Speed cameras rake in £65m fixed penalty fines a year

Fixed penalty fines raised by speed camera operators net more than £65 million a year, according to shock figures released yesterday.

The eye-watering amounts have been revealed in a joint report published by the TaxPayers' Alliance and the Drivers' Alliance.

The report also stated if the fixed penalty notice figure is added to court fines collected from speeding and red light offences, the total annual speeding fines income stands at a staggering £87.3m nationally.

In the regional breakdown, drivers in Avon and Somerset faced the heaviest toll with speed camera fines worth £3.49m incurred last year – the second highest rate in the country behind the Metropolitan Police.

The huge amounts have been criticised by TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott, who praised Swindon in Wiltshire for abolishing the cameras altogether. Swindon Borough Council made the move in July 2009 to deactivate its five permanent cameras and cover them with orange bags marked "not in use".

Mr Elliott said: "Motorists have long suspected that speed cameras are more about raising money than keeping the roads safe.

"These findings show that the state has been squeezing a fortune out of people using these cameras, but if anything the rate of reduction in casualty numbers has slowed. The whole country should follow the example of Swindon, which has scrapped cameras altogether."

The figures showed a total of £87,368,227 was collected in fines for speeding and red light offences caught on speed cameras in the financial period 2008-09 in the UK.

This includes fines from magistrates' courts for speeding offences and neglect of traffic directions, such as lane offences, in 2008.

Peter Roberts, chief executive of the Drivers' Alliance, said: "Speed cameras have been a false hope in improving safety on British roads.

"Close statistical analysis of road casualties shows that, since speed cameras have been the main driver of road safety policy, the road casualty rate has not gone down at the trajectory expected.

"It is time to rethink road safety policy so that it has broadened focus, not solely based on speed. No more speed cameras should be funded by local authorities and existing speed cameras should be removed."

Last month, it was confirmed that a third of Somerset's speed cameras are to be removed because speeds and casualties have fallen.

Nine of the 26 fixed roadside cameras in the county are being taken down including those on A370 at East Brent, south of Weston-super-Mare, on the A361 at East Lyng, near Taunton, and the device on the A358 at Creech Castle, Taunton.