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Safety charity slams 'return to dark ages'

17/05/2010

The announcement by the incoming transport minister, Philip Hammond, that he would end a "war on motorists" has been slammed by a road safety charity as "like a trip back to the dark ages".

Mr Hammond, who made the comments as he took office last Thursday, also confirmed the Conservatives' manifesto pledge that there would be no Government funding for new fixed-position speed cameras.

But while motoring groups including the AA broadly welcomed the new minister's pledges, road safety charity Brake has reacted angrily to what it sees as a retrograde step for road safety.

"Road death is the biggest killer of young people in the UK, and there is a vast amount of data showing that cameras reduce speeds and save lives," said chief executive Mary Williams OBE.

Arguing that most people accept cameras as "a legitimate road safety measure" - and that "communities are still crying out for them outside their homes and schools" - Williams added that the latest devices could track vehicles' speeds between two points on all types of road.

"It would be nothing short of a scandal if this life-saving technology sits on shelves rather than streets because of archaic political bias that isn't even popular.

"This announcement is like a trip back to the dark ages - if camera numbers go into decline or fail to go up where they are so desperately needed then that will inevitably mean faster speeds and more blood on the streets that could have so easily been prevented," she said.

The most recent confirmed figures, for 2008, cite excess speed as a contributory factor in 14% of all accidents that result in injury or death.

However, speed was a contributory factor in 24% of fatal accidents during the year, with young male drivers being particularly at risk: 41% of fatalities among males aged 16-25 involved excess speed.

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