Tis a sad day in Oxfordshire...

[stum450n]

Oxfordshire's speed cameras to be switched back on

[bmwhere?]

I read about that earlier! Very sad indeed

[Flathead]

Best move to Swindon Stu ours are still off !

[bmwhere?]

Certainly the weather will skew the statistics far more than 'safety' cameras will.

[BalliSTIc]

Didn't think you drove that fast anyways Stu...

But as the old saying goes: "There's lies, damn lies and statistics"

Just depends how the politickers spin it I guess.

Totally agree with Matt - the science behind the "test" is rubbish and the quoted changes aren't even CLOSE to being statistically significant... and if anything they were slightly better with them off *lol*

[stum450n]

Didn't think you drove that fast anyways Stu...

But as the old saying goes: "There's lies, damn lies and statistics"

Just depends how the politickers spin it I guess.

Totally agree with Matt - the science behind the "test" is rubbish and the quoted changes aren't even CLOSE to being statistically significant... and if anything they were slightly better with them off *lol*

I've absolutely no issue with speed limits and very rarely exceed the speed limit (although I might get there a little quicker than most ), my issue is with the fact they're not a suitable deterrent or in any way a solution to the problems caused by speeding - they're used to generate revenue, plain and simple. That revenue would be much more effectively spent on repairing the roads that are in such a state that they're causing more accidents than speeding in speed camera locations.

To quote Matty's figures...

Away from camera sites there were 867 collisions with 982 slight injuries, 179 serious injuries and 18 deaths during the period the cameras were turned off.

In the same period the year before there were 885 collisions with 999 slight injuries, 160 serious injuries and 12 deaths.

To put that in perspective, in January 2011 alone there were 255 accidents in Oxfordshire as a result of potholes. In the first 10 weeks of this year the council received 5,300 reports of potholes having paid out £86,805 between January and October 2010 in compensation, settling just 318 of the 964 total backlogged compensation claims!

There's something wrong here, seriously wrong.

==================

Loving that saying by the way, not heard that before

[andyjudge]

Agree totally on the potholes front, Here in West Berks their no longer potholes in a lot of places but craters. Think its all a govt scheme in fact to get us all into 4x4's so that they rip us off even more with the road tax & Fuel duty.

Mmm Road tax, wasn't that bought in all those many years ago to help maintain & fund roads maint. & development

Ooo sory must be mistaken

I've given up reporting potholes as nothing ever gets done

[spect]

Quite frankly we all know what the speed limits are and if we get caught breaking them then it is our own fault - it is a law the same as burglary, assault etc etc. However, as far as i am concerned 30 and 40 are sacresanct as they are in place to protect other road users and pedestrians. derestricted speed limits are fair game though. If I ever get pulled for speeding then it will be a fair cop.

I did have one pull by a cop. I was close to home in a road full of speed bumps. I drove round them and he was around half a mile behind me. Within a few minutes he was blues on behind me and pulled me. He tried to say I was speeding because he had to do 44 mph to catch me. So being a bit of a mathematics guy I pointed out that does not mean I was speeding - just that he had to to catch up with me. After a few minutes I think the penny dropped. I did point out that there is a 30 limit in the road and the fact that he did 44 was more of a hazard than me avoiding the bump. Not much he could say really, so he just waggled his finger at me and drove off, hehehe. Next day I got pulled for allowing my front rh wheel to touch the paint on a mini roundabout when someone failed to stop and nearly rammed me. I got a full lecture and 20 mins of vehicle checks before they let me go. My daughter who was a constabubble from another force was in the car and said it was all b*ll*x and they were wrong, they should have pulled the other car for driving without due care and attention. I guess the word went out about my maths lesson, lol!!

[stum450n]

Just as a case in point with regards to pot holes, the council were out marking them out for repair on our road earlier today... 33/34 marked from the entrance to the road and my house - I live at number 14 FFS - I can see the end of the road from my living room window!!! The road here is one of the worst I've driven down - I lived 18yrs in rural Somerset 5 miles from the nearest A road and not once do I remember seeing a road in such disrepair - even unclassified roads without numbers!