In the picture

IN less than two decades, speed cameras have gone from being a novelty on the roads to the commonplace bête noire of millions of motorists. They save lives but still divide opinion, which is why they are now facing uncertainty in parts of Yorkshire.

By The Newsroom

Published 28th Nov 2010, 18:34 BST

Updated 28th Nov 2010, 18:35 BST

The scheme, in which four fixed speed cameras in the Rotherham area are turned off, is worth considering, because the reason for the existence of cameras has shifted over time. At accident blackspots, the demand for cameras is impossible to resist, but in too many other locations they have been used as a source of revenue generation for local authorities, with the money not always spent on improving highways or on road safety.

It has also become clear that cameras don't always do their basic job. On occasion, their readings have been exposed as flawed in legal cases, while there is the far wider problem of speeding motorists simply slowing down for a few seconds when they see a large yellow box on the side of the road. It's time councils and police looked at the bigger picture.

Yorkshire Rotherham