DfT speed camera guidance desperately overdue

The Department for Transport is over three years late in revising a crucial piece of safety information for local councils on the use of speed cameras, in what Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Lisa Smart has called the Government’s “apparent disregard for road safety measures”.

Councillor Smart, the parliamentary candidate for Hazel Grove constituency, has written to Minister Richard Holden MP, demanding transparency and clarity on why the information – DfT circular 01/2007 – has not been updated, and calling for local communities to be able to determine the best location for speed cameras.

She said: “The outdated guidance not only hinders our ability to address modern road safety issues, but also undermines the confidence of the public in the government’s commitment to safeguarding the lives of road users.

“Time and again when I talk to people in our area, they raise speeding traffic and road safety as the most important issue. The current guidance limits the use of fixed speed cameras to locations where there have been at least three serious injuries or deaths. To many local people, this makes no sense whatsoever.”

Over a thousand people signed a petition in Hazel Grove to get Safer Roads Greater Manchester to update their guidance on the location of speed cameras, but they have refused to make changes – citing the out-of-date advice from the DfT as their reason.

Lisa said: “People’s lives are at stake. If this Government really was the motorists’ friend, it would be putting effective safety measures in place so that there were fewer tragic incidents involving drivers.

“That the Government has failed to meet its own deadlines, by such a long way, without providing any reason for doing so, really does show where their priorities are, and they aren’t with people in our area who want common sense to hold sway on speed cameras.”