Most speed cameras are now going digital. This means they will be able to take pictures of your car and mine 24 hours a day indefinitely.

As a result the number of speeding fines handed out by the courts has reached the highest level for four years.

But is it reasonable to roll out a new generation of digital speed cameras on old sites selected decades ago? Have the police got the speed camera grid right?

Is the camera network based on “safety first” or “fines first”?

Our top stories

Over the past four years magistrates have issued 425,540 speeding fines costing the motorists and benefiting the treasury to the tune of £45m. Since these figures exclude drivers who choose to pay a fine or take a speed awareness course or pay a fixed penalty notice, the total number of people caught by speed cameras could be significantly higher.

If a motorist is caught by a speed camera he or she would normally get a £100 fixed penalty notice and three points on their licence.

In Oxfordshire the speed cameras using film were installed around 30 years ago.

The new update to digital models will cost up to £10,000 per camera, but since no police officers are needed to collect and develop the film, running costs will be a lot lower and it represents a saving to the police budget.

The question is – does it also represent a lost opportunity to improve the original site plan? Were the first cameras located in the right places to reduce harm by controlling the speed of drivers in Oxfordshire?

Here is the view of one person who has had direct experience. He asked to remain anonymous because he doesn’t pull any punches.

“I have retired as a police officer with Thames Valley Police and for eight years at the end of the ’80s I was a Traffic Patrol Officer. I have never been convinced that speed is the main cause of accidents.

“During my speed enforcement periods we would always carry out speed enforcement at locations that were easy pickings for tickets but were never noted for accidents because there was so much emphasis put on issuing tickets.

“One month I issued 174 tickets for speeding and minor offences. I never used to book anyone going less than 41mph in a 30mph zone and never less than 92mph on the motorway (unless there were other supporting circumstances) otherwise traffic would never move anywhere.

“Initially when they started installing cameras, the locations we used for catching speeders was the only guidance they had and oddly that is where every camera was put and remains so to this day.

“The majority of locations where I dealt with accidents were junctions, narrow country roads and the motorway. Accidents are primarily caused by a lack of concentration, misjudgement, downright careless driving and in some cases excess speed. To blame speeding as the major cause is just a convenient excuse.”

Roger Lawson, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, agrees. “It is in the Government’s interests to encourage the issuing of fines. They are effectively a cash cow.

“There are far too many fines issued. Although there are some cases where there is excessive speed, the whole thing has turned into an industry and become totally pointless. There is no good evidence that speed cameras actually reduce injuries.”

A Government spokesman defended the speed cameras. “Speeding can have devastating consequences and it’s right that drivers should abide by the speed limit.”

Quite right. But do Oxfordshire speed cameras currently get the right snapshot of this dangerous speeding that can cause damage?

Is the camera on the A418 coming out of Thame towards Oxford really a reasonable deployment of scarce resources? Are the speed cameras on the Woodstock and the Banbury Roads into and out of Oxford located at points of maximum harm?

We can all nominate speed cameras that are in questionable sites, so maybe we should all have a voice in where cameras should be relocated.

This current digital upgrade could be the right time for a widespread public debate on siting the cameras before the police pour good money into bad locations. After all, a lot of things have moved on in the last 30 years – not just technology but how, where and why drivers use the roads in Oxfordshire.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.