Search for
Search for
Search forSouth Devon speeders hand over £2.5m to Government
Monday, August 18, 2008, 11:05
The cash generated from fixed penalty notices has soared by more than 75 per cent over the past decade, up from £1,446,000 to £2,549,220.
According to Home Office records, more than 42,000 drivers were issued with speeding tickets in Devon and Cornwall in 2006, an average of 116 a day, compared to 38,150 in 1997.
Tory police reform spokesman David Ruffley, who obtained the data, said: "Using speed cameras as a cash cow undermines public confidence. The Government needs to rethink ways of improving road safety, including cracking down on uninsured drivers."
Nationally, 4,850 speeding tickets were issued a day and revenue almost quadrupled from £28.5million in 1997 to £106.4million in 2006.
The level of fines increased from £40 to £60 in 2000, but recent changes mean all cash raised now goes into Treasury coffers instead of local speed-camera partnerships. The Government then makes road safety grants to local councils.
The Department for Transport insisted there were 1,745 fewer deaths and serious injuries at camera sites each year, but campaign group the Association of British Drivers called the claims 'absolute nonsense'.
The spokesman added: "It is perfectly obvious all they are doing is taking money from motorists for minor misdemeanours rather than doing anything to improve safety.
"Cameras don't work, we need police back on the roads. Taking pictures of someone driving 38 miles per hour in a 30 mile an hour zone in the middle of the night is not about improving safety.
"What we need is police on the roads catching drunk drivers and people on drugs and no camera can do that."
A DFT spokesman said: "Safety cameras are there to save lives, not make money."
