Leasedrive Velo Blog

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

New road building appears to be bottom of the transport secretary’s agenda following her announcement earlier this week that the Department for Transport is to pump £6 billion’s worth of investment into motorway and key road development in England.

Quite rightly Ruth Kelly has announced she wants to get the best out of our road network but that should not be to the exclusion of new road builds where required.

The transport secretary plans to widen existing roads, open more hard shoulders to traffic, promote car sharing and introduce tolled roads all in a bid to relieve congestion. But at the end of the day, that can only be described as a quick fix.

What we still desperately need is a fully integrated transport policy for the country covering land, air and water. The transport policy relating to land should cover both public and private transport with the former focusing on bus, rail, tram and underground solutions.

It’s all common sense but when has common sense prevailed in the corridors of Whitehall?

We need a joined up transport policy not a ‘band aid’ fix! However, given that may be not so many of our politicians have joined up handwriting judging by their childlike behaviour in Parliament, a joined up policy paper may be asking too much!

One thing I would agree on is the proposal by the Government’s chief medical officer’s call for a zero tolerance approach to teenage drivers involved in accidents after drinking.

If the thousand deaths through accidents involving 15 to 24 year-olds mainly involve road accidents then something needs to be done, as the total number of road deaths is now below 3000 for the first time in over 80 years.

Apparently, many countries already adopt a zero blood alcohol limit for young drivers and it might help towards addressing the overall binge drinking culture among the young.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

So Swindon Borough Council has declared what we all know to be true. Speed cameras are a revenue generator for the Treasury!

Until the summer of last year, all councils received a percentage of takings but since then everything goes to central Government, who then provides local councils with a road safety grant to hopefully erect more revenue generating machines.

Apparently, official figures indicate an average 100 lives are saved each year by around 6000 speed cameras up and down the country. Where speed cameras have done their job, they are sometimes put out of commission by having a plastic bag put over their cameras, much as with parking meters.

Swindon Borough Council, a Tory-led council, is bridling against the £400,000 cost per annum of installing and maintaining these unpopular devices. It feels the money could be best spent elsewhere such as on electronic speed advisory signs (average cost £5000, known to reduce speed by an average two to three miles per hour) and traffic calming measures.

In certain positions, speed cameras are a strong deterrent and an undoubted saver of lives. In other spots, they are a clear money-spinner.

I believe better road safety guidelines as to when and where they are used should be drawn up, as it is clear from public opinion that their use and positioning is clearly highly controversial. At known black spots, and outside schools, they should be a ‘must’ but elsewhere electronic speed advisory signs and the like could be more effective in getting drivers to lower and control their speed. Electronic signs are almost a form of real-time, ‘name and shame’ although I accept they do not stop everyone.

Probably the most effective current deterrent are the average speed cameras deployed at motorway roadworks. These definitely command the attention of motorists and could be selectively installed on major roads in and out of towns.

Official statistics show that the percentage of drivers who regularly break the 30mph speed limit has been lowered from 75% to 49%. Obviously, there is a long way to go but with road deaths down below 3000 per annum for the first time in over 80 years, as a country we are moving in the right direction.