|
| News and products for the motorcycle enthusiast and professional |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
SPEED CAMERA SURVEYS ARE FLAWED Figures published today by Brake and Green Flag Motoring Assistance suggesting that two thirds of drivers support the use of mobile speed cameras are ''implausible at best'' says Safe Speed. These figures are the most recent in a long history of very doubtful surveys regarding speed camera acceptability. The Department for Transport imposes a set of questions, and the requirement for regular surveys, on every camera partnership. These questions are designed to elicit a particular response - some might say fraudulently so. Professor Mervyn Stone, working as an independent adjudicator for Radio Four, recently described these official survey questions as a ''loaded instrument'', and said that the questions showed a ''disgraceful positive bias''. Perhaps it is illuminating that the recent Brake press release stops short of informing us of the exact questions that were asked? Paul Smith, founder of the Safe speed road safety campaign said: ''It all depends on the questions that are asked, and sometimes on how the sample of respondents was selected. We challenge Brake to commission an honest independent survey asking a fair sample of drivers the following questions: * Have speed cameras made the roads safer overall? * Do you believe official government figures about the effectiveness of speed cameras? * What percentage of road accidents do you believe are caused or contributed to by motorists exceeding a speed limit? * Would you concentrate on your driving equally well if asked to travel much more slowly than the speed that you would naturally choose? * Do speed cameras ever distract you from the road ahead? (For example, do you take your eyes off the road to check you speedo a number of times when you see a speed camera?) * Are speed cameras mainly about money? * Do speed cameras sometimes take the enjoyment out of driving? * Do you persistently worry about speed cameras? * Should most speed cameras be scrapped?'' Frequent public opinion surveys are conducted on the Internet by independent organisations, including the BBC. Typical results show that between 75% and 95% of respondents think speed cameras should be scrapped. Paul continues: ''We should be very worried indeed about the claims that speed cameras are desired by a majority of the public. Not only are flawed and distorting questions the norm, but also the government has spent many millions of pounds in a misguided attempt to make speed cameras acceptable.''
|
|
| Biker247.com is an Internet publication brought to you by The 247 Network - Visit our other sites at www.the247network.com. |
| The entire content included in this website, including but not limited to text, design, graphics, interfaces, or code and the selection and arrangements thereof is copyrighted as a collective work under the UK and other copyright laws and is the property of The 247 Network. |