VOTE: 1,825 trapped by speed cameras (From The Bolton News)

VOTE: 1,825 trapped by speed cameras

9:00am Thursday 28th February 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

SPEED cameras in Bolton raked in £109,500 in fines last year.

Figures obtained by The Bolton News show 1,825 motorists were caught by fixed or mobile speed traps in the borough in 2007.

The statistics also reveal there has been a dramatic increase in the number of motorists hit with fines since the turn of the century.

In 2000, 695 tickets were issued to motorists caught by fixed and mobile speed cameras, generating £41,700.

By 2005, that figure had peaked at a high for the decade of 2,004 fines being issued - a total cost to the motorist of £120,240.

A motor campaign group last night called for all cash collected from speeding fines to be used to cut road deaths by funding road safety schemes.

Currently, only a proportion is ploughed back into such initiatives.

RAC Foundation chairman David Holmes said: "We have never objected to speed cameras in principle, but we do think they should be visible and serve a clear road safety purpose. They should not be used just to make money.

"There are many parts of the road system where changes to the layout of the road would save lives. These are not being done because of shortage of cash.

"Revenue from speed cameras should be used imaginatively to fund projects of this kind."

The first speed cameras were introduced in the UK in London in 1992.

Since then they have become a regular roadside sight and earn the Treasury an estimated £82 million a year from fines from 5,000 speed cameras.

The Government passes a proportion of this cash back to a camera safety partnership - which is responsible for operating the cameras - to fund running costs.

Last year, the rules were changed so the income could also be used to promote road safety schemes.

Bolton got its first speed cameras in April, 1996, when one was installed in Bury Road, Breightmet, near Torridon Road; another in Chorley New Road near Bolton School, Heaton; and a third in Manchester Road, Kearsley.

Three more were erected in Blackburn Road, Egerton; Chorley New Road, Horwich; and Crompton Way, Astley Bridge, by the end of the year.

More cameras sprung up in Manchester Road near the Blackrod bypass in 1998, five cameras were installed to monitor the 50mph limit on St Peter's Way in 2000 and two were put up in Newbrook Road, Over Hulton.

The most recent camera installation in the borough was in 2006 in Wigan Road, near Hulton Lane, Deane.

Bolton now has 16 speed cameras, either fixed at the roadside, or on red lights.

Road safety experts say speed cameras have had an impact in reducing the number of people killed or injured on the roads.

In Bolton, it is estimated that in 39 per cent of all accidents speed is a factor.

Since 2001, the number of serious and fatal accidents in Bolton has been falling. In 2001, there were 84 serious accidents and 11 fatalities, but in 2007 there were 49 serious accidents and four deaths.

Bolton's principal road safety officer, Trevor Higson, said yesterday: "Although we are currently waiting for validation of the number of people killed or seriously injured on Bolton's roads last year, the figure appears to be the lowest for some 24 years, which reflects the success of the various safety schemes across the borough.

"We anticipate that for 2007 the figure will be 86 and our 2010 Government target is to reduce this to 82.

"Although the reduction is encouraging, we need to continue our top priority efforts to further reduce the number of casualties on our roads."

Bolton's grant from the Department of Transport, through the Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership, for 2008-9 is £47,542.

This will fund a road safety officer in the council's road safety team and schemes about road safety education.

Where the cameras are

Fixed speed cameras in Bolton borough are at the following locations:

• Manchester Road near Blackrod bypass, Blackrod (two cameras), 1998, 40mph
• Chorley New Road at Lindsay Street, Horwich, 1996, 30mph
• Newbrook Road near Firs Road, Over Hulton (two cameras), 2000, 40mph
• Wigan Road near Hulton Lane, Deane, 2006, 30mph
• Chorley New Road near Somerset Road, Heaton, 1996, 30mph
• Blackburn Road, Egerton, 1996, 30mph
• Crompton Way near Seymour Road, Astley Bridge, 1996, 40mph
• St Peter's Way near Burnden Road, Burnden, 2000, 50mph
• St Peter's Way at Moses Gate, 2000, 50mph
• St Peter's Way opposite Rowena Street, 2000, 50mph
• St Peter's Way near All Saints School, Farnworth, 2000, 50mph
• St Peter's Way near Grosvenor Street, Kearsley, 2000, 50mph
• Manchester Road near Teak Drive, Kearsley, 1996, 30mph
• Bury Road near Torridon Road, Breightmet, 1996, 30mph