|
Comment and Opinion |
|
|
20 August 2001 Fast and furious
News: Motorists
vent fury on speed cameras FOUR speed cameras have been wrecked on a 15-mile stretch
of the A40. Detectives say they suspect Motorists Against Speed Cameras. That hardly narrows it down, since almost all motorists are
against speed cameras. But they should not smash them, and we deprecate such
criminal behaviour. Motorists find it annoying enough to be treated as an
unresisting source of revenue without hearing pious humbug about the
penalties really being intended to reduce traffic accidents. This is like claiming
that the huge tax on cigarettes is intended to reduce consumption. The inventor of the Gatso speed camera used it in the 1950s
to help him drive faster. It took four decades for a British government to become shameless enough to use the
device to grab money unfairly from a fraction of drivers. No surprise that some fight back. |