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Fiction
Safety cameras should not be called 'safety cameras' as they have nothing to do with safety.
Fact
The term 'safety camera' is a generic term used to encompass both speed and red-light cameras; and there is significant evidence that they do have a highly beneficial effect on road safety.
Fiction
This initiative will result in cameras being used on every road in the Kent and Medway area, even where there isn't a safety problem.
Fact
Strict Government rules mean that we can only site safety cameras on roads with a history of speed-related crashes in which people have been killed or seriously injured - locations where we are determined to reduce casualties in the future.
Fiction
The introduction of more safety cameras is just another stealth tax for motorists.
Fact
This is not a tax - it is impossible to opt out of paying tax. Careful drivers who adhere to the speed limit will not fund the initiative; only drivers breaking the law by speeding will pay, and for them the solution is easy - stick to the speed limit. Safety cameras are placed where they will help save lives, not where they might generate revenue.
Fiction
This is just a measure to generate revenue for the police.
Fact
Kent Police are not making any money from this scheme. All revenue from speeding fines goes to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. However, a pre-agreed sum is paid back to the Partnership for maintaining existing safety cameras and installing additional ones, road safety education and publicity about the issues surrounding excessive or inappropriate speed. The money can only be used for these purposes; it cannot be used to pay for any other police or local authority activity.
Fiction
You are wasting valuable police resources by concentrating on innocent motorists rather than real criminals.
Fact
Kent Police share the view that its officers should concentrate their efforts on reducing crime. To that end, all those who operate and service our fixed and mobile cameras are Civilian Support Officers, not Police Officers. Safety cameras do not detect innocent motorists, only offenders. Home Office studies show that serious traffic offenders can often be serious criminal offenders as well. Because of this, the Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership is paying for two full-time police officers to follow up on instances where motorists do not pay their speeding fines. These are additional resources, which do not detract from normal policing duties. The enquiries they make, instigated by camera activations, have identified vehicle thieves, uncovered forged documents and helped to identify those involved in crime. This is, of course, in addition to the cameras' role in reducing road casualties and crashes.
Fiction
The cameras are hidden to catch drivers out.
Fact
Our safety cameras are not hidden. The Government has set strict conspicuity, visibility and signing rules, which stipulate that safety cameras must only be sited in locations where they are clearly visible to motorists. The cameras must also be properly signed. In addition, we are required to publish details, on our website and via local media, of the locations where safety camera enforcement will be carried out. Motorists will therefore be given every opportunity to change their driving style and avoid being 'caught' on camera.
Fiction
I can slow down at the site of a camera and exceed the speed limit between them without getting caught.
Fact
The technology used in some safety cameras calculates the average speed between camera units. Therefore those motorists speeding between camera units may still be prosecuted. We also use mobile cameras in the vicinity of fixed cameras to detect drivers who do not keep to speed limits throughout the signed area.
Fiction
It's unfair to prosecute people for speeding at night when it is quiet and there is no traffic.
Fact
The crash rate doubles at night due to higher vehicle speed, more alcohol consumption, tiredness and reduced visibility. Complying with speed limits is important at all times.
Fiction
There's no need to carry out speed enforcement when other things make driving dangerous.
Fact
Inappropriate or excessive speed is a major contributory factor in crashes that cause death and injury. We are encouraging motorists to think about their driving behaviour in an attempt to make our roads safer for all road users.
Fiction
Some speed limits are totally inappropriate and that's why people ignore them. Speed limits should be confined to those areas where they are really needed.
Fact
All our camera enforcement is targeted at locations where people have been killed or injured in speed-related crashes. Some of those locations are in 30, 40 and 50 mph speed limits; others are in places where the national speed limit applies. All of them are in places where drivers need to think about their speed and whether it is appropriate for the prevailing speed limit and road conditions.
Fiction
Cameras are often too close to the change in speed limit sign.
Fact
Speed should be modified at the start of the posted limit. All camera sites are visible from a distance. Once past a speed limit sign you are required to drive at the speed stated (or less depending on road conditions and environment).
Fiction
If drivers are to comply with the speed limit they will need to constantly take their eyes from the road ahead to check their speedometers. This is dangerous.
Fact
It is not reasonable to claim that drivers are forced to watch their speedometers rather than the road ahead. Safe driving requires concentration at all times and qualified drivers should be well aware of the approximate speed they are travelling without the need to constantly check their speedometers. There are a number of situations in which it is necessary for drivers to be aware of what is happening on the road in directions other than immediately ahead. Examples include using rear and side view mirrors and checking at junctions and roundabouts in order to give way. These all require drivers to concentrate on other sections of the road other than those ahead and there is no evidence to suggest that such short and temporary diversions of concentration are a safety risk.
Fiction
I received a fixed penalty notice and I was only going 32mph in a 30mph zone.
Fact
It would be extremely unusual for any driver to be fined or prosecuted for travelling at 32mph in a 30mph limit. Our Partnership does not operate at levels often described as 'zero tolerance'. We follow guidelines issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers not to prosecute motorists unless they are recorded as going at 10% plus 2mph over the posted speed limit. In the case of a 30mph limit that would be 35mph. This is to safeguard against any discrepancies there might be between speedometers and police equipment.
Fiction
Other methods should be used to slow drivers down, such as better speed limit signs and traffic calming measures.
Fact
Safety cameras are part of much wider casualty reduction activities carried out by each Highways Authority to reduce vehicle speeds. When considering appropriate measures, planners will always assess whether engineering methods or improved signing are likely to be effective in the first instance.
Fiction
The police should enforce speed limits without relying on cameras.
Fact
Safety camera enforcement is just one way to control speed and the police still have a part to play in slowing traffic. Outside of the National Safety Camera Programme the police may enforce speed limits using any equipment that has been approved by the Home Office and stop drivers to offer advice about their speed without prosecuting.
Fiction
The use of speed cameras is a violation of my human rights. By admitting to being the driver I'd be incriminating myself.
Fact
The incorporation of the Human Rights Act into British law allows British citizens to use the domestic courts to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act does not affect the admissibility of safety camera evidence. The Law Lords in Privy Council, 5 December 2000, concluded: 'It is the duty of the registered keeper to know who the driver is at any time'. What about the human rights of vulnerable road users? They are entitled to walk, cycle, ride and drive in a safe environment.
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