Calls by Labour for the reintroduction of speed cameras in Swindon

The Labour Group are calling on Swindon Council to include speed cameras as part of its range of options to tackle dangerous driving.

Swindon Council adopted a policy of switching off all Speed Cameras in 2008. They ended this as an option for tackling dangerous driving across Swindon. The Conservative administration claimed that there were other road traffic measures that could effectively address dangerous driving. At the time it was reported that Swindon was one of the top towns in the country for speeding.

In July this year Justin Tomlinson hosted a public meeting where North Swindon residents urged for more to be done to tackle dangerous driving along Thamesdown Drive- including motorists far exceeding the speed limit.  Similar calls have been made in communities neighbouring high speed roads like Cricklade Road, Drakes Way and Queens Drive.

The Swindon Labour Group Leader, Councillor Jim Grant, said:“With it now being acknowledge that certain roads across the town are not as safe as they should be, I believe the time has come to enable speed cameras to be part of the mix to tackle dangerous driving. That’s not to suggest we believe speed cameras should be on every road, but where they could be of use to tackle dangerous driving in certain areas, we believe they should be considered.

The current council position is a blanket ban and we don’t think that makes sense and is a decision taken purely from political dogma.

Earlier this year Justin Tomlinson pointed out how the use of bus gate cameras had changed driver behaviour and made roads safer, why wouldn’t this be the case with speed cameras?”