Speed cameras switched on again in Oxfordshire
Speed cameras in Oxfordshire which were switched off last year due to spending
cuts have been turned on again.
Thames Valley Police said 72 fixed camera sites and 89 mobile cameras will
start operating again from today.
They were switched off on Aug 1, 2010 after Oxfordshire County Council cut the
authority's road safety grant.
Supt Rob Povey, head of roads policing for Thames Valley, said: "We think this
is important because we know that speed kills and speed is dangerous.
"We have shown in Oxfordshire that speed has increased through monitoring
limits and we have noticed an increase in fatalities and the number of
people seriously injured in 2010. We know that speed enforcement does work
as a deterrent to motorists."
Data released by Thames Valley Police shows in the six months after they were
switched off, 83 people were injured in 62 accidents fixed camera sites.
The figure for the same period the year before (August 2009 to January 2010)
was 68 injuries in 60 accidents.
Across Oxford, 18 people were killed in road traffic accidents in the period,
compared with 12 people the year before. The number of people seriously
injured rose by 19 to 179.
Mr Povey said the money for switching on the cameras came from cutting back
office costs and funding diverted from speed awareness courses.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said speed cameras
are "controversial" but their research suggested they prevent 800 fatalities
and serious injuries each year.
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