An end to speed cameras…?

Once again, blogging is reduced today as Big Brother Watch circulates around Conservative Party Conference, but I wanted to put up a quick post on Theresa Villiers' announcement this morning that the Conservatives are to stop funding speed cameras.

For those who missed the details, the shadow transport secretary told the conference hall

"If local authorities want new cameras they'll have to prove nothing else works better and they'll have to find the money themselves…Electing a Conservative government would signal the end of the relentless expansion of fixed speed cameras."  

Needless to say, Big Brother Watch is in full support of this announcement and, alongside the recent Conservative policy document 'Reversing the Rise of the Surveillance State', gives us hope that the party that looks increasingly likely to be our next government is moving in the right direction.

We do not advocate speeding and Big Brother Watch understands that far too many are injured or killed on Britain's roads, but speed cameras do little to prevent speeding and much to penalise drivers.

They are also a powerful tool of surveillance, tracking car number plates and logging your movements. There are more effective and less punitive and surveillance-based measures that exist to drive down speed. Hopefully we will now see these explored in further detail. 

By Dylan Sharpe