Villiers gets it wrong again !

What is it with Tories in the London Borough of Barnet. If you want someone to get something wrong, put a Barnet Tory in charge. Shadow Transport Minister, Theresa Villiers has come up with a masterstroke of stupidity. She's planning to Cut the number of speed cameras on our roads. Can I think of a more stupid, dangerous or wreckless suggestion. The AA have come out against her plans, which do nothing to address the issue. If she follows through her plans to cut the cash, what will happen? In my experience there are two types of speed cameras. One's sensibly placed at blind junctions, accident blackspots and known speeding hotspots. These are generally popular with locals and often follow campaigns. No sane person would want to remove these. The trouble is that once people know of these, they slow down and the revenue raised is minimal. As such, when the cash is squeezed, they will be the first to go.

Then there are the second sort. These are the sort everyone objects to. These are the ones I call "earners". These are the ones that are put on bus lanes, just before left hand turnings, which deliberately catch people out. They are strategically placed, not to save lives but to raise cash and everyone knows it. Villiers plan will cause even more of these to pop up, as council's seek to replace the lost revenue.

My solution is far more simple. I'd only allow speed cameras where there is a proven risk to public safety. If there is no history of accidents or no known major risk factor, then put in a Villiers style warning sign instead. There's an old saying "Cheap headlines make bad law". Yet again Barnet's Tories show that they are more interested in the cheap headlines than our safety. Shameful really.

There is a hidden cost benefit to road safety that Villiers, Coleman and the rest never mention. Every single person crippled in a road accident will cost the taxpayer an average of £3 Million pounds over the course of their life. How many traffic safety measures will each on of these buy? I doubt Villiers even knows that statistic.