This was forwarded to the the RoADA list for "comments". I wonder what response it will get here (as if I couldn't guess :-)
THE BODY COUNTS! www.slower-speeds.org.uk-endthebodycounts
The Slower Speeds Initiative and RoadPeace are embarking on a campaign to overturn the government requirement for rests and injuries to occur before speed limits are enforced. The campaign is timely because the Government is due to review its criteria for speed cameras in the near future.
End the body countstim (moved to sweden)" wrote in message I have taken the time to read through their website. Their main concern appears to...
Safety Camera Partnerships install and operate speed cameras using fines from speeding drivers. These cameras account overwhelmingly for existing speed limit enforcement (which protects road users on less than 1% of the road network at any one time). Under current rules set by the Department for Transport, the Partnerships cannot deploy speed cameras until several rests and serious injuries have occurred. Fixed speed cameras are by far the most effective tools to curb illegal speeds and cut casualties. For a fixed speed camera to be used at least four crashes involving rest or serious injury must have occurred along a 1.5km stretch in the preceding three years.
We call this a body count?. These body counts are going on across the country, where communities calling for speed cameras are being ignored. We believe that the requirement for rest or injury to occur before the law is enforced is not simply unacceptable, it is barbaric.
End the Body Counts!? is a joint campaign by the Slower Speeds Initiative and RoadPeace that aims to change this. The campaign uses innovative website technology to make it very simple for individuals to take part. Supporters of the campaign can email a letter to their MP and their local papers with a click of a mouse. The web-based campaign is going live on Friday the 30th of September to accompany the launch of a major new RoadPeace publication, Safety Camera Briefing Pack: The Benefits of Speed and Red-Light Cameras, which includes a briefing explaining why and how speed cameras work.
With your help we can ensure that thousands of emails will be sent to MPs and the media calling on the Government to revise the rules for installing speed cameras. The timing is critical. The casualty criteria are now up for review. We must show the Government that where road rest and injury are concerned, people prefer prevention.
-- Mark Foster, Brighton, Suslove, UK PGP Fingerprint: 3342 C02C 7BE8 3FE4 AAC5 8BB2 03B7 9263 DDF2 04C1 -------------------------------------------------- "There are no such useless words as, 'I didn't have a chance.'" Driving, HMSO
