influence of drugs can only be seen as a good thing.
Speed cameras are good for only two things, gathering revenue and a reduction in public sector pay following a reduction of qualified traffic police right across the country.
It is you people who blindly support them who've cost the rest of us the once recognised best traffic police in the world and are responsible for the above three million uninsured drivers on our roads at anyone time leading to what even senior politicians are begining to recognise as policy failure on a catastrophic level as hit and run 'accidents' dramatically increase.
Bad policy of a bad government finally being forced under the lense of scruitiny.
Well done Swindon Council!
Insight, UK says...
9:06pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Number Plate cloning: copy a set of plates and away you go, because the speed camera will not believe that the vehicle they photographed isn't the one registered to that number plate.
One motorcyclist was photographed by the same camera 66 times before an investigation finally caught him using bikes registered at a false address, an operation that must have cost thousands of man hours and hundreds of thousands of pounds and spanned several years which could have been avoided had the fellow been caught by an actuall officer in the first place.
Organised criminal rings of people offering to take points on their licenses for a fee.
The increase in drink drive related accidents which is back in the news again as the government seeks to put a sticky plaster over the wound by encouraging young people not to drink at all.
Looking up a persons details on a community website such as myspace and identifying that person as the driver.
The list goes on...
The simply fact that the act of apprehension was taken out of the equation by automated speed enforcment has allowed the criminal element to dream up some quite ingenious ways of getting away with it.
Will the government accept any of it? of course not, because that would mean an end to over a hundred million pounds in lost revenue a year.
Insight, UK says...
9:19pm Mon 14 Jul 08
If there's anyone left reading this that thinks their roads are safer because of a speed camera and an almost zero presence of the once familiar traffic police.......
...Think again.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
9:28pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Mumstheword wrote:I actually think speed cameras are PART of the solution, not the whole solution.
Apologies if I went a bit of track but..... Anyway, re your post Pericles, I agree. I think we need a combination of measures INCLUDING speed cameras, pedastrian crossings, police checks (at off peak times as well), good road safety education at school and at home and a large dose of common sense all round! What else do you think would help?
jo-ent, Swindon says...
11:19pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Insight, UK says...
11:34pm Mon 14 Jul 08
That way, the criminals get their just punishment and your granny gets to keep her weeks pension.
Or we could leave it as it is and simply inprison every pensioner who has a car to keep the knife carrying yobs a bit safer as they cross the road.
Shouldn't be much of a choice really!
Remember the technology has improved enormously since speed cameras were introduced.
Today fitting a modern police unit with ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) hardware costs about a third of the price of a speed camera, therefore one speed camera = three mobile ANPR units capable of scanning every car it passes, even parked cars because as long as the number plate is in the line of sight, ANPR will scan it, report to the operator wether the vehicle is stolen or in some other way compromised, ie no MOT and the driver can them apprehend that vehicle on the spot.
The apparent economy of speed cameras is long since expired, lets have the collective wisdom to stop the lure of easy revenue swaying an authorities judgment on road safety issues.
SpeakUp, Swindon says...
12:29am Mon 14 Jul 08