Bristol speed cameras to be reactivated

Maybe things have changed since they refused to act on a road rage attack (not because I was unlit: it was daytime) in Somerset but even the weaker comment Mr Agreeable reports is just another in a long line of cyclist-bashing comments from Commissioner Mountstevens. Road rage should not be tolerated, even if it's directed at some tosser doing do-nuts in a 4x4 outside a primary school. Stop them if you can safely, but get some traffic police to do the job!

Have to take issue with a.jumper's comments above. The Independent Police Commissioner Sue Mountstevens made some comments along the lines of "use lights, otherwise you'll increase road rage" at the recent Road Safety Summit. While I thought these were a bit of a dodge round the real issues, it's not quite the same as saying " we won't discuss road safety with you". The Chief Constable for Bristol has recently met with the local cycling campaign to discuss the CTC Road Justice campaign, which the force has endorsed. The police aren't just sticking their fingers in their ears here.

Bristol. Pro cycling mayor but anti cycling police commissioner and force. The cameras are the only move open to the mayor in this situation, so well done to him, but the police need to step up and stop their refusal to discuss traffic policing with cycle groups until all cyclists have lights.

I'll throw a fiver into the mayor's re-election campaign fund if he can really enforce those citywide 20mph limits. Can you imagine it, 20mph? That'd be terrific.

Well done Bristol for having a pair.

Can only be a positive thing...subject to the usual problems such as allowing in car GPS units to flag the impending camera to allow the nutters to avoid a ticket.

As a similarity, if I rang the police and asked them to tell me where officers are going to be at a certain time to allow me the best chance of committing a crime and evading capture I'd be told to do one.

As usual motoring has its own set of rules. Motorists keep on killing and maiming then cry they're picked on whenever anyone dares to pull them up for it.

Waiting now for the complaints to come from local petrol die hards in the area

Umm... not sure about all of this. I'm all in favour of the law being enforced regarding speed but I've always held the view that speed cameras only catch a very specific type of motorist and I don't think they target the most dangerous. I'm sure that most of us have seen boy racers ripping around town centres and urban roads without any fear of being brought to task and simply slowing down for the speed cameras. Speed cameras catch drivers who either let the speed creep up unintentionally or those who 'push' the limits of what they can get away with. personally I don't feel more threatened by a car passing me at 35mph than at 30mph; its the one that brushes my elbow on the way through that I'm worried about and speed cameras do nothing to address this. I was almost hit by a car this evening and it wasn't due to exessive speed, just a crazy manouvure without any consideration for other road users.

Speed seems to have become the standard measure for safe driving with the idea that the most crucial thing in piloting a vehicle safely is sticking to the speed limit. Driving with due care and avoiding distractions like mobile phones or alcohol seem to have become secondary concerns. I can understand why speed has been targeted by the police and other autorities as its quantifiable, unlike dangerous driving for instance and I do appriciate the stats that demonstrate modified driver behaviours as a result of speed cameras but I firmly believe that nothing can replace police on the ground (or on the roads in this case) to both deter poor driving and enforce the rules.

Oh, and while I'm typing away, 20mph zones require enforecment otherwise there is no point putting up the signs. This evening I was overtaken in a 20mph zone and I'm pretty sure I wasn't that far off the 20mph mark myself. I didn't mind being overtaken and I might have been slower than estimated but the driver suddenly braked hard just after overtaking to navigate a speed bump before accelerating again into the typical fast-slow-fast-slow pattern on a speed bumped road. My point is that a) I'm pretty sure that the driver was speeding. b) the 20mph limit did nothing to prevent the daft overtake that almost had me spralled on his rear window. It was a classic case of the 'must get past the bike' mentality that a lot of drivers have. Truthfully the overtake itself was fine, I just wish he had commited to it and kept his foot down over the bump.

Oh and well done Bristol!

In Hertfordshire the max mean speed limit for 30mph zones is 30mph. The max mean speed limit for 20mph is 24mph. Plus mean speeds have to be already as low as 25mph before a road or area can be considered for 20mph. Also ACPO guidance I believe is that 20mph should not expect to be enforced because it should not be implemented unless the speed limit is self enforcing, ie looks like a 20mph zone. However the govt is consulting on changing the guidance for ACPO.

http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/tranpan/ltp/LTP3/ltp3con... for the info about max speeds etc. Not sure where I found the ACPO guidance bit.

Oozaveard where did you find the bit about penalties in 20mph's?

I think I fancy joining one of these community speed watch efforts.

When I am driving at 20, and a cyclist overtakes me do I grass up the cyclist, for cycling without due care?

Well done mayor. A step in the right direction.

But do you know what is really needed? How about more traffic police? High visibility traffic police to put people off offending in the first place. Speed camaras only put people off speeding where the camara is positioned, (or do they?, judging by the numbers caught), they certainly don't stop mobile device usage and general poor driving, which I think most road users encounter every day.

Think of the cost, I hear people saying.

How much does each traffic collision cost?, even minor ones. Human suffering, lost earnings, NHS costs, insurance premiums, ........ the list goes on ........ I don't have hard facts, but if you add that little lot up, my guess is it may well be less than the cost of increasing the number of traffic police.

Why exactly would you build out speed cameras and then deactivate them in the first place. I would argue they will be ineffective at anything other than generating revenue when back on though

A 20mph limit is fine provided it is rigorously enforced which it hasn't been up to now. And while we're at it why not also enforce the "no phone use while driving" rule.

Excellent. I have never understood the objection to speed cameras. (except form those caught of course) .
They catch those breaking the law and add to the income of the owner. its jam and cake.