A report has been issued by the Times regarding bringing back into circulation a large number of currently out of action speed camera’s.
This is following the report that in February, the Daily Mail were reporting that due to cuts in public spending nearly 40 per cent of speed camera in England had been disabled.
The new plan is to up the costs of the awareness courses, so that people caught speeding will be required to take these. This cost looking to be increased to £100.00, this in turn will help fund the upkeep and running of these cameras up and down the country, and will let motorists have an alternative to driving penalties.
The theory is that anyone travelling 10 per cent over the speed limit plus 9mph can get away with being prosecuted and opt to take the speed awareness course. These speeds have been increased by 3mph than the previous limits.
The idea needs to have the acceptance from the majority of the police forces of which 37 out of the 43 have agreed that the guidelines should be put forward. Oxfordshire was one of the first counties to take on this initiative, and thus re-instated some of its speed cameras.
This is also going to have an effect on accidents caused by drivers who are speeding; and the police force have advised that fatalities have increased by 50 per cent in the six months in which the cameras have been out of service.
There will also be limitations in place whereby you will only have the option to take one course every three years, so anyone found to be a repeat offender will receive automatic penalties.