British Come Around on Speed Cameras

Even the British are resenting speed cameras on their nations motorways:

Even if they agree that speed limits are necessary, many motorists resent having to obey them all the time. They say they hate being constantly on the lookout for cameras and accuse the government of treating them like cash machines.

“It’s just a road tax,” said Ian Murray, a sales clerk at an army-navy surplus store in Kelvedon Hatch. He understands the need for cameras in residential areas, he said, but feels aggrieved when he sees them on the highway, where the national speed limit is 70 m.p.h. but where the fast lane generally clips along at 80 m.p.h. or higher.

“What happens is you see the speed camera, and you put on your anchor and drop your speed, and then when you get past it you speed up again,” Mr. Murray said. Also, he said, the cameras cause people to brake suddenly, endangering themselves and the people behind them.

Paul Smith, head of an anti-camera group called the Safe Speed Road Safety Campaign, said that drivers spent so much time scouring the roadside for cameras that they forget to pay attention to the road.

“We’ve got a nation of people who have one eye looking out for the next speed camera, another looking for a speed limit sign and another looking at the speedometer — which is a bit of a shame, when you only have two eyes,” he said.

As I have noted before:

Traffic laws are already in place. We have police officers to enforce them. We do not need cameras watching over this aspect of our lives for the sole purpose of revenue enhancement, especially in the wake of the danger situations that these cameras create.

This sentiment in Britain is actually a good thing. The UK abounds with surveillance cameras. Perhaps this is the start of a movement against the nanny state in Britain being able to watch the movements of their citizenry in the largest of British cities.