Council could scrap speed cameras

By Dan Whitworth
Newsbeat reporter in Swindon

Love them or hate them there are hundreds of them on our roads - speed cameras.

For some they're a stealth tax on motorists raising money for the government. For others they save lives.

But whatever you think about them they've become a permanent fixture on roads across the UK.

But that could be about to change.

The Conservative-run Swindon Borough Council wants to be the first to scrap them.

'Cameras are a con'

Taxi driver Malcolm Curtis doesn't think cameras slow traffic down

They say they could use the £400,000 they spend on them every year on better road safety measures.

Most drivers here, like the rest of the UK, have got something to say about speed cameras.

Especially when they spend as long on the roads everyday as taxi driver Malcolm Curtis.

He said: "I think they're a rip off. I don't like them at all. They're a con for the government to make money out of the motorists once again."

And he doesn't reckon they help slow traffic down.

Lisa Love is worried taking away cameras will cause accidents

He added: "People know where they are, as soon as they get there they slow down.

Then as soon as they get past them they speed up again."

'Accident risk'

But not everyone agrees.

Lisa Love, who's got a two-year-old daughter Emily, say without them the roads in Swindon would be a lot more dangerous.

She said: "I think it's shocking that they want to ban them. Kids from the colleges, from the schools, run across the road as it is.

"And I think taking away the speed cameras will only increase the risk of accidents.

James Organ says to really slow traffic down would cost millions

"There are some estates round here where there are joy riders and cameras help stop them. And I think taking them away will cause endless accidents."

Twenty-three-year-old James Organ reckons speed cameras aren't the answer to making roads safer.

He said: "I think getting rid of them is a great idea.

"They just really get in the way because all they do is make people slow down for certain bits of the road.

Alternative measures

"If you really wanted to slow the traffic down you'd have to have them along every stretch of road and that'd cost millions."

Joanne Elliot's not happy they cost thousands of pounds to run every year and she'd be happy to see the back of them.

Joanne Elliot doesn't agree with the amount of money cameras cost

But as a young mum she says other road safety measures should be put in place instead.

She said: "I do think they're a waste of money but if they get rid of them they should put things like bollards and chicanes on the roads instead.

"At my children's school they make signs that get put up by the council encouraging drivers to slow down.

Things like that are a good idea but speed cameras? Get rid of them."

Have Your Say: Should councils stop paying for speed cameras?