Opinion : Is it time to review the locations of the town’s fixed speed cameras?

As usual this evening I made my way home along West Wycombe Road after a punishing day at work.

West Wycombe Road is probably one of the straightest roads in Wycombe indeed the motorist has an excellent view of the road ahead.

Before turning left into Mill End Road my trusty motor passed by the speed camera.

Of course the bright orange camera can be seen from a very long distance away. Anyone caught speeding by that camera must be very dumb indeed after all with such good visibility along that stretch of road only a fool, or someone with very poor eyesight, would fail to see the speed camera ahead.

So what’s the point of that camera being there? If you ask me making speed cameras highly visible defeats the object of them after all who is going to speed past a camera and get a fine when they can simply slow down for a few hundred feet then speed up again once past the camera?

Let’s be honest, the long straight stretch of West Wycombe Road is hardly the most dangerous road in Wycombe.

Surely it would make more sense to move the camera to the bottom part of Plomer Hill to catch speeding vehicles coming down the hill just before the junction with Southfield Road?

Vehicles are more likely to be travelling too fast when coming down hill indeed with two joining roads, Southfield Road and Pheasant Drive, it only takes a car to pull out in front of a speeding vehicle and the likelihood of an accident occurring increases.

Other suitable locations for a camera where drivers speed are coming down the hill in Totteridge Road, Marlow Hill, Amersham Hill and Cressex Road.

Maybe it’s time a re-appraisal of the location of the speed cameras in Wycombe was undertaken with a view to moving them to more effective locations?

Speed cameras are a technology that harks back to the 1990’s, times change and technology has moved on.

Rather than being fixed at one place yours truly thinks they should be moved about a bit. All it needs is for a pole to be cemented in to the ground and some white lines painted on the road and the camera heads could easily be moved all over town to give coverage where needed.

Perhaps it’s time the operation of the cameras came under the control of the local municipal authorities? They issue parking tickets, maintain the roads and dispose of abandoned vehicles so why not take over speed fines too?

Rather than being on the main roads why not put some cameras in the residential areas where maniacs speed along as children play on the kerb?

Many thousands of pounds was invested in speed cameras supposedly to make the roads safer. It’s about time they were moved to the places in town where speeding is a problem rather than standing guard in relatively safe stretches of level road like West Wycombe Road.

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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