Irish Motorists: Gardaí and GoSafe Money Making Speed Cameras not
to be trusted
Press Release, 28/June/2011, IrishSpeedTraps.com
- 55% believe
speed cameras are mostly about raising money
- 47% don't trust the authorities
to place speed cameras only in appropriate locations.
The results of an AA
survey on speed cameras show a majority of Irish motorists believe the primary
aim is to raise revenue. 55% of respondents in the latest AA Motor Insurance
Poll said they believe speed cameras are mostly about raising money. The survey
results also highlighted a big issue of trust between the motorists and the
authorities with 47% saying they don't trust the authorities to place speed
cameras only in appropriate locations. This is despite the widespread support
for the use of speed cameras, in theory, to improve road safety. Almost 80% of
respondents support the use of speed cameras to improve road safety with 75%
agreeing speed cameras are good for improving road safety.
"What these results
point out is the high level of mistrust of the Gardaí and GoSafe by Irish
motorists" said Ciarán Kennedy of IrishSpeedTraps.com. "Due to the manner in
which these speed traps are set up, and the total lack of transparency in their
operation, Irish motorists are not supporting the speed camera programme. We
call on the Government to prove once and for all that speed cameras are not
about revenue generation by removing the monetary fine aspect of a speeding
offence so that the motorist gets penalty points only”. Mr Kennedy added “We
also call on the Gardaí and GoSafe to immediately release statistics showing the
impact the new GoSafe cameras have had since their introduction 7 months ago. We
want to see speed cameras placed only in high accident areas and any camera
locations which have shown to be ineffective in improving road safety should be
removed immediately”.
-- ENDS
Editors note:
- A mere 2% of fatal and injury
collisions occur on motorways*
- Just 3.9% of fatal and injury collisions occur
on dual carriageways*
- 66% of fatal collisions occur on rural roads*
* Source: RSA Road Collision Facts 2009
About IrishSpeedTraps.com
- Irishspeedtraps.com is
a community based website and tracks the locations of over 1000 speed camera
locations in Ireland. The website was launched in 2007 and has over 30,000
registered members.
- Irishspeedtraps.com campaign to have speed cameras located
only at high accident locations.
- The IrishSpeedTraps.com iPhone app alerts
motorists to the location of all static and mobile speed camera locations in
Ireland. The app was launched in October 2010 and has over 30,000 downloads.