- LONDON - Fed up with Big
Brother peering over their shoulders on the highway, British motorists
are taking out their anger on the cameras that increasingly record their
every movement.
-
- In recent months, drivers have attacked four surveillance
cameras on a 25-kilometre stretch of highway in Gloucestershire, western
England.
-
- In three of the cases, the cameras appear to have been
rammed by vehicles, while the fourth had its pole bent, using a rope or
chain. Damage was set at $90,000.
-
- "There can be no doubt that these cameras were deliberately
wrecked so we are probably looking for motorists who regularly use this
stretch of road and have had enough," a police spokesman said.
-
- Two years ago, it was estimated Britain had more surveillance
cameras per capita than anywhere else in the world, with one million of
the devices, often installed in city centres and stores.
-
- Their extension to the open road and the countryside
is upsetting motorists and motoring organizations, especially as their
proliferation is seen as more of a cash grab than a safety device.
-
- Last week, the government announced a plan to install
6,000 more cameras, bringing the number in use in Britain to 9,000.
-
- This could triple the number of speeding fines issued
each year. The fines will also kick in at 55 km/h, down from the previous
trigger point of 65 km/h.
-
- In addition, police forces will be allowed to keep the
revenue from speeding tickets, provided they spend it on new cameras or
maintaining existing ones.
-
- Ken Williams, the chief constable of Norfolk and chairman
of the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said
the object of the initiative was not to issue as many tickets as possible,
but to change drivers' attitude to speeding and improve road safety.
-
- He said the number of people killed or seriously injured
had dropped by 7% in the eight areas where the cameras had been tried out.
-
- In an attempt to allay camera rage, the new devices will
not be concealed. They will also be brightly painted and warning signs
will advertise their presence.
-
- "We need to be very public about where the cameras
are going to be, and make them bright and visible," Mr. Williams said.
-
- The Department of Transport's existing guidelines states
that cameras must be "visible" and sited only at locations where
accidents have previously occurred.
-
- Some authorities have painted fixed cameras orange, with
mobile camera vans in similarly bright shades. They also publicize their
whereabouts on the Internet and local radio.
-
- The Automobile Association said that driver support for
speed cameras was waning. It added that police forces must be as open as
possible about funding, signposting and siting.
-
- The Automobile Association has also found increases in
the number of drivers wrongfully accused of speeding.
-
- Its cases include a vicar who was supposedly spotted
speeding in London, while delivering a sermon in Wales. In another example,
a Scottish dairyman received numerous tickets for speeding in his milk
cart.
-
- link
|
