Speed camera reliance in Yorkshire at expense of drink-driving and other motoring offences – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Mr P Neal, Bark Street, Cleethorpes.
Do the police penalise motorists unfairly?Do the police penalise motorists unfairly?
Do the police penalise motorists unfairly?

THE league table for police forces reveals West Yorkshire tops the table for the number of speeding offences detected for 2018/19 (The Yorkshire Post, January 30).

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The West Yorkshire force detected 181,867 with Avon and Somerset second with 159,210.

To what extent should the police target speeding motorists?To what extent should the police target speeding motorists?
To what extent should the police target speeding motorists?

South Yorkshire came in 15th with 55,461 with Humberside 17th with 53,679.

Lincolnshire trailed in 25th with 45,712 with North Yorkshire 26th with 41,934.

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Wiltshire came 39th with just 807 but Wiltshire benefits from having had no speed cameras since 2010.

The study, commissioned by the RAC Foundation, shows a huge regional disparity which must be down to local policing priorities. It is, therefore, inevitable that the likelihood of being caught speeding in West Yorkshire is far greater than it is in Wiltshire.

The logical conclusion from these figures is that West Yorkshire’s roads should be considerably safer than Wiltshire’s, but whether this is the case, or not, is very debatable.

Worryingly, the majority of speeding incidents were captured on camera as police forces abdicate their responsibility to keep our roads safe.

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As the number of traffic police continues to drop, serious road traffic offences continue to go undetected and unpunished, so bad drivers will inevitably wreak havoc.

The over-reliance of speed cameras hardly inspires confidence among drivers.

The perception that serious road traffic offences such as drink driving are unlikely to be detected urgently need to be remedied.

Young people are far more likely to be killed on our roads than being stabbed yet our errant police forces simply rely on cameras whereas more traffic police is really what is needed.

Drink-driving campaigns should be used all year round, not just at certain times of the year.

Policing priorities leave much to be desired.